Bay of Plenty's Sloan Frost is just warming up, but already he's pretty hot stuff.
The 28-year-old Tauranga man showed up at Manfeild for the first round of the Victoria Motorcycle Club's Winter Series a week ago with absolutely no expectations, but left the Manawatu race track brimming with
confidence.
Despite this being his first outing on the new 2010-model BMW S1000RR bike he'd picked up only days before, Frost was surprised at how quickly he was up to speed, racing away with both formula one races on a day where disruptions because of several crashes meant racing had to be cut short as darkness fell over the track.
"I'm part of a new team now, thanks to support from Tauranga's Robert 'Moggy' Ramshaw, and it's called M1 motorsport. We do plan to rename the team ... we're looking for a naming sponsor.
"At the moment we have great help from RWR Fleet Maintenance, Mount Motorcycles BMW and Crown Kiwi Technical (CKT).
"Moggy has placed no expectations on me but I have high expectations of myself. I expect to finish among the top three in the nationals in 2011," said Frost, who this season finished sixth for the second consecutive time.
"I suffered three crashes in the nationals this year and that cost me a lot. I've been searching for my limits and I guess that's what happens when you find them.
"This was a big test weekend for us. The points we took for winning were just a bonus. We had New Plymouth's Robert Taylor, of CKT, working on the suspension and we are amazed at how quickly I was able to get comfortable with the settings.
"The bike is still in road trim and even has the standard exhaust. I was clocking lap times of one minute and 8.5 seconds on a stock bike and that's only a couple of seconds slower than the top times set by the superbikes at Manfeild during the nationals. I know we can easily shave 2-3 seconds off my times today."
If the promise shown by Frost at Manfeild is any indication, expect to see him on the podium at next year's national superbike championships - he's already on the top step for the Victoria Motorcycle Club's popular Winter Series.
