It’s track of dreams as super riders revved up in fast lane

Clint Seller out in front of the rest of the SuperGP pack Picture: SUPPLIED
Clint Seller out in front of the rest of the SuperGP pack Picture: SUPPLIED
Extreme speeds are expected to be reached as Superbikes take centre-stage at the East London Grand Prix track from today, with the second round of the DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy on show today and tomorrow.

With the All-Africa Bike Week in full flow after it officially kicked off on the Esplanade yesterday morning, the exciting racing action is set to complement the event and give the thousands of motorbike enthusiasts something to watch among all the other activities over the weekend.

“What we have done is we have joined forces with the Africa Bike Week for the next three years. So it will form part of the festivities for the week over the next three years,” said event media manager Paul Bedford.

“We believe that this will bring in a large crowd of appreciative supporters to come and watch the racing.”

With the East London race track known for its intense speeds and hair-raising turns, some very exciting action should be on the cards as competitors push their bikes to the limit in an effort to take the spoils.

“If the opening round in Cape Town a month ago is anything to go by there should be some extremely tight racing,” said Bedford.

“The guys are really on it this year and as each year goes past the guys get more professional and it is now becoming a very special standalone bike tour that is equal to anything in the world.

“A number of competitors who have come through our series are now competing on the world stage, so quite a few of the guys on show this weekend will be going that same way.”

Early championship leader Clint Seller is expected to be the hot favourite going into the second round after he took two comfortable wins in the opening round at Killarney in Cape Town last month.

The MiWay Yamaha Racing R1 rider will be gunning for more glory and should be considered the man to beat this weekend.

The main challengers on the day are expected to be David “McFlash” McFadden (RPM Centre/Sandton Auto BMW S1000RR) who took second place in both races at the first round, as well as Greg Gildenhuys (Autohaus Towing / Transport.co.za Kawasaki ZX10R), Michael White (Consortium Shipping Yamaha R1) and AJ Venter (Team Hygenica Yamaha Racing R1), while SuperMasters champion Lance Isaacs (SupaBets LIR BMW S1000RR) will be another rider eager to be at the head of the field.

The Super600 class is then set to be a battle between defending champion Adolf Boshoff (MiWay Yamaha Racing R6), who took two third place finishes in the first round after crashing his main bike out, leaving him to compete on a reserve bike, and Hayden Jonas (Samurai Racing Kawasaki ZX6) who took one of the two wins in the first round.

The national classes will be supported by a full programme of regional and local classes. As usual, practice and qualifying take place today with two races for each category tomorrow.

“It is going to be a great race weekend and we invite everyone involved in the Bike Week as well as the general public in and around East London to come out and enjoy the event,” said Bedford.

The action gets under way this morning with a couple of practice sessions, with the racing kicking off this afternoon with the qualifying rounds.

Tomorrow will see an early morning warmup session before the official races get under way from 9.30am, with the action expected to end around 4pm.

For those who can’t make it down to Grand Prix track for the event, it will also be live streamed on www.supergp.co.za.

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