Wins first local event; now for Europe
Known in local motorcycle racing circles as McFlash, David McFadden from Cape Town has the world at his feet after taking overall victory in a regional racing event at Killarney after switching to Suzuki just two weeks before.
McFadden, who had his very first outing on a Suzuki GSXR 1000 L5 at the Mike Hopkins Regional Superbike Championship event at Killarney on Saturday 5 September, is on his way to race in the World Superstock series for Team Suzuki Europe next week.
David recently decided to switch motorcycles after a long and successful career with another brand, and was welcomed to the Suzuki Way of Life with open arms.
Receiving his GSXR 1000 only two weeks before the race, McFadden – with the help of Suzuki South, MSD, RacePrep and his parents Norman and Debbie – started transforming the standard road bike into a racing machine.
Apart from some suspension tuning, a new air filter and a quick shifter, the Suzuki GSXR 1000 L5 remained standard.
Emphasising David’s ability as a rider, testing and eventually qualifying for his very first race on a Suzuki went according to plan, and McFadden took the second starting position on the front row of the first of two races at Killarney.
When the lights turned green, Suzuki fans jumped to their feet as McFadden shot ahead of the pack and led the field into turn one. A race-long battle with experienced ZX10 rider Ronald Slammet ended with McFadden crossing the line a mere 0,055 seconds behind Slammet.
“The bike turns and holds a line like no other bike I have ridden, and I took full advantage of that,” McFadden said between races. “As it is a brand new bike, I realised I would be outpaced in outright speed in the long back straight, but I also knew that I could regain time going into turns faster and getting on the power earlier to keep the rest of the field at bay,” he said.
This worked perfectly and McFadden settled just a length or two behind the race leader, waiting for the last corner to make his move, but it was not to be.
“I missed the lap board and didn’t realise when the last lap came up, so I had to settle for second,” a frustrated McFadden said.
Not expecting much from a brand new bike, Suzuki fans swarmed the pits to congratulate McFadden and the team, but little did they know what was in store for Race 2…
From the word go the second race of the day was much the same as the first with McFadden leading into turn one, later settling behind Slammet who again made a pass on the back straight.
“McFlash was having none of that and outbraked his rival into turn five at the end of the straight, riding on the outside,” said Dominic Nessling, Suzuki Dealer Area Manager for the Western Cape, who assisted David and the team.
When the flag came out, McFadden corrected his rookie error in the first race by taking victory by a margin of 0,9 seconds – enough to score the overall win for the day.
“Suzuki is back, and to win on debut was a very special feeling for the team and fans of the Suzuki Way of Life alike,” said Nessling.
McFadden leaves for Spain next week to join Team Suzuki Europe for the World Superstock race at the famous Jerez circuit.
After Jerez he will be back for his next race on local soil on 26 September back at Killarney.
