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Clint Seller got the defence of his DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy title off to the perfect start on Sunday, 22 March when he set the fastest time in SuperPole and then won both races in the opening round of the 2015 title chase. Not to be outdone, his NeoLife Racing stablemate Steven Odendaal, took pole position and both wins in the Super600 category.  Super GP Torrential rain on Saturday meant all the riders went out for qualifying with very little practice. Brent Harran (Kawasaki ZX10) was the only rider to break the one minute forty second barrier with Seller, Nicholas Kershaw (Tsunami Beach Bar BMW S1000RR) and Lance Isaacs (Black Swan BMW S1000RR) within two tenths of each other just over a second back. Harran’s fastest lap time gave him the advantage of running last in SuperPole but Seller continued where he left off last season, putting in a lap that no one else could match. Harran had to settle for second, nearly half a second behind, with Isaacs completing the front row of the grid. Mathew Scholtz headed the second row of the grid on his Emtek Racing Yamaha R1 alongside Kershaw and Garrick Vlok (Kawasaki ZX10). Brandon Goode (Emtek Racing Yamaha R1) was the final qualifier. Scholtz reacted quickest when the lights went out and led the field into the first corner with Harran and Seller in hot pursuit. It didn’t take long for normal service to be resumed and Seller was soon back in front. Harran was closed behind but pushed a bit too hard and fell around the half-way mark. He was able to re-mount, but a missing foot peg meant his challenge was over. Seller went on to win by nearly nine seconds. Kershaw ended second ahead of Isaacs with Scholtz finishing in fourth ahead of team mate Goode. Harran recovered to finish sixth ahead of Vlok whose race was spoilt by a couple of off-track excursions. Race 2 started with the rain that had been around all day threatening to return. Luckily, other than a few drops during the first couple of laps, it stayed away. Isaacs led for the first couple of laps but again once Seller got past he was able to control things from the front. Isaacs eventually had to settle for second after his tyres cried enough. The battle for the final podium spot eventually went the way of Harran with rookie of the day, Kershaw, in fourth. Super 600 Odendaal gave a clear indication of his intentions during the Super600 qualifying session, setting a time almost 1.3 seconds quicker than second place man Adolf Boshoff on the Toy Store / Indy Oil Kawasaki ZX6. Michael White (Consortium Shipping Kawasaki ZX6) was a further four tenths back. Blaze Baker (Russell Wood Kawasaki) headed the second row ahead of the Triumphs of Allann-jon Venter and Nicole van Aswegen.
As was expected Odendaal was never challenged in race one and cruised to a 13-second win ahead of Boshoff who had a lonely race in second place. The battle for the final podium spot was the dice of the day with White eventually taking it from Baker with Venter and van Aswegen in close attendance. In the second race Baker grabbed the lead for the first couple of laps before Odendaal got to the front. Baker, Venter, Boshoff and White then battled it out for second until Boshoff suffered front brake failure and ran into Venter. Both bikes suffered substantial damage but, luckily, both riders walked away largely unscathed. Odendaal took the win from White with Baker third. Van Aswegen ended in fourth ahead of Malcolm Rudman (Yamaha R6) and Anthony Lessing (Kawasaki ZX6). Super Junior The new SuperJunior category, where all the riders are mounted on KTM RC390 machines, looked like it was going to have a three-way battle at the head of the field based on the times set during the early-morning qualifying session. Dorren Loureiro, Cameron Aitken and William Friend were substantially quicker than the other riders. Unfortunately for Friend, his bike wouldn’t start in time for him to make it onto the grid for the first race so he had to start from pit lane. This made for a two-way fight for the lead for the first half of the race between Loureiro and Aitken. Approaching half distance, Aitken fell leaving Loureiro to take an easy win. Friend worked his way through from last place after his pit lane start to cross the line in second with Luca Coccioni on the final podium step. Dominic Doyle, Jenna Eekhout and Reinhald Joubert rounded out the top six. In the absence of Aitken, who damaged his shoulder in his first-race crash, it was left to Loureiro and Friend to fight it out for victory in race two. Loureiro looked to have it in the bag but the front of his bike washed out on the final corner allowing Friend through to take the flag. Loureiro re-mounted but had to settle for sixth. Coccioni and Doyle finished in second and third with Eekhout fourth and Joubert in fifth. Super M The SuperM races were dominated by Beau Levey (Motos KTM RC8) with Jannie Moll (Motos KTM RC8) and Neil van Loggerenberg (KTM RC8) in second and third place respectively on both occasions. The next round of the DEOD SuperGP Champions Trophy takes place at Zwartkops, west of Pretoria, on 12 April 2015. |
