2010 Interfile Rd #3 - A rewarding weekend for BikeFin Honda Racing at Aldo Scribante

The BikeFin Honda Racing squad came away from round 3 of this year’s Wesbank Super Series at Aldo Scribante on Saturday with mixed results, but also some positives in the quest for overall championship honours.

Lance Isaacs started heat 1 of the Interfile Superbikes from pole position which he inherited by virtue of his championship lead, after Saturday morning’s qualifying session was cancelled due to an oil spillage by a tin top. However, any advantage he might have had from pole was soon surrendered when team mate Dane Hellyer took over at the front and led the race when Lance ran wide into turn one. Lance complained afterwards of a lack of set up balance on his bike which did not inspire confidence, and that made him run wide into the fast turn one. Hellyer for his part was struggling with rear grip and soon fell into the clutches of Sheridan Morais and Greg Gildenhuys. The former Supersport champion could not do anything about the pair, and finished heat 1 in third place, with Lance behind him. Chris Leeson just couldn’t get it together all weekend, the fast pace of competing internationally and resultant jet lag taking its toll, but still he finished a strong fifth behind his two team mates. In heat 2, Lance got the start right on the CBR1000RR and simply flew off the line to lead the first few laps, before succumbing to a faster Greg Gildenhuys. He then kept Sheridan Morais at bay for a few more laps but had to settle for third place at the end, and a good haul of points nonetheless for the championship, which he still leads. Hellyer was a solitary fourth while Leeson finished fifth.

In the Interfile 600 Supersport, Brent Harran again showed he is a young man in a hurry. After a bad start, coming past the start finish line in a lowly 10th place after lap one, he clawed his way through the field and battled throughout with Dean Vos, to finish in a brilliant 4th place, the first Honda home. In heat 2 he again fought hard and hung onto the leading pack only one second off the leader for most of the race. The 16 year old, made his team proud, coming home in a fine fifth place in only his first ever SA National race at this fast flowing circuit, underlining a strong if uneventful start to the season. There is a lot more to come from the youngster. Jacques Peskens was fit and ready again after recovering from injuries sustained at Killarney, but did not have confidence in his bike’s front end to push as he would have liked, and ran off the road in heat 2 to finish a lowly 15th. In heat 1 he had a race long tussle with Dave MacFadden and Clinton Alberts and finished 7th, splitting the pair at the finish. The gap between the three was less than half a second!

Issued on behalf of BikeFin Honda Racing by Brad Anassis at brad@portable-shade.com for more info.