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Pretoria - The eighth round of the 2017 Red Square Kawasaki ZX10R Masters Cup treated the Red Star Raceway crowd to two action-packed races on Saturday, October 21.
The clockwise configuration of the Delmas circuit with seven right- and six left handed corners set the stage for various mini battles to keep the Mpumalanga crowd on the edges of their seats during this single manufacturer showdown.
Defending champion Sven Grune (No Sponsor) took pole-position during the morning’s qualifying session with fellow regular protagonists Gareth Bezuidenhoud (No Sponsor) and Graeme van Breda (IVID/ Reef Supplies/ Elco Electrical) completing the front row of the grid.
Jaco Gous (Central Propshaft Springs) headed up the second row in fourth position ahead of Pieter de Vos (Jongingozi / Spada). Michael Smit (No Sponsor) rounded out the top-six.
Grune made a good start to retain his lead through the first series of right-and-left corners with Van Breda in close contention. Gous also made his way through to third position with Bezuidenhout and Smit slotting in just behind him.
Bezuidenhout didn’t take long to regain third position and by the second lap he found himself chasing down Van Breda while Grune started to build up a gap at the front. Van Breda however soon dispersed of the approaching Bezuidenhout-threat in his pursuit on Grune.
Meanwhile Smit made his way past Gous as well to slot into fourth position. Near the end of the race Bezuidenhout however dropped back considerably allowing Smit and Gous through in the process.
Grune took a relatively easy victory with Van Breada finishing in second place a further seven seconds back. Smit held onto third position; just beating Gous to the flag by a cat’s whisker.
With Teddy Brooke (Brooke Refrigeration) and Sanjiv Singh (Double Apex) exchanging positions during a thrilling tussle throughout the race, De Vos stayed ahead of them to finish in fifth position. Brooke and Singh finished in sixth and seventh places respectively.
Gareth Bezuidenhout had to settle for eighth. Jonty Collard (Pappaz Ovenz) dropped to ninth position following Singh’s good start and held onto the position with Johan le Roux (Avidan) rounding out the top-ten. Appanna Ganapathy (ART Racing) finished in a lonely eleventh position.
Further back Greg Bezuidenhout (J&Y Graphix) had Ian Harwood (TRP Distributors / Berik) to contend with throughout the race with the pair finishing twelve and thirteenth respectively. Sfiso Themba (Wakahina) made his way past Mmusapelo Seate (Habashwe Racing Team) just after the midway point to open up a slight advantage with the pair bringing up the back of the field.
Grame van Breda leading the pack at the start of race 2. Image: Reynard Gelderblom
Van Breda took an early lead with Grune in pursuit. Further back Gous slotted into third position while Gareth Bezuidenhout started working his way up through the field. Van Breda was not allowed to get too comfortable at the front of the pack and by the third lap Grune found himself in the lead again.
Gous had a persistent De Vos to contend with, but had an answer for every attempt which the latter made for this position.
Two further battles which developed during the middle patch of the eight lap race, saw Smit defending against Bezuidenhout and Collard having Singh on his tail. Bezuidenhout found his way past Smit on the fifth lap. Singh had to work a bit harder to get the jump on Collard, but on the sixth lap he made his way past.
Grune took his second victory of the day ahead of Van Breda. Gous held De Vos back to clinch the final podium spot. The cat-and-mouse battle between Gous and De Vos allowed Bezuidenhout to catch up to them during the latter stages, but in the end he had to settle for fifth position. Smit rounded off the top-six a little bit further back.
Brooke finished the race seventh. After swapping positions Singh held off Collard’s retaliation with the duo finishing in eighth and ninth respectively. Le Rous concluded the top-ten. The final positions again saw Ganapathy, Greg Bezuidenhout, Harwood, Themba and Seate crossing the line in that order.
With pole position and a victory as well as fastest lap, it came as no surprise that Grune took the overall win for the day. Gareth Bezuidenhout took second place with Gous clipping Smit to third position on the accumulated time sheet. Smit’s sterling job particularly during the first race saw him take home the Rider-of-the-Day award.
In Class A it was Van Breda who took victory ahead of Gous and Smit. Grune took the Class B honours ahead of Singh and Harwood. Class C belonged to De Vos ahead of Brooke and Le Roux.
The next round of the Red Square Kawasaki ZX10R Masters Cup will take place at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit on Saturday, November 4.