Trans-Tasman Battle Continues at the New Zealand Superbike Champs A sunny but chilly day greeted the riders at Manfeild for qualifying at round four of the Castrol Power 1 New Zealand Superbike Championships today. The riders were pleased not to see the rain, which had hampered unofficial practice on Friday and soon got down to business. The Trans-Tasman battle continued in the NZ Superbike class with the two young Australians topping the leader board in qualifying. Robbie Bugden (Suzuki) took pole position, with Gareth Jones (Yamaha) just .734 seconds behind. The first New Zealander home was Hamilton’s Andrew Stroud (Suzuki) just .146 seconds behind in third. He was closely followed by the Honda pairing of Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) and Craig Shirriffs (Feilding). Just 1.122 seconds divides the top four in this impressive class. Part two of the Trans-Tasman battle was even closer with only 0.656 seconds dividing the top four riders in the 600 Sports Production class. Young Queenslander Gareth Jones (Yamaha), the only rider doing double duties this season, took pole by 0.076 seconds from Christchurch’s hard charging James Smith (Suzuki), with Pukekohe’s Sam Smith third fastest on another Yamaha. With qualifying times like these, the racing on Sunday will be nothing short of amazing, there will be two races for all classes. SUNDAY FEB 14 MANFEILD WILL BE THE PLACE TO BE Provisional Results Round Four Castrol Power1 Superbike Championships Manfeild Autocourse, Feilding. 14 February 2009. NZ Superbikes: Qualifying: 1, Robbie Bugden (Australia) Suzuki, 1:05.318 secs; 2, Gareth Jones (Australia) Yamaha, 1:06.052 secs; 3, Andrew Stroud (Hamilton) Suzuki, 1:06.198 secs; 4, Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) Honda, 1:06.440 secs; 5, Craig Shirriffs (Feilding) Honda, 1:06.685 secs. 600 Sports Production: Qualifying: 1, Gareth Jones (Australia) Yamaha, 1:08.257 secs; 2, James Smith (Christchurch) Suzuki, 1:08.333 secs; 3, Sam Smith (Pukekohe) Yamaha, 1:08.757 secs; 4, Dennis Charlett (Christchurch) Suzuki 1:08.913 secs; 5, Karl Morgan (Auckland) Suzuki, 1:10.122 secs. Formula Three: Race One: 1, Glen Williams (Palmerston North) Suzuki; 2, Glen Skachill (Dannevirke) Suzuki; 3, Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth) Suzuki. Pro-Twins: Race One: 1, Sam Love (Tauranga) Suzuki; 2, Geoff Booth (Dannevirke) Suzuki; 3, Jared Windle (Palmerston North) Suzuki. 125cc Grand Prix: Race One: 1, Alastair Hoogenboezem (West Melton) Honda; 2, Avalon Biddle (Orewa) Honda; 3, Tim McArthur (Dunedin) Honda. Sidecars: Race One: 1, Steve Bron/Dennis Simonsen (Wanganui) LCR Suzuki; 2, Adam Unsworth/Stu Dawes (Wanganui) Windle Honda; 3, Chris & Ritchie Lawrance (Auckland) Anderson Yamaha.