Multiple national champion Clint Seller (MiWay Yamaha Racing R1) signalled his return to form at Killarney on Saturday, 25 March 2017 when he won both 1000cc races at the opening round of the 2017 DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy. In the SuperMasters category defending champion Lance Isaacs (LIR BMW S1000RR) continued where he left off at the end of 2016 with two comfortable wins.
In the Super600 races the wins were shared by Hayden Jonas (Samurai Racing Kawasaki ZX6) and Steven Odendaal (Petra Yamaha Racing R6) while a new star emerged in the opening SuperJunior race. Sam Lockoff went from the back of the grid to take the win. Ricardo Otto (Otto Racing KTM RC390) took the second heat.
Seller showed his intentions in Friday afternoon’s qualifying session, setting a time 0.6 seconds quicker than David “McFlash” McFadden (RPM Centre / Sandton Auto BMW S1000RR) with Greg Gildenhuys (Autohaus Towing / Transport.co.za Kawasaki ZX10R) completing the front row of the grid. The second row was filled by Ronald Slamet (Helderberg Yamaha R1), Daryn Upton (Paramount Tracks Kawasaki ZX10R) and Isaacs, the first of the SuperMasters riders.
In the opening race Seller grabbed the lead from the start and was never challenged on his way to a comfortable win. Gildenhuys got past McFadden at the start but the Capetonian regain the place on the second lap although he could do nothing about catching Seller. Isaacs slowly closed the gap on Gildenhuys and from shortly after the half-distance mark the pair were involved in a ding-dong battle for the final step on the podium. Isaacs took it by less than a bike length. Michael White (Consortium Shipping Yamaha R1) and AJ Venter (Team Hygenica Yamaha Racing R1) rounded out the top six.
Race 2 was similar in that Seller grabbed an early lead with Gildenhuys and McFadden fighting for second in the early stages. McFadden Go past Gildenhuys on lap three and, although he closed the gap to Seller, could not get close enough to challenge the former champion and had to settle for second. Gildenhuys completed the podium.
Isaacs and White battled all race long over fourth place; Isaacs was in front when it mattered, taking the flag less than a tenth ahead of White and taking another SuperMasters win. Venter again took sixth.
Defending Super600 champion Adolf Boshoff (MiWay Yamaha Racing R6) had a huge crash in practice on Friday, destroying his race bike. While he was uninjured his spare bike didn’t have the pace of the race bike and he could only manage second behind Jonas in qualifying. Odendaal completed the front row. Blaze Baker (Uncle Andy Racing Suzuki GSXR 600), Kewyn Snyman (Inex Construction Kawasaki ZX6) and Warren Guantario (Madmacs Kawasaki ZX6) filled the second row.
In a race that came to a premature end due to a number of red flag incidents, Jonas and Odendaal had the Cape Town crowd on the edge of their seats. In the end it was Jonas that took the win from Odendaal with the battle for third, between Boshoff and Baker going the way of the 2016 champion. Guantario and Snyman completed the top six.
In the second race Odendaal, Jonas and Boshoff engaged in a three-way battle at the front with positions changing every lap. They finished in that order covered by just over half a second. Baker just didn’t have the pace to fight with the leading trio and settled for fourth ahead of Guantario and Jesse Boshoff (Kawasaki ZX10).
SuperJunoior series newcomer Lockoff set a time that would have given him second on the grid but his time was disallowed as he failed to go to parc firme after the qualifying session. This gave second to Luca Coccioni behind Otto with Tyreece Robert in third. Taric van der Merwe, Connor Hagen and Saul Turvey filled the second row.
The first race was another that was interrupted by a red flag after a crash but the Juniors were able to re-start their race. When the time in the two halves were tallied it was Lockoff who emerged on top ahead of van der Merwe, another newcomer to the series, with Robert in third.
In race two Lockoff fell after setting the fastest lap of the race. While he was able to remount, he ended up down the field. The race win went to Otto who was chased to the line by Robert with van der Merwe in third.
The DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy next heard to East London on the last weekend of April where round 2 takes place in conjunction with Africa Bike Week.