Cape Town – Some days are diamonds, says the song, and Round 6 of the Mike Hopkins Regional motorcycle series at Killarney was definitely one of them, with four intensely contested races delivering all the excitement bike racing fans could wish for, without a single crash.
World Superstock rider David ‘McFlash’ McFadden on the Race Prep GSX-R1000 L5 won both superbike races, but he didn’t have it all his own way, as series leader Brandon Haupt on the MX Clean ZX-10R chased him all the way home in both races, finishing 0.211s adrift in Race 1 and an incredible 0.060s in Race 2.
And the racing was just as intense throughout the field. McFlash qualified fourth in difficult conditions, leaving the front row of the grid to Haupt, defending title-holder Ronald ‘the Red Baron’ Slamet, making a welcome return to Regional racing aboard the DMR S1000 RR, and Trevor Westman on the Mad Mac’s ZX-10R.
Haupt got a cracker of a start and led lap one but McFadden had already disposed of Westman and Slamet, and passed Haupt on lap two to claim the lead. Haupt, however, wasn’t about to let it go at that, posting a personal career best lap of 1m11.254 as he stayed almost within touching distance of the blue Suzuki to come home just 0.211s adrift.
Westman threw off an early challenge from Malcolm Rapson (Kawasaki ZX-10R) but was unable to reel in the leaders, finishing a lonely third, eight seconds in arrears. Slamet got a miserable start, running eighth behind the 600cc Brat Pack after lap one, then sliced through the field to pass Rapson for fourth three laps from the end – although Rapson held on to finish only 0.262sec behind the 2015 champion.
Determined onslaught
600 Challenge top gun Hayden Jonas, running a borrowed Kawasaki ZX-6R frame and engine after his spectacular blow-up at the July meeting, qualified conservatively in 11th but soon worked his way up to fifth behind Rapson; he eventually finished sixth, just 1.293s behind the end-game showdown between Slamet and Rapson.
Six seconds later, Quintin Ebden on the Mutlu R1M just managed to hold off a determined onslaught from Warren Guantario (Mad Mac’s ZX-6R), Alex van der Berg (Liquid Blast CBR600) and Andre Calvert on the KC Transport ZX-10R, as they came home in that order, all four covered by less than two seconds.
But the most intense dice of the race was at the top of Class B where father and son Karl and Jared Schultz on the ASAP World ZX-6Rs and Class A rider John Oliver (Glass It R6) swopped positions on almost every lap before Schultz Jr put in a scorcher three laps from the end to lead his father and Oliver home, all three finishing within half a second.
Race 2
The start of the second heat was a little chaotic as McFadden went round the outside of Turn 1 to slot into second, right behind Haupt. McFlash then outbraked Haupt into Turn 5, and it was game on, with the Kawasaki even closer than in the first race. Haupt had spotted that the Suzuki was unstable on the bumpy, downhill entry to Turn 3 and several times closed right up on McFadden, but was unable to make a pass.
He tried again into Turn 5 on the last lap and very nearly got it right as the two howled up the main straight side by side – but it was the Suzuki that was ahead by a wheel when it counted.
Eight seconds later, Slamet held off a race-long challenge from Westman by an even smaller margin to take third, while Rapson, Jonas and Guantario took the next three places.
Jared Schultz romped home almost three seconds ahead of his father to take Class B honours, with Oliver fading slightly from an early challenge to finish a second behind Schultz Sr.
Powersports / Clubmans
Elric Everson returned from a long layoff to put the Moto World ZX-6R among the leaders in Race 1, even having the temerity to challenge veteran ‘Danie van Killarney’ Maritz and the 30-year-old DMR GSX-R1100 ‘slabside’ for the lead in the early stages.
Maritz responded by pulling away, eventually winning by almost four seconds while Everson debated second with Shane Field’s Suzuki GSX-R750, with Everson taking the position by a quarter of a second at the line.
Four seconds further back, JP Friederich (Calberg SV650) blitzed ‘Big Harry’ Clifton’s MSD Auto Services ZX-10R on the final lap to take fourth by 0.268s, while teen hotshot Brandon Staffen (Ice Technologies SV650) rode around Wessel Kruger’s classic Honda RC51 SP2 but couldn’t get past Bronte Heinrich and his Ducati 996 SPS – although he was caustically outspoken about unpredictable older amateurs in the post-race paddock.
Maritz’ machine seemed to lose pace in Race 2, circulating two seconds a lap slower than in the first outing. After an early dice with Friederich, they were both caught by an on-form Field, who took the lead on lap six and romped home to win by 1.531s, with Maritz holding off Friederich by 0.397s to take second.
Eight seconds later the most frustrated 15-year-old in Cape Town finished just behind Heinrich’s Ducati for the second time that day, while Everson passed Kruger on the final lap for sixth, having fought his way up from 14th on the grid in the ride of his life.