Pretoria - Brent Harran (Kawasaki ZX-10R) did it while the sun was shining, Lance Isaacs (BMW S1000RR) waited until it rained, but each took a SuperGP race win at Zwartkops on Sunday in the second round of the national motorcycle series.
Harran signalled his intentions in SuperPole, when he was the only rider to break the 62 second barrier. Clint Seller (Kawasaki ZX-10R) who had, prior to this meeting, never been beaten in a SuperGP SuperPole, could not match Harran's time and had to be content with second, just 0.05s slower, while Mathew Scholtz (Yamaha R1) completed the front row of the grid.
Isaacs headed the second row with Nicholas Kershaw (BMW S1000RR) and Brandon Goode (Yamaha R1) alongside him.
Harran got the hole shot when the lights went out for the start of Race 1; Isaacs pulled a good start and was harrying Seller though the first couple of corners but, before half a lap had been completed, it was certain that the fight at the head of the field was going to be between Harran and Seller.
Harran led for the first couple of laps but once Seller got through he was content to sit in the defending champion's wheel-tracks until the penultimate lap, when Harran made the decisive move, retaking the lead and hanging on to win by 0.2s.
Isaacs had a lonely race in third while behind him Anthony Shelley (Kawasaki ZX-10R) just won the battle for fourth from Scholtz. Goode and Kershaw finished in sixth and seventh respectively.
As the rain that had been threatening for most of the afternoon finally began, race officials declared the second leg a wet race. As the riders made their way onto the grid the rain began to fall harder, prompting some who had taken the gamble to stay on dry-weather tyres to make hasty changes.
Isaacs used the first couple of laps to find out where the grip was before opening up a substantial lead, going on to win by more than 10 seconds. Behind him Scholtz used all his European wet-weather experience to move up through the field and finish second.
Seller, who admits he doesn't like racing in the rain, hung on to finish third despite a fall with three laps to go. Goode, Kershaw and Harran completed the top six.
Isaacs' big winning margin in Race 2 gave him the overall win for the day, from Scholtz and Seller.
SUPER600
Steven Odendaal set the fastest time of the Super600 qualifying session on his new Yamaha R6 but his time was disallowed due to a technical infringement. That left him at the back of the grid and promoted Adolf Boshoff ( Kawasaki ZX-6R) to pole position, ahead of Michael White (Kawasaki ZX-6R) and Blaze Baker (Kawasaki ZX-6R).
Allan-Jon Venter (Triumph Daytona 675) was fourth with Dylan Barnard (Kawasaki ZX-6R) and Nicole van Aswegen (Triumph Daytona 675) rounding out the top six.
The first lap was all action with Baker making an off-track excursion that dropped him to the back of the field and Odendaal flying though the field to slot into third behind Boshoff and White.
Odendaal waited for a couple of laps before moving to the head of the field, as White also passed Boshoff and hung on to Odendaal, taking the chequered flag just 0.15s behind the defending champion. Boshoff lost contact with the leading duo and had to settle for third, about five seconds back.
Venter spent much of the race in a battle with Malcolm Rudman eventually losing out to the Kawasaki mounted rider. Stablemate van Aswegen finished sixth behind Venter.
For much of Race 2 there was a four-way battle at the head of the field. Baker took the early lead from White, Odendaal and Boshoff but Odendaal was looking for the double on the day and once he'd moved to the front he slowly opened up a gap.
While he wasn't able to run away at the head of the field, he took the flag comfortably clear of a race-long three-way battle for second that saw Boshoff, a late-charging Baker and White finish in that order. The Rudman / Venter grudge match continued where it left off in the first race, round two also going to Rudman who crossed the line fifth, a little more than half a second ahead of Venter.
Two wins on the day sealed overall honours for Odendaal with White and Boshoff in second and third respectively.
SUPERJUNIOR
Cape Town's Branden Staffen took pole position for the first SuperJunior race but with less than a second covering the top six he was going to have to work to convert it into a win. Work he did, although he was helped when William Friend's bike suffered fuel problems and he was force to retire. Friend's woes allowed Lance Marais to take second from Tyreece Roberts. Luca Coccioni, Dominic Doyle and Reinhald Joubert rounded out the top six.
Staffen showed his first heat win was no fluke when he held off a determined Friend to take the win in the second race. Roberts was again third with Marais in fourth. Coccioni and Joubert were fifth and sixth respectively.
SUPER M
Championship leader Beau Levey (KTM RC8) was pipped to pole position by Themba Khumalo (Honda) but he didn't let that worry him in the race, going on to take a comfortable win. Neil van Loggerenberg (KTM RC8) took the final podium position.
The final result of the second race was identical to that of the first but that is where the similarity ends. Khumalo and Levey had a race-long battle until Khumalo fell on the last lap, allowing Levey to take the win. Khumalo was able to re-mount and crossed the line in second on his battered Honda. Van Loggerenberg again claimed the final podium spot.
The SuperGP series will head to sea level for its next outing with the teams and riders making their way down to Cape Town for the next round at Killarney on 17 May.