Bike Sport: Dennis Charlett's title defence looking good

Dennis Charlett (Suzuki GSX-R1000) is well on his way to defending his national superbike championship crown. Photo / Andy McGechan, BikesportNZ.com

When your sport involves reaching speeds of up to 300kmph, things happen very quickly indeed, sometimes good and sometimes bad.

The New Zealand Superbike Championships kicked off at Ruapuna in Christchurch at the weekend and the reigning champion in the premier class, Canterbury's Dennis Charlett, experienced both the worst and the best of times.

It was certainly a drama-packed three-day period for the Christchurch 46-year-old.

"I wouldn't say it was a good weekend, but it worked out okay in the end," said the Suzuki ace, who emerged after three days of high-octane activity with a solid 19-point lead in the superbike class and his title defence well on track with three rounds left to go.

"I crashed while scrubbing in brake pads on Friday. I was cornering into the sweeper and I was instantly high-sided. It was a big crash by my standards and I broke the ring finger on my left (clutch-operating) hand and a toe on my left (gear-change lever) foot.

"I managed to avoid going to hospital and managed to ride four or five laps of the qualifying session. I qualified fifth fastest. It was the best that I could do.

"After icing my foot, I headed into Friday's race running on pure adrenaline. I was in so much pain, I don't know how I did it, but I won the first race of the championship. I had to be helped off the bike afterwards."

Thank goodness that this man - also a martial arts exponent - is a superbly-fit athlete and he was able to carry on the following day.

"I was feeling much better on Saturday but I was still sore and my foot swollen. I was pretty beaten-up."

Then, from fifth position on the starting grid, he stunned everyone with another holeshot in the first of two races on Saturday.

"I just put my head down and went for it. I would just have to deal with whoever challenged me and in both cases it was (fellow Suzuki rider) Jaden Hassan, from Auckland. He got past me and I couldn't hang onto to him, settling for second both times," Chartlett explained.

"I had some physiotherapy and a spa bath on Saturday night and on Sunday morning I felt remarkably good."

Again on Sunday he got the jump on the field in race four of the series and "made them chase me".

Fellow Christchurch rider James Smith passed Charlett and again Charlett settled for second place at the chequered flag, but consistency was adding up to good points for Charlett.

The final superbike race of the weekend was also designated the New Zealand Grand Prix race and Charlett described this as his "most difficult race" of his career.

"This was the only race all weekend that I didn't holeshot and James (Smith) was able to stretch out a bit of a lead. It was weird because it was drizzling at one end of the circuit and dry at the other and James started slowing in the rain. I pushed him a bit to try to force him into making a mistake and I think he just let me past.

"He started pushing me back but I held on and took the win.

"It was an unbelievable weekend really. People were calling me a 'freak'."

Charlett is 19 points ahead of Smith after this opening round, with Hassan third, 21 points further back, and Christchurch's John Ross (Suzuki GSX-R1000) and Wellington's Sloan Frost (Suzuki GSX-R1000) rounding out the top five.

Meanwhile, in the 600cc Supersport class it was Christchurch's Hoogenboezem brothers, James and Alastair, who put on a tandem show.

Between them, the two Suzuki GSX-R600 riders won every race, James finishing the weekend 33 points ahead of sibling rival Alastair, with Christchurch's Cameron Hudson ending up third overall.

Class leaders in the other classes after round one are Orewa's Avalon Biddle (Superlites); Whangamata's Ben Rosendale (Pro Twins); Blenheim's Tim McArthur (250cc production); Christchurch's Sam Davison (125 GP) and Auckland pair Adam Unsworth and Stu Dawe (sidecars).