Ryan Hampton takes Teretonga sprint crown

Part of the good crowd streaming in to watch the Sprint Races

Ryan Hampton on his way to
his second win of the day.

Cantabrian Ryan Hampton continued on his winning (and very fast) way in the 'E Hayes and Sons' Sprint Races at Teretonga Park. The day was highlighted by two closely fought wins on his Honda CBR1000RR over the flying BMW 1000 SSR piloted by John Ross, also from Christchurch.

It was another great performance by Hampton who overcame the variable conditions in a meet that started wet and finished dry and sunny.

Ross did manage to reach the top step of the podium by winning the BEARS class, which featured some of the largest fields of the event. Ross's was also the only machine on the day to crack the sub one minute barrier for a lap of the picturesque circuit.

Invercargill local Jeremy Holmes won the F2 class on his Honda CBR600RR and Tiamaru's Johnny Small won the 'Southland Honda' F3 event on a Suzuki SV650.

Gavin Veltmeyer's KTM was again the one to beat taking the Super Motard open class, with the 450's going to John Crawford from Bluff on his Suzuki RMZ450.

Sid Chaloner's FZR750R at 'the Elbow'

Sid Chaloner from Te Anau won the Pre '89 class on his Yamaha FZR750R, another local man John Beck won the Pre '82 crown on his Suzuki RGB500 with Tony McQueen from Lower Hutt successful in the Pre '72 on a Kawasaki H2 750 and also the Pre '63 class on a Norton Dominator 500.

There was some controversy around the pits as one round of racing was lost due to veteran machines dropping oil on the track and the time it took to clean the surface.

One race team manager called for a change in format when he noted that 'we have guys on Superbikes doing 300kph and on the edge around here while the track is being compromised by the oil dropped by the older bikes.'

Hampton leads Ross to the Chequered Flag.

There were suggestions that running the newer machine's full programme in the early part of the meeting would enhance safety.

Nevertheless Officials did a great job clearing the track and good racing was underway again not long after.

Overall it was another splendid meeting held in the Munro spirit, full of great racing and spectacular sights.