09/08/08 Welkom, Saturday – It was worth the trip to the Phakisa Raceway here today to watch champion elect Sheridan Morais and Clinton Seller slug it out in two memorable CitiBike Superbike Championship races at round seven of the WesBank Super Series.

Morais, the 2005 South African champion, arrived in the Free State having been beaten only once in 12 starts this season. At the end of the day and two sizzling races the pint-sized Morais, on the Emtek Racing Kawasaki, had been beaten twice with Seller joining Nashua Mobile/Daikin Yamaha team-mate Shaun Whyte as the only riders to lower the Morais colours this year.

Morais and Seller, who has threatened a win all season, turned both races into full-scale wars. In race one Morais always looked to have something in reserve and with two laps left he sailed past Seller to wrap up a hard fought victory.

Another good battle behind the leaders saw reigning champion Arushen Moodley (Dynamic Express Suzuki) hold off Greg Gildenhuys on the Race National Honda. The top five was rounded out by Brad Stark (High Power Yamaha) with one of his best performances of the season.

Morais and Seller then staged act two of their little drama and it was better than the first offering. It culminated in a final lap of sheer bravado as Seller simply muscled his way to the front at the last corner.

Around four seconds behind the leaders there was also a Moodley/Gildenhuys repeat with the same result. A good day for him saw Stark grab another fifth.

The experienced Lance Isaacs (Pts Noord Toyota Suzuki) and championship leader Dane Hellyer shared the CitiBike Supersport wins. Hellyer started the opening heat from the back of the grid after a pit lane mix-up, but quickly worked his way through the field to finish third behind Isaacs and another veteran in Graeme van Breda on the Springs Suzuki.

Race two saw Hellyer and Isaacs fight out a battle that was almost as good as the Morais/Seller confrontations. Hellyer finally got the better of an intriguing scrap with 15-year-old Steven Odendaal also on the podium after another impressive ride on the Mitsubishi Electric Suzuki.

Top honours were also shared in the Bridgestone Production Car events. Former champion Leeroy Poulter (Sasol Nissan 350Z) scored his first win of the season in the opening race, with championship contender Johan Fourie winning race two in the Indy Oil Audi A4.

Poulter was always in control of proceedings and easily held off another former champion and title contender in Anthony Taylor (Afrox BMW 330) with Marco da Cunha third in a Tubular Tech Nissan 350Z after an impressive drive.

Race two was started with a partially inverted grid with Fourie and Melvill Priest, in the Lenovo/MiKar Audi, locked in battle in the early stages. Priest dropped out on lap nine with Etienne van der Linde, in the second Afrox BMW, taking second place ahead of Taylor.

There was a Class T double for the impressive Regardt Roets in the Webcom/Soviet Opel OPC with veteran Ben Morgenrood taking another step towards the Class B title with a double in the Mazda Motorsport RX8. Overall and Class T championship leader Graeme Nathan (SEAT Kaye Eddie Cupra), after a second place in race one, lost ground when he finished way down the list in race two with the SEAT misfiring badly.

Runaway championship leader Hennie Groenewald took another step towards a third successive WesBank V8 Supercar title when he grabbed a win and a second on what was a disappointing day for the big bangers. Groenewald (Team Timken Holden) romped away to win heat one from the Auby clan with brothers Mark (Jonnesway Holden) and Brandon (Masana Petroleum Jaguar) finishing ahead of father Deon in the Meta Forge Jaguar.

Race two was a mess with a first corner pile-up ending with the race red flagged. Three cars were out on the spot and accident damage took its toll on other cars when the race restarted.

Groenewald, from 15th on the inverted grid, was in the lead after four laps. He then backed off to such an extent that he allowed team principal Richard Pinard, in a Timken Jaguar, to take his second win of the year.

At the end of the race only seven cars were circulating with veteran Larry Wilford on the podium in the Fuchs Mustang. Local Danie Correia (Liqui Moly Chev Corvette) and Auby senior rounded out the top five.

Teenager Gennaro Bonafede (Ferodo/Champion VW Polo), son of former South African Rally champion Vito Bonafede, tightened his hold on the Engen VW Cup. The teenager produced solid top five finishes in both races with the wins shared between Mathew Hodges (PG Glass VW Polo) and Jared Mortimer in the Emerald Casino VW Polo.

Two wins also helped Cristiano Morgado (Morgado Plant FVW) close the gap to championship leader Gavin Cronje (Jonah Capital FVW) to just 12 points in the Formula Volkswagen national challenge series. Morgado won both races ahead of Wesley Orr (SAM Racing Tubular Tech FVW) with all three drivers former Rotax Max kart world champions.

Results:
CitiBike Supersport: Race 1 – 1 L Isaacs (Suzuki); 2 G van Breda (Suzuki); 3 D Hellyer (Kawasaki); 4 G Green (Yamaha); 5 D White (Yamaha). Race 2 – 1 D Hellyer (Kawasaki); 2 L Isaacs (Suzuki); 3 S Odendaal (Suzuki); 4 G Green (Yamaha); 5 D White (Yamaha).
CitiBike Superbike: Race 1 – 1 S Morais (Kawasaki); 2 C Seller (Yamaha); 3 A Moodley (Suzuki); 4 G Gildenhuys (Honda); 5 B Stark (Yamaha). Race 2 – 1 C Seller (Yamaha); 2 S Morais (Kawasaki); 3 A Moodley (Suzuki); 4 G Gildenhuys (Honda); 5 B Stark (Yamaha).

Formula VW: Race 1 – 1 C Morgado (FVW); 2 W Orr (FVW); 3 G Cronje (FVW); 4 M Stephen (FVW); 5 J Kruger (FVW). Race 2 – 1 C Morgado (FVW); 2 W Orr (FVW); 3 G Cronje (FVW); 4 M Stephen (FVW); 5 J Kruger (FVW).

Engen VW Cup: Race 1 – 1 M Hodges (VW Polo); 2 M Pasqualli (VW Polo); 3 J Mortimer (VW Polo); 4 G Bonafede (VW Polo); 5 G Gatland (VW Polo). Race 2 – 1 J Mortimer (VW Polo); 2 B Morgan (VW Polo); 3 M Pasqualli (VW Polo); 4 M Hodges (VW Polo); 5 G Bonafede (VW Polo).

WesBank V8 Supercars: Race 1 – 1 H Groenewald (Holden); 2 M Auby (Holden); 3 B Auby (Jaguar); 4 D Auby (Jaguar); 5 W Hepburn (Chev Corvette). Race 2 – 1 R Pinard (Jaguar); 2 H Groenewald (Holden); 3 L Wilford (Ford Mustang); 4 D Correia (Chev Corvette); 5 D Auby (Holden).

Bridgestone Production Cars: Race 1 – 1 L Poulter (Nissan 350Z); 2 A Taylor (BMW 330i); 3 M da Cunha (Nissan 350Z); 4 M Stephen (Audi A4); 5 E Van der Linder (BMW 330i). Class A – L Poulter (Nissan 350Z); Class T – R Roets (Opel OPC); Class B – B Morgenrood (Mazda RX8). Race 2 – 1 J Fourie (Audi A4); 2 E van der Linde (BMW 330); 3 A Taylor (BMW 330); 4 L Poulter (Nissan 350Z); 5 D Lobb (Nissan 350Z). Class A – J Fourie (Audi A4); Class T – R Roets (Opel OPC); Class B – B Morgenrood (Mazda RX8).