SuperGP back at Phakisa for Round 7

2013 SA Superbike champion Clint Seller leads the headline SuperGP series on a Kawasaki ZX-10R with 228 points and eight wins from 12 starts. Picture: Paul Bedford

2013 SA Superbike champion Clint Seller leads the headline SuperGP series on a Kawasaki ZX-10R with 228 points and eight wins from 12 starts. Picture: Paul Bedford

Published Oct 17, 2014

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Welkom, Free State - It's been seven months since the new-look stand-alone national motorcycle series got off to a slightly wobbly start at Phakisa Freeway in March.

Now, six rounds and 12 races later, the SuperGP circus is back at South Africa's only purpose-built Grand Prix motorcycle circuit for the penultimate round of the inaugural series this weekend (18 and 19 October) with two national championships and a national challenge finely balanced, putting the top contenders under pressure and promising intensely close racing.

Last year's SA Superbike champion, Clint Seller, leads the headline SuperGP series - a uniquely South African national championship category for litre-class, base-level Evo rules machines with (very) limited modifications - on a Kawasaki ZX-10R with 228 points and eight wins from 12 starts.

His closest rivals are veteran Lance Isaacs, always there or thereabouts, having scooped 218 points (including two race wins) and his BMW S1000 RR team-mate Bret Harran, who boasts just one race win in his tally of 192 points.

It's worth noting that the all-conquering, limited-edition BMW HP4 is ineligible under SuperGP rules; Isaacs and Harran are riding standard S1000 RR road bikes.

Nevertheless, with a maximum of 100 points still to be on offer, one of these three will almost certainly be the first SuperGP champion come November. Fourth-placed Brandon Goode, riding a privateer Kawasaki ZX-10R, trails Seller by 93 points and has only the slimmest mathematical chance of taking the title. Still, it has been done, so never say never…

Dylan White (the only other race winner this year) and 'wild child' Garrick Vlok, each on a Kawasaki ZX-10R, are both podium contenders, always ready to pounce on any momentary lapse of concentration from the top three.

SUPER600

Super600 is also a street-based class; the 599cc four-cylinder bikes are permitted a far more limited range of modifications than the previous Supersports machines.

Kawasaki ZX-6R rider Steven Odendaal, with 256 points, is the man to beat after claiming seven wins and four seconds in 12 starts. His main rivals are Matthew Scholtz - also ZX-6R mounted - who won both races at round five in KwaZulu-Natal and is second in the championship with 196 points, and Dean Vos (Yamaha R6), who has six podiums and three seconds to his credit.

The championship will go to one of these three with fourth-placed Blaze Baker (Kawasaki ZX-6R) out of contention, 136 points in arrears with a maximum of 100 on offer. Riders to watch this weekend also include Kawasaki stalwarts Anthony Shelley and Nicholas Kershaw, and Vos' Yamaha team-mate Cameron Petersen.

SUPER M

This run-what-ya-brung challenge caters for machines (and riders!) rendered obsolete by the strict SuperGP Evo rules and runs three classes side by side, for 1000cc old-rules Superbikes, 600cc Supersport bikes and SuperMasters, for riders older than 35 years on Superbike-spec machinery.

Kyle Robinson (Kawasaki ZX-10R) already has one hand on the Super M Challenge trophy with 217 points and a comfortable 86-point lead over closest rival Justin Gillesen, also on a ZX-10R. Third-placed Janine Davies (BMW S1000 RR), the only female rider in the category, has 118 points and a 99-point deficit that virtually rules her out of championship contention.

Promising young rider Darien Kayser is one to watch aboard his Kawasaki ZX-6R, the highest-placed 600cc motorcycle in a category dominated by litre-class machines; two seconds in the previous round in Gauteng put him firmly on the map.

Teddy Brooke (Kawasaki ZX10) and Beau Levey (KTM RC8) each have a couple of podium finishes to their credit and will be looking to add to these in the remaining rounds.

All rounds follow the format of the World Superbike series, with practice and qualifying on Saturday and racing on Sunday.

Tickets and full programme details for Round 7 of the SuperGP Champions Trophy can be obtained on the SuperGP website , where you can also follow Sunday’s races on live streaming from 10am to 4pm .

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