Cape Town - Powersport rivals Warren ‘Starfish’ Guantario (Calberg ER6) and Graeme Green (Thruxton ER6F) will be the pace-setters at this weekend’s round of the Mike Hopkins regional series, in the absence of the A, B and C Superbike classes.
They’re unlikely to have things all their own way, however, in a field with remarkable depth of talent, including Guantario’s Calberg team-mates Andrew Liebenberg and JP Friedrich, Brandon Storey’s pink Suzuki SV650 (“Only a real man would race a pink bike”), Mike van Rensburg’s Pragma ER6, short-circuit star Wesley Jones on the Jack Hammer SV650 and veteran Paul Medell, improving with every outing on the Cape Bike Travel SV650.
There are also half a dozen entrants in the older Powersport B class for four-cylinder four-strokes of less than 410cc and 250cc two-stroke twin – all on Honda V4s with the exception of Jamey Hendricks’ Bikers Delight CBR400.
Hendricks and William Binedell (Honda VFR400) are in fact the form men in this evenly-matched class – but watch out for born-again racer (and former Powersport champion) Hilton Redelinghuys.
DARKEST OF DARK HORSES
Since his comeback in 2013 Redelinghuys has become a force to be reckoned with in the premier class but, with no Superbike races this weekend, he’s entered on a Honda RVF400. Known for an uncanny combination of racecraft and controlled aggression, Redelinghuys is without a doubt the darkest of dark horses in this Saturday’s line-up.
But he’s not the only one; another Superbike contender, David Bolding, has hauled out of retirement his Classic championship-winning Suzuki Katana, the notorious Big Bertha.
Despite its size and weight, this sledgehammer of a bike is significantly faster than any Powersport machine in a straight line, but inevitably loses out in braking and mid-corner speed – as will the later, lighter but equally quick GSX-R750s of John ‘Konstabel’ Kosterman and veteran racer Jan-Lucas ‘Flying Dutchman’ de Vos - who will be riding the Suzuki on which tuner Danie Maritz won the 1986 Western Province title.
Bolding and Big Bertha have won Powersport races outright in the past; whether the Katana’s power advantage will be enough to do it against the latest generation of 650cc twins, you’ll have to find out for yourself on Saturday.