Reigning Superbikes champion has mixed fortune

Defending New Zealand Superbike champion Robbie Budgen won the first race of the 2010 championship, but crashed out in the second race at Ruapuna today.

Budgen fought his way to the front from 12th on the grid after qualifying poorly to win a rain-affected first race.

Hamilton's Andrew Stroud led into turn one but was quickly overtaken by a fast starting Sloan Frost, closely followed by Bugden's team-mate James Smith.

As the race wore on Stroud dropped back to fourth while Budgen made his charge with Smith and Frost in tow, which formed the basis for the three-way battle for victory.

Riding on his home track, Smith's second placing to Bugden handed the Triple R Mack Truck Suzuki team a well deserved one-two finish, with supported rider Frost completing the Suzuki dominated podium.

A dry race two turned out very different after Bugden crashed on the first lap. A broken handlebar forced the Australian out of the race.

Stroud stretched his lead as Frost went by Ray Clee for second, while Smith held a safe fourth. They crossed the line in that order in front of a large crowd.

"We didn't quite get the fairytale start but overall, we are happy," Triple R team manager Peter Fenton said.

"Robbie isn't injured, the bike's OK, and Robbie always goes very strong at Teretonga - I think he's won every race he's entered there. We'll just make sure we pull no punches down at Teretonga."

The 600 Supersport category was dominated by Hamilton's Nick Cole, who notched up two wins for Kawasaki, including the coveted NZ 600 Supersport grand prix title.

Smith briefly led the opening race and was never far from the front, taking second in both races. John Ross and Jamie Galway placed third in each race.

Stroud leads the NZ Superbike championship as the teams head to Teretonga Park at Invercargill for round two this weekend.

Leading results from round 1 of the NZ Superbikes championship raced at Ruapuna today:

Superbikes race 1: , Robbie Budgen (Brisbane, Suzuki) 1, James Smith (Christchurch, Suzuki) 2, Sloan Frost (Cambridge, Suzuki) 3, Andrew Stroud (Hamilton, Suzuki) 4, Ryan Hampton (Christchurch, Honda) 5.

Race 2: Stroud 1, Frost 2, Ray Clee (Auckland, Suzuki) 3, Smith 4, Hayden Fitzgerald (New Plymouth, Honda) 5.

Superbike Series points; Stroud, 38 1, Frost, 36 2, Smith, 33 3, Clee 26 4, Budgen 25 5.

600 Supersport race 1: Nick Cole (Hamilton, Kawasaki) 1, James Smith (Christchurch, Suzuki) 2, Jamie Galway (Masterton, Honda) 3, John Ross (Yamaha) 4, Karl Morgan (Auckland, Suzuki) 5.

Race 2 (New Zealand 600 Supersport grand prix): Cole 1, Smith 2, Ross 3, Galway 4, Jay Lawrence (Wellington, Yamaha) 5.

600 Supersport series points; Cole 50 1, Smith, 40 2, Ross, 29 3, Galway 29 4, Morgan, 21 5.

- NZPA