Three-time Australian Superbike Champion Shawn Giles has moved into second place in the New Zealand Superbike Championship following his race victory at Sunday’s Suzuki-dominated Manfield second round. He set a new qualifying lap record of 1:07.286m around the 3.030km circuit to put the Suzuki GSX-R1000 on pole position for each of the nine-lap races. Heavy rain on Saturday afternoon forced the opening race to be postponed until Sunday when all three races were squeezed into an action-packed schedule. Picking up where they left off in round one, the first race saw another Suzuki one-two-three with the leading trio finishing in their original championship order with Giles in third behind Ray Clee and leader Andrew Stroud. A strong start in race two saw the Australian hero head the opening laps before being passed by Stroud. Giles came home behind Stroud and ahead of Scott Charlton. The final nine-lap contest saw Giles rocket to the head of the field where he remained unchallenged until the chequered flag. The third race witnessed yet another Suzuki whitewash with Clee and Stroud trailing Giles. “The GSX-R1000 is working brilliantly – all Suzukis holding the top four spots in the Championship is testament to just how strong the bike is,” said Giles. “Having moved up into second place is great for Team Suzuki Australia but Andrew Stroud increased his points advantage. We will be working very hard to make sure he doesn’t get away from us.” Giles now returns home to Australia for Christmas before racing resumes in Teretonga on January 6-8th for round three of the New Zealand Superbike Championship. Superbike Standings (after 2 rounds): 1. Andrew Stroud (Suzuki) 132 points, 2. Shawn Giles (Suzuki) 110, 3. Ray Clee (Suzuki) 101, 4. Scott Charlton (Suzuki) 81, 5. Dean Fulton 63, 6. Jared Love 54, 7. Chris Haldane 49, 8. Chris Peris 43, 9. Jon Lowther 42, 10. Jason McEwen 41.