He was one of the most dominant riders of the inaugural GIXXER Cup series last season, but teenager Jesse Stroud didn’t have luck go his way. But it was a different story this season and his second crack at the popular competition for riders aged between 14 and 21, each of them on virtually identical Suzuki GSX150F bikes, finally gave him the glory he deserved when it all wrapped-up at Bruce McLaren Motorsport Park, in Taupo, on Sunday. It should probably not have come as any surprise, as the 16-year-old is the son of Suzuki’s record nine-time New Zealand Superbike Champion Andrew Stroud.
Stroud finished equal first on points with Zak Fuller in the GIXXER Cup Championship after the two rounds that were incorporated into the Suzuki Series in December, then he powered away from the pack during the five-round Superbike Nationals, turning the GIXXER Cup into a seven-round series.
Stroud won eight of the 14 GIXXER races staged during the nationals and ended up a whopping 26 points clear of main rival Fuller, with Greymouth’s “West coast Warrior” Clarke Fountain claiming the third podium spot for 2019, 40 points further back.
The points differentials contradict the fact that this class of racing was the closest and most fiercely-fought of all the categories in action during the Suzuki Series or the SBK nationals.
