Consistent form pays off

Without winning a single race Wanganui's Dwayne Bishop (211) racked up enough points to win the Suzuki Series Bears class on his Aprilla RSV4 factory machine Photo/Supplied

Consistency was Dwayne Bishop's main weapon to win the Bears class at the Suzuki Series motorcycle championships.

The Wanganui rider did not win a single race during the three-meeting series, yet racked enough points on his Aprilla RSV4 factory bike to claim the title for non-Japanese machines after the final round on the Cemetery Circuit on Boxing Day.

Consistent placings in round one at Hampton Downs and round two at Manfield before the final round on his home track, gave the 39-year-old a carrot to chase on his home track in Wanganui.

"I got second behind Craig Trinder [Australia] in the first race at Hampton even after going off the track mid-race," he said.

"I managed to get back and recorded the fastest last four laps and then finished in behind the leaders again in the second race.

"I had trouble in the first race at Manfield finishing sixth then followed that up with a fourth.

"In the first race at Wanganui Craig [Trinder] went down right in front of me breaking his thigh and had a suspected broken hip, which was unfortunate for him."

Trinder had been leading the Bears class heading into the Cemetery Circuit final round, but the crash put him right out of contention for the outright title.

Feilding's John Oliver would also have been a serious contender had he not fallen at Hampton Downs earlier in the series.

Yet more consistent placings at Wanganui was enough to get Bishop over the line first in the series.

"It came down to consistency all right," he said.

"There might have been faster guys, but they needed to stay on.

"This was my first title and awesome to win.

"I've only been racing again since returning from 13 years in Europe nearly six years ago.

"Before heading overseas I'd done a bit of sidecar racing."

Bishop finished the Suzuki Series on 101 points, just two ahead of Oliver on 99 with Trinder finishing third with 92.

The tiler and wooden flooring tradesman operates Possum Flooring in Wanganui to help fund his passion, although he has significant support from a number of sponsors.