Brent Harran missed qualifying and SuperPole when electrical gremlins got into his RD Racing Odin Powersport Kawasaki ZX10R but his pit crew solved the problems and he rewarded them with two race wins in the third round of the 2015 DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy held at the Killarney Circuit in Cape Town on 17 May.
After missing out on pole position for the first time in SuperGP last time out at Zwartkops, it was back to normal for the Clint Seller when he put his new NeoLife Africa Yamaha R1 on pole position just seven hundredths of a second quicker than the similar EmTek Racing Nashua machine of Mathew Scholtz. Lance Isaacs (Black Swan Racing / BMW Motorrad S1000RR) was next with another Capetonian, Andrew Calvert (KC Transport Rentals Kawasaki ZX10R), in fourth. Nicholas Kershaw (Tsunami Beach Bar / BMW Motorrad S1000RR) and Garrick Vlok (Diamond Coring / Pre-Empt BMW S1000RR).
A number of local Superbike riders had joined the SuperM field and, although they were starting a row behind the SuperGP grid, the Kawasaki ZX10Rs of Davis McFadden (Race Prep Motorcycles / Stunt SA) and Ronald Slamet (Novel Ford / IS Freight) were expected to work their way through to the head of the combined race.
The big winner from the start was Harran who moved up to be part of the leading trio with Scholtz and Isaacs. The BMWs of Vlok and Kershaw had a very short race, both ending up in the kitty litter at the outside of the first turn leaving their riders to watch proceedings from the side of the track. Seller’s new Yamaha picked up an electrical malfunction and he pitted which dropped him to the back of the field. He did manage to continue and limit the damage to his championship aspirations by scoring some points for his eventual sixth place.
While the three-way battle at the head of the field continued McFadden and Slamet were working their way through to the head of the field. Three quarters of the way though the race Harran went down hard in turn 4. Concerned officials called for a medical vehicle, which left the riders expecting a red flag. They slowed, but when the race was not stopped, they resumed racing. When the chequered flag came out after 15 laps Isaacs was leading from Scholtz and Calvert but, after a hearing by the stewards, it was decided to declare the result after 11 laps which was before the medical car took to the circuit.
This gave the win to Harran with Scholtz in second and Isaacs third. Calvert was classified fourth with the second EmTek Racing Nashua Yamaha R1 of Brandon Goode in fifth.
McFadden took the SuperM win from Slamet with Trevor Westman (Mad Macs Racing Kawasaki ZX10R) in third. Aran van Niekerk (Sunoco Race Fuels BMW S1000RR) and David Bolding (PJ One Oil Kawasaki ZX10R) made it a Cape Town clean sweep of the top five positions with Beau Levey (Motos KTM RC8) completing the top six.
In race two it was again a three-way battle at the head of the field, this time between Harran, Seller and Scholtz. All of them led at some stage but it was Harran that was in front when it mattered, taking victory from Seller by just six hundredths of a second. Scholtz started losing grip in his tyres and settled for third. Isaacs, who was running with the leaders at the start of the race, slowly dropped back down the field suffering with brake problems. He eventually finished sixth behind Goode and Calvert.
An off-track excursion by Slamet early on in the race meant there was not going to be a repeat of his first race SuperM duel with McFadden who got past all the SuperGP riders on his way to the chequered flag. Westman and van Niekerk completed the podium. Bolding just managed to hold off a recovering Slamet to take fourth with Jacques Ackerman in sixth.
Super600
A number of Cape Town 600cc riders joined the Super600 field but, as their bikes didn’t comply with the national series rules, they ran as a separate class within the same race and starting a row behind the Super600 grid. Sheridan Morais (EmTek Racing Nashua Yamaha R6) claimed pole position from championship leader Steven Odendaal (NeoLife Africa Yamaha R6) with Michael White (Consortium Shipping Kawasaki ZX6) completing the front row of the grid. The second row of the grid was made up of Blaze Baker (Russell Wood Kawasaki ZX6), Nicole van Aswegen (Triumph SA / Women in Motorsport Triumph 675) and Dylan Barnard on his privately entered Kawasaki ZX6.
In the 600R class Hayden Jonas (ASAP World Kawasaki ZX6) led the way from John Oliver (Glass It Yamaha R6) and Alex van den Berg (Wicked Tuning / Viper Motorcycles Kawasaki ZX6).
In the first race the battle at the head of the field was initially between Morais and Odendaal while Jonas worked his way through the field to join them. The three of them opened a substantial gap over the rest of the field, thrilling the crowd with very close racing. A slight mistake by Jonas on the last lap allowed Morais and Odendaal through to take the top two places on the road and in the Super600 category. White claimed the final podium step in the Super600 category with Baker, Malcom Rudman (Kawasaki ZX6) and van Aswegen completing the top six.
Behind Jonas in the 600R class van der Berg was the best of the rest with Oliver not far behind.
The drama started early in race two when Odendaal binned it in Cape Town corner on the second lap. Morais did a similar thing just a lap later, crashing out of the lead and leaving White and Baker to fight for the Super600 win. White took a while to open up a gap over a determined Baker but, once he had done so, was slowly able to extend it, going on to win by just over four and a half seconds. Lady racer van Aswegen had the best result of her Super600 career, taking the final podium position.
With Odendaal and Morais on the side lines Jonas had things all his own way at the head of the combined field. He took an easy win in the 600R class from Oliver and van den Berg.
SuperJunior
Brandon Staffen took two race wins at Zwartkops a month ago when he made his debut in the SuperJunior National Challenge at Zwartkops and was looking to repeat the feat at his home circuit but it was another debutant that had other ideas.
Kewyn Snyman signalled his intentions with a qualifying lap over a second quicker than the rest of the field to make sure of pole position. William Friend and Staffen completed the front row of the grid. Luca Coccioni, Tyreece Robert and Dominic Doyle.
Snyman, Friend and Staffen were involved in an almighty battle for the lead until shortly before the end when Friend lost the front end of his bike leaving the other two to fight it out for the last couple of laps. Snyman hung on to take the win by a tenth of a second. Coccioni ended in a somewhat lonely third with Doyle claiming fourth by a bike length from Robert. Jared Schultz rounded out the top six.
The second race was another thriller with five riders vying for the lead. Snyman was in front when it counted albeit by only 0.05 seconds ahead of Staffen to take his second win of the day. Friend was less than a tenth of a second further back with Robert and Coccioni not far off. After 10 hard laps of racing the top five were within a second of each other. Schultz claimed another sixth place.
The DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy moves back inland for its next outing with the teams and riders heading off to Red Star Raceway in Mpumalanga for the fourth round on 14 June 2015.