Who’s going home with the bacon from Kyalami on Sunday?
There are lots of issues to be settled at Kyalami this weekend.
Reigning World Superbike champion Troy Bayliss would like to prove that his double victories in the first two meetings of the season, at Valencia and Phillip Island, were no fluke.
The rider he mugged for the title last year, Colin Edwards, wants to improve upon the two second places and a third he’s scored on his Honda twin in the four races held so far this year, and the man who won his first World Superbike race at Kyalami a year ago, Ben Bostrom, wants everyone to know that his success on the South African circuit was no flash in the pan.
Then there’s the old streetfighter, Pierfrancesco Chili, who won both heats for Ducati in 1998 — he’s aching to show his Italian bosses that he’s still competitive as a privateer on one of their year-old works machines after spending a couple of years riding for Suzuki.
The young pretender, Ruben Xaus — mounted on an identical Ducati to his Infostrada teammate, Bayliss —crashed out in the second heat at Valencia before picking up a pair of third places at Phillip Island. You can bet he hasn’t come all the way here to settle for a couple of minor placings.
Xaus’s biggest problem is that he often tries too hard, and when he crashes he ends up so far off the track that he has to rejoin the queue and pay admission to get back into the circuit!
Perhaps the man with the most to prove, though, is an old Kyalami favourite — Noriyuki Haga, who thrilled South African spectators by setting the track alight on an uncompetitive Yamaha in earlier years.
In 2000 he crossed the line first in one of the Kyalami heats, but was stripped of his win and the 25 points that came with it after he tested positive for ephedrine — a banned substance.
Last year he moved across to 500cc MotoGP, where he failed to shine as much as his fans had hoped he would. This year he returned to World Superbikes on an Aprilia twin, and came away from the first meeting in Spain with two solid second places. Watch out for Haga on the podium at least once on Sunday — maybe twice.
If history repeats itself we could end up with another double for somebody. Chili won both races in 1998, and Carl Fogarty scored a double in 1999. After Haga was disqualified in 2000 Edwards ended up with a pair of wins, and may well have done the same last year if he hadn’t experienced engine problems in the closing laps of the second race after taking the lead from Bostrom.
And that, of course, takes us back to Bayliss. Last year he finished second in both races at Kyalami. This year he became the first rider to win the first four races of the season.
You can bet every penny he’d love to get six in a row.
Apart from the World Superbikes, the supporting programme should provide for some great racing. The 600cc World Supersport class returns to Kyalami for the first time since 1999, and a half dozen of South Africa’s top riders have earned entries. Reigning champion Greg Dreyer will be there on his Cell C Suzuki, supported by teammate Stewart Macleod. KwaZulu-Natalian Trevor Crookes will be riding his very quick UUNET Ducati, while Honda will be represented by Arushen Moodley. Privateer Noel Haarhoff has been giving most of the works riders in local competition this year a hiding on his year-old Suzuki, so we expect a good performance from him as well.
For those who fancy something a little different, Superside sidecar racing will also be back on the menu, with a 23-strong field of 1200cc four-stroke machines taking to the circuit.
Official qualifying takes place on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning from 10am. Superpole for WSB begins at 4pm, and for the sidecars at 5pm.
WSB races on Sunday are at noon and at 3.30pm, with the Supersport race scheduled for 1.20pm.