Suzuki International Series in Taupō: Racing fans the big winners at

Round one of the 2020 Suzuki International Series was held in Taupō at the weekend. Photo / Andy McGechen

There were many winners in Taupō on Sunday, including the fans.

The 2020 edition of the popular Suzuki International Series kicked off at Taupō's Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, the first major motorcycle road-race event in New Zealand since the Covid-19 lockdown.

This three-round competition traditionally signals the start to the new season and always attracts the cream of the motorcycling community ahead of the national championships, set for January and March 2021.

Now that things are under way on the Kiwi road-racing scene, there will be little rest for the riders, with racing reigniting for round two next weekend.

Manfeild Circuit Chris Amon, on the outskirts of Feilding, is the host venue for round two on Sunday, December 13 before wrapping up on the public streets of Whanganui, with riders tearing around the world-famous Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day.

One of the riders to catch the eye in Taupō was Billee Fuller, the teenage girl from Taupiri making only her second foray into road-racing, with performances against the boys in the GIXXER Cup class to be proud of.

The former motocross racer made her road-racing debut in 2019, but competed in only two out of the three Suzuki International Series events and just one of the national road-racing rounds last season.

She took her Suzuki GSX-150F bike to the start line in the first GIXXER Cup race determined to back up her stellar performance as fourth-fastest qualifier by also capturing a wad of points in her two races on Sunday afternoon.

But then she made an uncharacteristic error, giving the bike just a little too much throttle as she launched off the start line, her bike suddenly skewing sideways and into another rider.

The race was quickly halted before it had really even begun and, after a short while, was restarted with, to everyone's surprise, Fuller bravely lining up for a second crack at it.

In the end, the 17-year-old managed to finish fourth and fifth in her two GIXXER Cup class races on Sunday and she is currently fourth overall in the popular 16-rider class after round one.

"I was hoping I would be allowed back on the track after my whoopsie, but it was all good," the Hamilton Girls' High School student said.

"I was pretty happy with my results, although I went off track and nearly hit the tyre wall at the end of race two and that cost me a position, so it really could have been better for me."

Fuller is racing the same Suzuki GSX-150F that got her elder brother Zak started in the sport two years ago. Zak Fuller is now racing in the Formula Two/600cc class and running with the leaders there.

A former Whanganui rider but now Christchurch-based, Caleb Gilmore impressed by winning both GIXXER Cup races on Sunday.

First created by Suzuki New Zealand in December 2017 with the aim of providing a starting place and a pathway towards "growing future champions", the GIXXER Cup class was slotted into the Suzuki International Series programme and it proved to be a runaway success.

Now celebrating its fourth season, the GIXXER Cup series has well and truly established itself as the premier competition for road-racing novices.

Class leaders after the first of three rounds of the 2020 Suzuki International Series are Christchurch's Alastair Hoogenboezem (Formula One); Upper Hutt's Rogan Chandler (Formula Two); Nikau Valley's Richard Markham-Barrett and Whangamatā's Jarad Horn (first equal in Formula Three); Markham-Barrett (Bears Senior); Te Awamutu's Stephen Bates (Bears Junior); Christchurch's Caleb Gilmore (GIXXER 150 Cup); Pukekohe's Matt Eggleton (Post Classics, pre-89 Senior); Ngaruawahia's Steve Bridge (Post Classics, pre-89 Junior); Tauranga's Barry Smith and Stu Dawe (F1 Sidecars); Albany's Mark Halls and Michelle MacLean (F2 Sidecars); Taumarunui's Jette Josiah (Super Motard); Caleb Gilmore and Timaru's Harry Parker (first equal in Supersport 300).