RACE REVIEW – POWER SERIES #7 BIKES – 29 JULY 2023

RACE REVIEW – POWER SERIES #7 BIKES – 29 JULY 2023

SNYMAN’S MASTER CLASS IN POWER SERIES SUPERBIKES

Despite missing Qualifying and having to start from the back of the grid – or maybe because of it! – Kewyn Snyman and his 15-year-old Missile Motorcycles CBR1000RR delivered a master class in superbike control under difficult wet-and-dry conditions in the Triumph Motorcycles Superbike races at Round 7 of the Power Series presented by Wingfield Motors and Smile 90.4 FM at Killarney on Saturday 29 July.

Slade ‘Wild Child’ van Niekerk (Project Sixty SA ZX-6R), who loves racing in the rain, qualified on pole (on a 600!) and led Race 1 for most of lap one, ahead of defending champion Malcom Rapson on the Racebase GSX-R1000 and Jason Linaker (RST CBR600), only to sit up and thump the bike’s tank in frustration as it cut out exiting Pertamina Fastron corner at the end of the first lap, and his race was run.

By then Snyman had already cut through the field to finish the lap second behind Rapson and midway through lap two he powered past the champion to take the lead. Later on the same lap Brad Bodsworth (Bad Bee CBR1000) relegated Linaker to fourth, while a superb ride by Tristin Pienaar on the Stocker R6 took him from seventh to fifth by lap four.

Snyman eased away as the rain continued to come home almost 17 seconds clear of Rapson, with Bodsworth the first Superbike Challenge rider home in third overall and Linaker the top 600 finisher in fourth.

The Project Sixty SA crew did what they could for Van Niekerk’s Kawasaki between races and he was running a strong third behind Snyman and Rapson when the Suzuki’s rear wheel locked up going into Castrol Corner on lap five. Rapson grabbed the clutch lever and managed to save it, but the bike wasn’t going anywhere and he free-wheeled around to park near the Kink. Two laps later, Van Niekerk’s machine cut out again, leaving Pienaar and Bodsworth to follow Snyman home at a respectful distance.

HSC rider Nicholas Hutchings (Suzuki SV650) pulled a superb start from pole to lead the field into E-Prix corner for the first Bridgestone STC 650 / SSP 300 race, followed by rookie sensation Ryan Coetzee (Project Sixty SA ER650), Jamie Hall (MGA Racing ER650), Lance Jonas’ Samurai Racing/OneX/Livingstone Baths/Fifty8 Performance SV650 and Matthew van Niekerk (Bulldog Racing SV650).

Hutchings was pulling away at more than a second a lap until he overdid it coming out of E-Prix at the start of lap three and slid out of the race. What followed was a cliffhanger chase to the line that saw Coetzee take the win from Hall by less than four seconds, with Jonas and Van Niekerk well down third and fourth respectively.

Adrian Solomon (Pool King/ULAG/Western Cape Pumps Ninja 400) was the first SSP 300 rider home in fifth overall, one second ahead of Raymond Alexander’s Microil Ninja 300 and three seconds clear of Imusat Sport presenter Abigail Bosson on the Ateka/Project Sixty SA/Calberg/Sales Hire R3.

Hutchings was back for Race 2 but there was no holding Hall, who led from lights to flag for back-to-back wins and first overall for the day, while Hutchings and Jonas fought it out for second, swopping places at least twice in the closing stages and finishing in that order, 1.5 seconds apart.

Hall was fourth and Van Niekerk fifth, while Solomon led the SSP 300 charge again, ahead of Alexander and Bosson.

Thanks to Patrick Vermaak for the brilliant photograph.

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