Road rookies impress in Paeroa | Manawatu-Wanganui Sport | Surfing, Rugby, Soccer, Football, Cricket in Manawatu-Wanganui

Sheer talent, with a little help from sponsors, carried three Wanganui motorcycle teams to podium finishes on the tight streets of Paeroa at the weekend.

Formula two racers Ashley Payne and Jayden Carrick finished second and third respectively in the 600cc class, while Adam Unsworth and Stu Dawe combined to win the formula one sidecar events.

While Unsworth and Dawe have dominated F1 sidecar competition for some time on their Windle 1000, including the annual Tri Series culminating with the Cemetery Circuit in Wanganui on Boxing Day, Payne and Carrick are on the rise in formula two on their 2011 Suzuki GSXR 600 stock machines.

Payne and particularly Carrick cut their teeth in motocross and are rookies when it comes to road machines, although both competed in motard class on the road. Both are rapidly starting to reveal the obvious talent they possess.

At Paeroa, the formula two class is held in conjunction with the formula ones and on Sunday, Payne and Carrick finished seventh and eighth respectively overall, but claimed second and third in their class on under-powered machines.

Perry Lett, of Joe Lett Suzuki in Wanganui, said the 600cc class is broken into two categories - super sport and super stock, with the Wanganui racers running the latter.

"Basically the super sports are the fully works-sponsored machines putting out about 123 horsepower, while Jayden and Ashley's super stocks generate about 103 horsepower," Lett said.

The formula two winner at Paeroa was Australian-based Kiwi Karl Morgan on a super sport bike.

"For Jayden and Ashley to get podium finishes is a real achievement," Lett said. "It shows their talents and commitment on under-powered bikes compared to the super sports. Jayden in particular has only had a handful of road races, so for him to adapt so quickly to the 600cc class is excellent. Basically it comes down to sponsorship. It is not cheap running these bikes and costs even more for the super sports."

The racers are fortunate there are Wanganui firms and individuals willing to back them, although the budgets are nowhere near the levels of works riders.

Without sponsors such as Lett, Mick Paul of Totalspan, Todd Ackroyd from Colour Code, Suzuki NZ and a host of other Wanganui supporters, the Paynes and Carricks of this town would not be featuring at this level.

Meanwhile, largely through the support of Wanganui's Brian Bernard, Paeroa formula one winner Dan Stauffer would probably have been absent from the meeting, let alone winning the superbike class.

Few had an answer for the brilliance of Stauffer, who won the event as a first-timer last season.

It probably came as no surprise because he had for the second consecutive time earlier this season also won the country's other big annual street race, the Cemetery Circuit event at Wanganui on Boxing Day.

"It's been a perfect weekend really; three races and three wins. I couldn't have asked for anything more," said the 35-year-old Gold Coaster with the Bernard Racing Yamaha Team.

Stauffer won both formula one races, finishing the day ahead of Christchurch rider Ryan Hampton and Hawera's Hayden Fitzgerald, with out-of-retirement Tony Rees, of Whakatane, finishing fourth overall.

Stauffer also won the 10-lap King of the Streets feature race, this time finishing ahead of a hard-charging Rees, the 44-year-old taking his 2005 model Yamaha - the same bike he last won a national title on seven years earlier - through the field to snatch the runner-up spot just two laps from the finish.