KIWI RIDER MAY 2018 VOL.1 | Page 19

ES ND NZ SUPERBIKES W ellington’s Sloan Frost played it icy cool to wrap up the 2018 New Zealand Superbike Championships’ premier title with a race to spare. There was no real pressure on the 36-year-old Frost (Suzuki GSXR1000A) after he’d built a commanding lead at the first three rounds of the series, but he looked to be taking nothing for granted at the fourth and final round at the Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, on the outskirts of Taupo, on March 17-18. Frost held a 47-point advantage over his nearest rival, Whakatane’s Mitch Rees (Honda CBR1000SP1), at the start of the weekend, and his “safe and sensible” approach to racing on Saturday and Sunday – qualifying fastest and then finishing fourth, sixth and third in his three Superbike races – was enough to get the job done, allowing Frost to add the 2018 crown to his first superbike title, which he won in 2016. Honda rider Rees was forced to accept the runner-up spot for 2018, although a modest Frost did suggest that he would be one of several riders to keep an eye on in KIWI RIDER 19