The SuperGP Champions Trophy brigade heads to Phakisa Freeway, outside Welkom, for the second round of the 2016 series on Saturday, 12 March.
SuperGP
At the opening round at Red Star Raceway in February Clint Seller (NeoLife Africa Yamaha R1) got the defence of his SuperGP title off to the worst possible start, emerging from the weekend with no points after a race 1 crash. Mathew Scholtz used Seller’s misfortunes at the opening round to full effect and heads the championship standings with a full house of 50 points. Anthony Shelley (Fercor / Tarpave/ Supreme Yamaha R1) took two strong second places at Red Star and should be in the leading bunch at Phakisa.
Daryn Upton was the best of the BMW squad at Red Star and should also be in the mix with his S1000RR. Michael White (Consortium Shipping Yamaha R1) had an impressive debut in the premier class, getting on to the podium in just his second race. He certainly has the pace to run with the leaders.
Lance Isaacs (LIR BMW S1000RR) now has to contend with the dual roles of rider and team manager. A much improved performance in the second race at Red Star has given him a confidence boost and the veteran will be looking for further improvement in the Free State.
Brent Harran led the Kawasaki challenge at Red Star and, despite a few problems on the day, is in a tie for sixth place on the log with Nicolas Grobler (BMW S1000RR) and AJ Venter on the Uncle Andy Racing Suzuki GSXR 1000.
SuperMasters
Run in conjunction with the SuperGP races, the SuperMasters Interprovincial Challenge sees Lance Isaacs at the head of the championship log. Team mate Justin Gillesen (LIR BMW S1000RR) lies in second ahead of Jacques van Wyngaardt (BMW S1000RR). The only non-BMW mounted rider to line up on the grid at Red Star, the Honda mounted Damion Purificati, is fourth on the log just ahead of Etienne Nelson and Johnny Krieger.
Super600
Based on the evidence at Red Star the Super600 battle is going to be a two-way fight between defending champion Steven Odendaal (Yamaha R6) and Adolf Boshoff (NeoLife Africa Yamaha R6). The pair were substantially quicker than the rest of the pack although more development on the Uncle Andy Racing Suzuki GSXR 600s, in the hands of Blaze Baker and Darien Kayser, since the opening round could well see them close the gap.
Nicole van Aswegen (Triumph 675), Byron Bester (Kawasaki ZX6) and Kewyn Snyman (Honda CBR600) all scored valuable points at Red Star and should do the same at Phakisa.
SuperJunior
Capetonian Brandon Staffen took both SuperJunior wins at Red Star to lead the championship from Cameron Hackart and Tyreece Robert. The trio are likely to fight it out at the head of the field at Phakisa. They could be joined by Dominic Doyle, Luca Coccioni and Lance Marais.
Northern Regions Racing
After taking two comfortable wins in the BOTTS class at Red Star Thomas Brown (Ducati) leads the championship and will be looking to extend that at Phakisa. Johan van der Merwe Junior (Ducati) and Jason Wessels (KTM), who traded the other podium positions in the opening round, will be looking to stop that happening as will Shaun Jubber (KTM), Kyle Robinson (Ducati) and Neil van Loggerenberg (KTM)
The 250 Cup winner is likely to come from one of Luke MacGreggor, Aiden Liebenberg or Luca Balona although Daryn Andrews and Ricardo Otto could spoil their plans.
Cidney Farinha (Kawasaki) leads the way in the Ladies Cup. Her main opposition is likely to come from Sandra Shelley (Kawasaki ZX6) and Savannah Woodward (Monroe Racing Honda).
Joe Herbig, Tyron Walters, Pierre Vorster and Aiden Oosthuizen are the likely contenders in the Breakfast Run class based on their performance in the opening round.
Dylan Gray and Nico van der Merwe traded wins and second places in the Formula Extreme races at Red Star and share the championship lead. Byron Rothquel leads the chasing pack.
As usual practice sessions take place on the morning of Friday, 11 March with qualifying for all classes taking place in the afternoon. After short warm-up sessions on Saturday morning racing gets underway at 09h00.
