Cape Town – The dark-horse factor in Round 4 of the Mike Hopkins Regional Motorcycle series, this Saturday at Killarney, is likely to be the weather. As winter settles over the Western Cape it becomes completely unpredictable, often pouring with rain in the morning for qualifying but totally dry in the afternoon.
This can make tyre choice something of a lottery but, unless somebody gets it completely wrong, the top four spots in the Superbikes races will be decided between defending champion Ronald Slamet, young gun Gerrit Visser, Trevor Westman and veteran Malcom Rapson, each on a Kawasaki ZX-10R.
Right behind them, and ready to pounce should any of the leaders make a mistake, will be Hayden Jonas (ASAP World ZX-6R) and Andre Calvert (KC Transport ZX-6R) the only two 600 Challenge riders in Class A. After a difficult start to the season, Jonas has found form of late and it will be up to Calvert to take the fight to the class champion.
Born-again racer John Oliver put in two convincing rides on the Glass It R6 last time out to put his name on the Class B silverware. His major opposition is likely to come from Alex van den Berg on the Wicked ZX-6R, Karl Schultz on the second ASAP machine and Jacques Ackermann’s Jotim R1.
Never write off Triumph rider David Enticott, however. His new Motorwise 675 Daytona had barely been assembled, let alone fettled, before its race debut four weeks ago. With a month of development under its wheels, it’s likely to ruffle some feathers in the Class B ranks this weekend.
Expect Class C to be a three-way battle between Wayne Arendse (Honda CBR600RR), Wesley Lewin (Yamaha R1) and Eric Everson (Honda CBR600), bearing in mind that the wetter the circuit, the less usable will be Lewin’s power advantage.
POWERSPORT/CLASSIC
Powersport star Warren Guantario’s sudden return to form on the rebuilt Calberg ER6 - now with a ZX-10R fuel pump to cure its drinking problem - has thrown this class wide open. But it remains to be seen whether Calberg team-mates JP Friedrich and Andrew Liebenberg will rise to the challenge, although Mike van Rensburg on the MVR ER6 (no respecter of persons!) will certainly be in the frame.
Unless we see a late entry from Danie Maritz and his championship-winning Suzuki GSX-R750 Pre-Sling, Classic Class honours will almost certainly be fought out between John ‘Konstabel’ Costerman (Suzuki GSX-R750) and Tony Jones’ Ducati 650 Allazura.
Don’t let the weather put you put you off; winter racing at Killarney introduces a whole new set of variables. Bundle up warm for some fascinating racing.