Cape Town – Adding to the excitement of the first visit this year of the Extreme Festival’s national racing classes to Killarney on Saturday 11 April will be a round of the Mike Hopkins Regional motorcycle series – and don’t think that because there isn’t a national title at stake, the racing won’t be just as intense.
In fact it’s likely to be more so, with at least three up-and-coming young stars and one veteran former champion determined to put the brakes on double winner Ronald Slamet’s seemingly inexorable progress towards a third consecutive title.
And the spice in the curry is that every one of these six riders will be aboard a Kawasaki ZX-10R, making the playing field about as level as it can be in motorsport and bringing Class A down to a contest of skill, nerve, steadiness under pressure and of course the indefinable will to win.
While Brandon Haupt has yet to convert the promise he showed in testing on the MX Clean ZX-10R into results in the heat of battle (making him next weekend’s dark horse), each of the others has shown himself capable of taking the fight to Slamet - and well aware that now is the time to do it, before the Namibian can build up an unassailable lead in the standings.
Slamet has said the rider he is most wary of is Trevor Westman; within his first four outings on the Mad Mac’s ZX-10R, Westman has shown himself to be the most consistent of this year’s challengers - and Slamet has predicted that there is more to come from both rider and machine.
A CHALLENGE WAITING TO HAPPEN
Perhaps the most underrated rider in the series, however, is privateer Gerrit Visser, who has been consistently just fractions of a second slower than Westman thus far and must be regarded as a challenge waiting to happen.
Former champion Malcolm Rapson - on a ZX-10R funded by Mrs Rapson - has suffered from fitness problems during the early part of this season but has also been second on the grid for every race so far this year, showing that he has the pace; as his stamina improves, so should his consistency, particularly in the do-or-die final laps.
The two stars of the 600 Challenge – Hayden Jonas (Asap World ZX-6RR) and Andre Calvert (KC Transport ZX-6R) – have turned my pre-season predictions upside down as Calvert has demonstrated steadiness under pressure, winning three of their four encounters, while defending champion Jonas has been plagued by electrical gremlins, unpredictable tyres and a crash he admitted was his own fault (“Just pushing too hard!”).
Sixteen-year-old Jonas is now the one under pressure; to get back on terms he has to finish both races and he has to finish ahead of Calvert.
Alex van den Berg (Wicked Tuning ZX-6R) has suddenly emerged as the form man in Class B, with born-again racer John Oliver (Glass It R6) and David Enticott’s Motorwise Daytona 675 his closest competitors. However, note that all three are 600 Challenge machines. Do not write off Wessel Kruger; his R1 will have an advantage in speed and acceleration that could cause an upset.
The most consistent rider in Class C this season has been Karl Schultz, aboard the second Asap World ZX-6R; he’s been running consistent Class B times, however, so it’s only a matter of time before he’s promoted, leaving Gavin Louw (Kawasaki ZX-10R) and rookie Jan Nytomt (BMW S1000 RR) to fight it out for Class C honours.