27/03/2026
NZSBK Round 4 – Taupo – Weekend Report – Pro Twin
Photos - Ninja Photography
The best things come in pairs, right?
Given the long wait for the 1st race report, I didn’t want to leave it for another 2+ weeks to get the next one out!
Life outside of racing has been mad busy for me, which is why the reports have taken a while to sort out and post up. That said, in the case of Pinky, it’s not because of any poor results or expensive crashes, instead, we absolutely smashed the final round of NZSBK in the Pro Twin class!
Friday: (x5 15 minute practice sessions)
Friday morning was wet, we wasted no time getting out there and working on that valuable butt in seat time with the Pro Twin in the wet.
Much like the bigger KTM, I found myself really gelling with the wet conditions and enjoying myself out on the bike, I even dragged my knee on the ground once or twice, which is a pretty impressive feat given it didn’t involve crashing for once!
As the day progressed, we got 3 wet and 2 dry sessions on the bike, valuable seat time and a solid idea of where we wanted to go with the bike’s setup and direction.
Saturday: (x1 Practice, x1 Qualifying, x1 8 lap race)
Saturday morning was wet, if anything, maybe a bit more wet than Friday morning. We used the wet practice session mainly to “Go through the motions” feel out the track again and gently get the brain into gear. We knew the track would be 100% dry by qualifying, so there was nothing to be gained by riding like a mad man and pushing for lap times.
Later in the morning, we went out to start our qualifying session. The ideal lap time was already dialed in from Suzuki Series, I knew what to do and deliberately went out on my own, with a clear track. No one to get in the way, and no one to follow me.
I ideally needed a 1:38.5 to be secure on the front row, a low 1:38 would be great, and a 1:37 would almost guarantee pole position for the Pro Twin class.
I plugged away at the laps and focused on the pit board. First flying lap was a 1:39.6, then a 1:38.3, then a 1:37.8.
Knowing I already put a great time down, I pulled into the pits to conserve the tyre life. I needed to make these tyres last all weekend long, no unnecessary laps or excessive wear was needed.
The 1:37.8 was good enough for pole position, P2 was a 1:38.2 and P3 was a 1:38.8. I was feeling pretty confident for the 3 races to come, provided I didn’t tangle up with any of the Sport Bike class bikes ahead.
Race 1:
Saturday afternoon, we formed up on the grid and watched the lights.
Much like Hampton downs, the race was a split grid, with Sportbike spec bikes up on the front two rows, and Pro Twin bikes starting from row 7 backwards.
The race was going to involve some strategy, as of the 6 Sport Bikes that qualified ahead of me, half of them were significantly slower than I was. What this meant was that I needed to navigate my way past them as quickly and smoothly as possible, while also making sure they’d get in the way of the chasing Pro Twin bikes behind me and hold them up (A good trick I learnt from my days racing Hyosung 250’s)
Lights out, away we raced!
Coming from so far back in the starting grid, I had a lot of speed entering the 1st corner. Knowing the bike’s ahead would concertina and all enter the corner tight, I swung wide and swept around the outside of two of them before the exit of the 1st corner.
Quickly dispatching the 3rd Sport Bike into the turn 5 hairpin, I aimed to settle into a rhythm and pull away to capitalise on the advantage as much as possible.
Exiting the final chicane to begin the 2nd lap, the red flags came out due to a nasty crash right behind me. The rider involved was thankfully okay. Given only 1 lap had been done, they’d do a full race restart.
Race 1 (Restart):
Again, lights up, and out! I pulled the same trick as before into the 1st corner and worked my way into 4th on track, P1 in class by the end of lap one.
After that, it was very much just about hitting markers and managing the gap behind me. I took two laps to get up to speed, then immediately plugged in a 37.9, then 37.8, 37.9 then 38.0.
The consistency and pace was enough to build and maintain just over a second lead from P2 in class by early race. Towards the end of the race, it crept up to 1.4 seconds.
Enough to comfortably cross the finish line P4 on track, P1 in the Pro Twin class. A Pole position and conversion to race win was an excellent way to pick up from where I left off at Hampton downs.
There would be two more races to repeat the feat on Sunday….
Sunday (x2 8 lap race):
Race 2:
Sunday morning was calm, warm, perfect for racing. The lack of cloud cover and direct sunlight meant the track temperature quickly rose north of 40 degrees. By the afternoon’s race, it would be 56+
We formed up on the grid to begin race 2. The plan was simple: Rinse and repeat.
