Phakisa Freeway - Clint Seller (Kawasaki ZX10) got his SuperGP title defence off to a textbook start at the weekend with the fastest time in Superpole on Saturday and two race wins on Sunday, while his NeoLife Racing stable-mate Steven Odendaal did exactly the same the Super600 class - although there was plenty of drama along the way.
SUPERGP
Torrential rain on Saturday meant all the riders went out for qualifying with very little practice. Brent Harran (Kawasaki ZX10) was the only rider to break the 1m40s barrier in practice with Seller, and BMW S1000 RR riders Nicholas Kershaw and Lance Isaacs, more than a second adrift.
But the champion put up a Superpole lap nobody else could match, nearly half a second ahead of Kershaw, with Isaacs completing the front row of the grid.
Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha R1) got a magic start off the second row to lead into the first corner, with Harran and Seller in hot pursuit - but it didn't take long for normal service to be resumed, with Seller in front and Harran pushing hard in second
Too hard actually; Harran took a huge tumble at about half-distance. He was able to re-mount, but a broken footpeg meant his challenge was over, as Seller went on to win by nearly nine seconds from Kershaw Isaacs, Scholtz and Brandon Goode on the second Emtek R1. Harran held on (literally) to finish sixth ahead of 'wild child' Garrick Vlok (Kawasaki ZX10) whose race was spoilt by a couple of off-track excursions.
Race 2 started with the rain that had been around all day threatening to return. Luckily, other than a few drops during the first couple of laps, it stayed away, as Isaacs took the early lead from Seller and Harran, whose pit crew had worked a minor miracle to get the bike ready in time.
Once Seller got past, however, he was able to control things from the front; Isaacs had to settle for second after his tyres cried enough, while the battle for the final podium spot eventually went to Harran with rookie of the day, Kershaw, in fourth.
SUPER600
Odendaal threw down the gauntlet with a qualifying time almost 1.3 seconds quicker than second qualifier Adolf Boshoff (Kawasaki ZX6) with Michael White (also ZX6-mounted) a further four tenths back.
Odendaal was never challenged in Race 1, cruising to a 13-second win ahead of Boshoff, who had a lonely race in second. The battle for the final podium spot was the dice of the day with White eventually taking it from Blaze Baker (Kawasaki ZX6) and the Triumph 675s of Allan-Jon Venter and Nicole van Aswegen in close attendance.
Baker grabbed the lead for the first couple of laps in Race 2 before Odendaal got to the front and romped away as before, while Baker, Venter, Boshoff and White battled it out for second - until Boshoff suffered a burst front brake hose and skillted Venter. The bikes were a bit second-hand after that but fortunately the riders walked away largely uscathed.
Odendaal took the win from White with Baker third and Van Aswegen fourth, ahead of Malcolm Rudman (Yamaha R6) and Anthony Lessing (Kawasaki ZX6).
SUPERJUNIOR
This new category, where all the riders are mounted on KTM RC390s looked like it was going to have a three-way battle at the head of the field, with Dorren Loureiro, Cameron Aitken and William Friend substantially quicker than the field in qualifying.
But Friend's bike wouldn't start in time for him to make it onto the grid for the first race so he had to start from pit lane. This made for a two-way fight for the lead for the first half of the race between Loureiro and Aitken. Approaching half distance, Aitken fell, leaving Loureiro to take an easy win, while Friend worked his way through from last place after his pit lane start to cross the line in second with Luca Coccioni third. Dominic Doyle, Jenna Eekhout and Reinhald Joubert rounded out the top six.
In the absence of Aitken, who'd damaged his shoulder in his first-race crash, it was left to Loureiro and Friend to fight it out in Race 2. Loureiro looked to have it in the bag but the front of his bike washed out on the final corner allowing Friend through to take the flag. Loureiro re-mounted but had to settle for sixth. Coccioni and Doyle finished in second and third with Eekhout fourth and Joubert fifth.