KEY POINTS:
He may not look it, but lanky Hamilton man Andrew Stroud is a fearsome street fighter.
The 38-year-old father-of-six defended his Formula One and Robert Holden Memorial titles at the second and final round of this season's Battle of the Streets motorcycling series in Paeroa.
Although Stroud's name
has regularly appeared on national motorcycle road-race trophies in recent years, he didn't have it all his own way at Paeroa.
But Stroud did more than enough to win the glamour Formula One class by finishing second, behind Australian Yamaha rider Chris Seaton, and first in his two F1 races. He also won the Robert Holden Memorial feature race.
Stroud, on a Suzuki GSX-R1000, had earlier established a winning foundation when he put himself at the top of the F1 and Robert Holden Memorial standings after scintillating rides at the series opener in Wanganui on Boxing Day.
"But it really wasn't easy," said Stroud. "Craig Shirriffs and Chris Seaton made me work for it.
"Chris won the first F1 race. There was nothing I could do to get past him. He was riding very well. But it was nice to be able to retain my two titles."
Seaton, 22, from Albury, set the fastest times in the F1 and F2 categories early in the day but struck problems in his second F1 outing and crashed.
He fought back but had to settle for third, which meant his challenge for the series honours was over.
He looked set to take his Yamaha back to the top step of the podium in the Robert Holden Memorial feature race but again crashed.
Seaton finished third both times in his F2 (600cc) outings, as Shirriffs dominated the day.
Shirriffs may have been pipped by fellow Suzuki star Stroud in the F1 and memorial race battles, but once again nobody had an answer for the 33-year-old Feilding man in the F2 division.
"I've won this series about five or six years in a row now - but I think I've been pretty lucky," he said. "I was hoping to do better on the 1000cc bike [in F1] though. It took me too long to catch up after bad starts in F1."
Shirriffs finished runner-up to Stroud in the F1 and memorial races, making it a Suzuki 1-2 in the final standings.
"I only rode a 1000cc bike at Paeroa for the first time last season and I won the first race that day.
"That was pretty cool. I threw the bike into the hay bales in the second race last year and that was my initiation to the big bikes.
"But I've learned a lot in the past 12 months. It just wasn't enough to beat Andrew on Sunday."
Foxton farmer Jason Easton won the Formula Three class at Paeroa, the 32-year-old Yamaha ace also wrapping up the series overall.