Lights out, away we raced. I’d made my usual passes and was lining up a bike ahead of me when his rear tyre broke loose while powering on in turn 3.
Already setup for a pass around the outside, I kept the throttle pinned and drove past as his bike violently threw him off and missed hitting me by a narrow margin.
Due to the severity of the crash, and a couple crashes that happened in turn 1 and 2 at the start, the race was red flagged…
Race 2 (Restart)
One less bike ahead (Rider was okay), this time I didn’t need to worry about strategically fighting my way through the pack and using other bikes to my own advantage.
On the one hand, there is less to think about. On the other hand, there was now less variables I could try and play into my own favor.
Lights out! This time, I took a racing line into the 1st corner, maximizing entry speed and exit speed, I exited P1 in class.
I was just about to get into the rhythm when again, another red flag!
Because the same race had been red flagged twice, it was considered null and void (Cancelled) Meaning I’d have to wait till the afternoon to fight for a top spot again.
Race 3:
Hot… Very hot! The tyres were going to be like gummy on a slick and slippery track surface.
Because of the Voided race 2, the TT race title and trophies had been re-allocated to race 3. There would be some silverware to be had if I could get a good result.
Personal pride was on the line somewhat. Mathematically, the pro twin class had already been won by Dennis Charlett (Top Job!) P2 in the championship was Azlan Blackwell, who was 16 points ahead of me going into this last race.
To make any progress in the championship, I’d be relying on Azlan making a pretty big mistake, and throughout the season, he’d proven to be incredibly consistent and fast.
With all of that in mind, I figured I’d just go out, ride my bike and have some fun.
And that’s exactly what I did!
Lights out, dropped the clutch and didn’t look back! The bike felt perfect, close to the limit, but not bucking or weaving or sliding, just riding flat out on the edge of traction, in my own happy space.
I read the lap board each lap: +1.3 seconds after just one lap! Then +3.0, then +4.6, then +6.2….
I was flying away from the pack behind. At this point, I could have easily rolled out of it and relaxed. For reference, the chasing rider’s PB lap times were a 1:39.3 and a 1:38.9. I went as fast as 1:37.6 at one point!
As we crossed the line to start the 6th lap, again, the red flag came out. A rather serious crash involving a couple of riders behind me. Both thankfully up and standing.
Because over 2/3’s race distance had been completed, the race was declared and finished there, another P1 result!
It wasn’t enough to promote myself to P2 in the championship, but it was another TT trophy along with a P1 overall for the day. I finished the championship in P3, not bad for a guy who missed out half the season with a broken leg!
Overall, the Pro Twin project was a lot of fun and I’ve enjoyed every single time we’ve hopped on the bike.
It started out as a bit of an idea, almost a joke between my dad and I, having a spare bike to practice and develop in tandem to racing the larger capacity bikes.
From there, it evolved and became a bit of a project between us; learning to build, operate and improve a race bike on our own.
I personally think we did a pretty flipping good job of it! Especially given both the bike and rider were quite badly broken at Round 1 of NZSBK in Christchurch.
Another person behind the scenes who’s had a massive impact on the bike is Robert Taylor from Kiwi Suspension Solutions. He worked so hard in the background to assist dad and myself with setting up the bike to a point where I could be comfortable and go fast. Aside from minor tweaks and 1-2 clicks here and there, the bike has fundamentally been the same in terms of setup since Suzuki Series in December of 2025, a real testament to how dialed in it is!
Of the 4 rounds and 12 races in the NZSBK Pro Twin class, we only took part in 7 races and 3 qualifying sessions.
From that, we scored 2 pole positions and x1 P2 qualifying position. Along with 6 wins from 6 completed races (Race 2 at round 4 was null and void)
Effectively in the NZSBK series, Pinky has a 100% win rate, with a worst result being a P2 in qualifying – When of course you exclude the events and races it was unable to compete at, on account of the squishy thing between the seat and handlebars being unavailable to ride the bike.
That stat is the one I’m most proud of, because it meant that regardless of circumstance and what was thrown at us, we gave it 100% every single time we threw a leg over the bike and came away with the best results possible, I think that’s pretty awesome!
With NZSBK concluded and quite some time till the Auckland Motorcycle Club rounds kick off, Dad and I thought it would be a bit of fun to go down and compete in the VIC club series at Manfield this coming weekend.
It’ll be another fun opportunity to continue the development of Pinky and critically, keep me riding and racing bikes in the offseason, which I think is going to pay off a lot come the next Suzuki Series and NZSBK.
As always, more race reports and action to come, stay tuned!
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