Seven from seven for superpole king Seller at Phakisa
Warm sunny weather that followed a particularly unpleasant dust storm in the Free State goldfields near Welkom earlier in the week, that dumped tons of sand on Johannesburg on Thursday, provided perfect riding conditions at the Phakisa Freeway this afternoon for qualifying and Super Pole for the penultimate round of the Monster Energy SuperGP Champions Trophy.
And for the seventh time in seven rounds it was 2013 SA Superbike champion Clint Seller (Portable Shade Race! Kawasaki ZX10R) who claimed the coveted SuperPole for the blue riband even of the weekend, the Monster Energy SuperGP. Earlier the championship leader had set fastest time in official qualifying, beating current championship runner-up Lance Isaacs (Black Swan Energy BMW S1000RR) by 0.292 sec and third-placed Garrick Vlok (Pre-Empt Fire and Security Kawasaki ZX10R) by 0.417 sec.
In the SuperPole, where the top 10 riders contest a single timed lap shoot-out to determine the grid positions for the first of Sunday’s two 30-minute races, the top three from qualifying retained their places. However, Seller gave notice of his intentions with a best lap around the 4,24-kilomere Phakisa circuit that was a clear seven tenths of a second better than Isaacs.
Dylan White (Portable Shade Race! Kawasaki ZX10R) improved from fifth in qualifying to fourth in SuperPole at the expense of Brent Harran (Black Swan Energy BMW S1000RR), who dropped from fourth fastest in qualifying to fifth in SuperPole.
Ronald Slamet, back from injury after missing the previous round at Zwartkops Raceway in Gauteng in September, improved his seventh place in qualifying to sixth in SuperPole and will start from the outside of the third row of the 3-3-3 grid on his Novel Ford and Mike Hopkins-backed Kawasaki ZX10R, 2 min 1.58 sec behind Seller.
SuperGP SuperPole:
- 1 Clint Seller 1:38.447;
- 2 Lance Isaacs +0.772;
- 3 Garrick Vlok +1.253;
- 4 Dylan White +1.460;
- 5 Brent Harran +1.825;
- 6 Ronald Slamet +2.158;
- 7 Brandon Goode +2.553;
- 8 Ryan van Aswegen (Gem Auto Service Centre Kawasaki ZX10R) +2.367;
- 9 Ivan van Niekerk (Recon Racing Kawasaki ZX10R) +3.596;
- 10 Brandon Haupt (MxCleanKawasaki ZX10R) +3.805.
Super600 national championship leader Steven Odendaal (Portable Shade Race! Kawasaki ZX6R) will start from pole position after edging team-mate Mathew Scholtz, second in the championship, by 0.327 sec. Completing the front row of the grid for the first of tomorrow’s two 25-minute races will be 2013 SA Supersport champion Cameron Petersen (Emtek/Brother Yamaha R6), who posted a best lap 0.432 sec off the pole.
Fourth fastest and first on the second row of the grid will be Dean Vos (EmTek/Brother Yamaha R6), who will have alongside him Darryn Binder (IndyOil Suzuki GSXR) and Blaze Baker (Russell Wood/Muscle and Fitness Gym Kawasaki ZX6). With just a tenth of a second separating these three, fireworks can be expected in the opening laps.
Super600 qualifying:
- 1 Steven Odendaal 1:39.951;
- 2 Mathew Scholtz +0.327;
- 3 Cameron Peterson +0.432;
- 4 Dean Vos +1.360;
- 5 Darryn Binder +1.469;
- 6 Blaze Baker +0.430;
- 7 Nicholas Kershaw (Tsunami Beach Bar Kawasaki ZX6R) +1.667;
- 8 Allann-Jon Venter (AJ Venter Racing/Wiesenhof Triumph 675) +2.417;
- 9 Anthony Shelly (Fercor Construction Kawasaki ZX6) +2.433;
- 10 Nicole van Aswegen (Triumph SA/ Women in Motorsport Triumph 675) +2.750.
Nicolas Grobler, who scored two runner-up finishes in the opening round of the Monster Energy SuperGP Champions Trophy at Phakisa Freeway in March aboard a BMW S1000RR, made a triumphant return to the new-look stand-alone national championship motorcycle tour on a Black Swan Energy/Golden Mile Estate BMW HP4 in the SuperM national challenge, taking pole position for the first of tomorrow’s two 25-minute races. Challenge leader Kyle Robinson (Fantech Kawasaki ZX10R) was second fastest, 2.67 sec in arrears and just one tenth of a second ahead of third-placed Beau Levey (Motos KTM Klerksdorp KTM RC8).
Darien Kayser was again quickest of the 600 riders on his Uncle Andy Racing/DNA Motorcyles Kawasaki ZX6R and will line up on the inside of the second row of the grid after posting a best lap just 0.078 slower than Levey on the outside of the front row.
Teddy Brooke (Brooke Refrigeration Kawasaki ZX10) will start from fifth on the grid ahead of Justin Gillesen (Portable Shade Kawasaki ZX10), John Krieger (Full Throttle Kawasaki ZX10) and lone female rider in the Challenge, Janine Davies (More Money/Enbridge-Torque-sure Consultants BMW S1000RR).
SuperM qualifying:
- 1 Nicolas Grobler 1:40.020;
- 2 Kyle Robinson +2.671;
- 3 Beau Levey +2.808;
- 4 Darien Kayser +2.878;
- 5 Teddy Brooke +3.094;
- 6 Justin Gillesen +3.618;
- 7 John Krieger +3.890;
- 8 Janine Davies 4.837.
To access live timing and live streaming of tomorrow’s races, go to www.supergp.co.za and register. The feature race, the second Monster Energy SuperGP race, will be screened live on SABC 3 from 15h00 in a special one-hour programme that marks the first live coverage of national championship motorsport on free-to-air television for a great many years.
