There was drama aplenty at the fourth round of the SA Superbike series, run at Zwartkops Raceway on Saturday 4 May - including the first South African win for a new model - and ending the weekend with the title chase wide open.
The fireworks started during Saturday morning's qualifying session, when points leader Clinton Seller came off his Kawasaki ZX-10R at high speed. Seller wasn't hurt but the bike was a wreck, and the team couldn't get it ready for Race 1.
That left Chris Leeson to score the BMW HP4's first local circuit racing victory, coming home four seconds clear of Nicholas Grobler (Kawasaki ZX-10R), with Ryan Ottens (BMW HP4) third, another 11 seconds adrift.
Dylan White (Yamaha R1), Heinrich Rheeder (BMW S1000RR) and Robert Portman (Yamaha R1) rounded out the top six places.
RACE 2
Frantic work in the Seller pit saw the ZX-10R up and running for the second race, although Seller had to start from the back of the grid.
Nothing daunted, he blasted through the field to join the leaders by the third lap - but the going got tougher there, as Leeson, Grobler and Seller diced furiously over the final three laps.
In the end, Seller grabbed the lead on the second-last time around from Leeson by one tenth of a second, with Grobler third, ahead of Ottens, White, Portman and Rheeder.
SUPERSPORT
Qualifying for the 600 Supersport category also provided drama, when the Kawasaki ZX-6R of top qualifier Lance Isaacs had less than two litres of fuel in the tank after the session.
The rules demand two litres, and the Capetonian veteran was relegated to the back of the grid.
Isaacs started to cut through the field at the start of the first race, but made contact with Gareth Davidson's similar ZX-6R on lap two, and both riders fell hard in Zwartkops' high-speed Turn One.
The race was red-flagged, the marshals picked up the pieces and both riders were sent to the circuit hospital for a check-up.
MV’S IN COMMAND
Nicholas Kershaw (Kawasaki) led after the restart, but came off in the pit corner two laps later - which left Cam Petersen to win on his MV Agusta F3.
He led home Dean Vos (Yamaha R6), Brent Harran on the second MV and Kawasaki riders Brandon Goode, Rhyno Stander and Anthony Shelley.
Petersen led the second race from lights to flag, chased by a ferociously fighting Kershaw and Vos, who were separated by nine hundredths of a second at the finish line, with Harran, Goode and Stander filling the next three places.
The next two rounds of the 2013 South African Motorcycle Racing championships will be held at the East London Grand Prix circuit on Saturday 29 June.