MotoFest delivers on all fronts

Whew, where do we start. Day two of the Star Insure New Zealand Superbike Championship at Hampton Downs today provided plenty of close racing, some outstanding performances, personal firsts and the first champion of the 2026 series.

And off track, the inaugural Bike Show proved a massive success, complimented by the popular Legends Garage, the Custom Bike Show, road rides, off-road rides and the insanely noisy and spectacular track ride, which drew over 400 riders over the two days.

BMW rider Rogan Chandler lost his points lead in the Superbike class and goes into next weekend's final round at Taupo level on points with Luca Durning, also BMW mounted.

Both have 184 points but Durning leads on countback.

Durning won all three races this weekend – including the newly introduced Aaron Slight Trophy race – and took the extra point for top qualifier, but he was pushed all the way by Chandler and Suzuki's Morgan McLaren-Wood.

There was more exciting action in the 600 Supersport class, where Yamaha rider Haydn Fordyce battled it out with points leader Jake Lewis before scoring a popular maiden national championship race win.

Lewis continues to lead the title chase with 212 points from Ashton Hughes (140) and Fordyce (132)

Another personal first came in the 150 Supersport race three where Billy MacRae nailed his first national win, ending Hunter Charlett's eight-race winning streak.

However, Charlett added his name to 300 Supersport championship winners list after another podium-topping three-race streak.

Yamaha rider Harriet Grace celebrated International Women's day with her first two national championship podiums.

If there was a Hampton's Hero this weekend then Cameron Leslie would be the clear winner.

Still struggling after a serious leg injury sustained in the opening round, Leslie made of clean sweep on the ProTwin class on his Yamaha, and twice hobbled to the top step of the 600 Supersport podium.

Another triple winner was Aprilia's Tyler King in the new Sportbike class, but Zak Fuller (Honda) still holds a narrow 16 point championship lead going into Taupo.

Multi NZ champion Dennis Charlett bagged three podiums and holds a good 51 point ProTwin championship lead over Azlan Blackwell.

Spike and Bubba Taylor have stretched their Sidecar points tally to 190, followed by Barry Smith (163), who was joined in the outfit today by Vaughan Maine after brother Dave was injured yesterday.

• Note: All points and placings are subject to official confirmation.