From a press release issued by Suzuki New Zealand Ltd.: Australian Robbie Bugden successfully defended his New Zealand Superbike title this season and he did it with two races to spare. His season-long dominance continued at the fourth of five rounds at Manfeild on Sunday, with back-to-back wins, and the 27-year-old will now not even need to race at Pukekohe’s final round in a fortnight. “The pressure is off now and I’ll just go to Pukekohe and enjoy the day,” said Bugden, who has been unbeaten thus far in the championship. “Absolutely I’ll still be going hard at Pukekohe, though. Every time the red light goes out (to signal the start of a race), I go hard and don’t think of anything but winning.” Though there’s mathematically nothing for Bugden to ride for now, the Suzuki GSX-R1000 rider is determined to turn up and thrill the crowds at Pukekohe anyway and, with the high-speed duelling that’s been seen here all season, the final round promises to be another nailbiter, especially if fellow Suzuki stars Andrew Stroud (Hamilton) and Craig Shirriffs (Feilding) have anything to do with it. Stroud and Shirriffs, and another Australian, Gareth Jones (Yamaha), have been locked in a four-rider freight train all season and, although it was again Budgen who finished each race in front on Sunday, there was really nothing to separate these men. Pride will be on the line at Pukekohe with many-times former champion Stroud determined to put an end to Bugden’s win streak and gain some consolation for what has been for him a particularly brutal season. “It might have been like the old days (with Stroud winning everything) if Robbie hadn’t been here,” joked Stroud. “He’s costing me a bit now,” said the 40-year-old father-of-six, now back up to second in the standings after the weekend’s racing. “But I am enjoying the good, clean but hard racing. He’s done better this season because he’s learned our tracks now and he’s just finished a tough season in Australia, while I haven’t been doing anything. I’ll be going hard at Pukekohe though,” he said. It is the second consecutive season that New Zealand’s most prized motorcycling silverware has gone back across the Tasman as hand luggage on Bugden’s flight. The racing was similarly fierce in the other glamour division, the 600 Sports Production class, with another Suzuki rider edging relentlessly closer to sealing the title at Manfeild. Christchurch’s Dennis Charlett (Suzuki GSX600) crashed spectacularly while leading the day’s first race but recovered himself to finish 11th. He then battled through to finish runner-up in the next race, run in two parts after it was restarted following a crash, and that was enough for him to maintain a healthy 42-point lead over his nearest challenger this season, fellow Christchurch Suzuki rider James Smith, and it now seems unavoidable now that it will be a Suzuki 1-2 in this class when the series wraps up at Pukekohe on March 9. Smith finished 2-3 at Manfeild, further cementing himself on the second step of the podium. In the formula three battles, Palmerston North’s Glen Williams (Suzuki SV650) suffered a set-back on his home track, finishing an unaccustomed third overall at Manfeild. However, Williams still leads the standings, 61 points ahead of new No.2 rider Terry Fitzgerald (New Plymouth, Suzuki SV650), who won the day with a hat-trick of wins. Blenheim Suzuki rider Stephen Wood slipped back in the standings but he is just two points behind Fitzgerald and it reinforces the likelihood of a Suzuki 1-2-3 in the class this year. It could be even better for Suzuki in the pro twins class where Auckland’s Karl Morgan (Suzuki SV650) pumped his advantage out to 118 points over fellow Suzuki riders Geoff Booth (Dannevirke), Anthony Stephens (Invercargill) and Alasakan visitor Alan Zitnik. Morgan already has the class wrapped up but, if it stays like this at Pukekohe, it will be a Suzuki 1-2-3-4 for the pro twins championship.