SuperGP’s bag of surprises
TOUGH COMPETITION: WEEKEND FAVOURITE ROUGHS IT OUT TO CLAIM SEASON TITLE A desperate Blaze Baker nearly unsettles Adolf Boshoff’s sure victory.
Tto the title.
In racing though, things don’t always go to plan.
Blaze Baker (Uncle Andy Suzuki GSXR600) knew he had to finish in front of Boshoff to keep his slender title chances alive. This he did by taking victory from Malcolm Rudman (Megaforce Kawasaki ZX6), with Boshoff only managing a distant third.
Dylan Barnard (Kawasaki ZX6), Byron Bester (Hi Tech Elements Triumph 675) and Zante Otto (Inex Construction Kawasaki ZX6) completed the Top six in the national category.
But Boshoff made no mistake in the second heat taking the victory, and with it the 2016 Super600 title, from Rudman and Baker.
Bester, Otto and Dian Nelson (Triumph) completed the Top six.
Despite a crash in Friday’s opening practice session that left him battered and bruised, Clint Seller (Neolife Yamaha R1) kept his SuperGP championship hopes alive when he took pole position and both race wins.
Mathew Scholtz (ETR Nashua Yamaha R1) went to Dezzi Raceway with a 39-point lead in the SuperGP title race.
This gave him the freedom to go out and score points instead of having to fight for the win in each race.
His closest rival, Seller, crashed hard in the opening practice session, but the Neolife Yamaha team managed to repair the damaged bike, and Seller thanked them by taking pole position.
Race day brought an improvement in the weather, and when the lights went, there was no stopping the defending champion.
He controlled things from the front and went on to a comfortable four-second win.
Scholtz, realising there was no benefit to chasing and crashing, settled for second, limiting the points loss, while Greg Gildenhuys (Kreepy Krauly Kawasaki ZX10R) fought his way through from the third row of the grid to take the final podium position.
Brent Harran, in only his second outing on the MVC Marketing Yamaha R1, come home fourth ahead of Brandon Goode (Linex Yamaha R1) and veteran Lance Isaacs (LIR Motorrad BMW S1000RR).
There was more of the same at the head of the second race, Seller again taking the win from Scholtz.
Harran got the better of a dice with Michael White (Consortium Shipping Yamaha R1) to take the final step on the podium.
Gildenhuys had to settle for fifth ahead of Isaacs.
Scholtz goes into the final round, at Red Star Raceway on October 29, with a 29-point lead meaning one win will give him the title.
Lance Isaacs, who wrapped up the 2016 SuperMasters title in Port Elizabeth, continued his unbroken run of victories in the class, taking both race wins.
Hendrik de Bruin (RSA Racing Yamaha R1) claimed the runners up spot in the opening race, with Damion Purificati (Amalgam Welding Kawasaki) in third.
Purificati and De Bruin swapped places in the second race.
SuperJunior championship leader Aiden Liebenberg (Fercor Construction) dominated the entire opening heat, winning by almost 17 seconds from Brandon Staffen.
They were followed by Chase Hulscher (EXIS Engineering), Connor Hagan and Gareth Gehlig.
Race two was a lot closer, but Liebenberg still dominated.
This time, it was PE double winner Dominic Doyle in second and Staffen in third. Hackart, Gehlig and Hulscher completed the Top six.
Liebenberg now has a 36-point lead at the top of the log and will have to suffer a major misfortune at Red Star Raceway if he is not to be crowned 2016 champion.
Jade Gutzeit (Dunlop Dezzi Ducati) took both BOTTS wins.
In the first race, he was followed home by Jason Wessels (LiquiMoly KTM) and Neil van Loggerenberg (Purewealth KTM).
In race two, Shaun Jubber (RAD KTM RC8) took second ahead of Wessels.
The final round of the SuperGP Champions Trophy will take place at Red Star Raceway outside Delmas on October 29.