Greg Gildenhuys (BMW Motorrad BMW S1000RR) overcame the effects of a bout of ‘flu to take two close second place finishes in the fourth round of the South African Superbike Championship at the Phakisa Freeway near Welkom on Saturday. The former national Supersport champion finishing a close runner-up to former national Superbike champion Sheridan Morais (Kawasaki) in both of the day’s 12-lap sprints around the daunting 4,24 km circuit and retains his lead in the overall championship.
BMW privateers also put on a good show and Nicolas Grobler (Jonway BMW S1000RR) and James Egan (Thundersport/Ryder Motorrad) took the overall fourth and fifth positions for the day.
Gildenhuys made a good start from fourth place on the outside of the front row in race one and was already in second place behind polesitter Morais as the 13-bike field streamed through the left-handed turn one. The gap between the two remained around the two tenths of a second mark as they pulled away from third-placed Leeson, with the BMW rider closing to within a tenth of a second behind the 2009 champion at the end of lap eight and with four to go.
The gap at the chequered flag was 0,378 sec with Leeson a distant third a further 11 seconds in arrears. Fastest lap of the race went to Gildenhuys who completed the 4,24 km clockwise circuit in a time of 1 min 36,388 sec on lap two.
Privateer BMWs filled fourth, fifth and seventh places with James Egan (Thundersport/Ryder Motorrad BMW) edging out the Jonway BMW of Nicolas Grobler, the Suzuki of Julian Odendaal and the Willcox Consulting BMW of Jonathan Willcox.
Gildenhuys made another good start in race two, but still found himself behind Morais at the end of the first lap, albeit by a few tenths of a second. In a repeat of the first 12-lap race, the two best motorcycle riders in South Africa slugged it out with Morais taking the chequered under two seconds in front of the chasing BMW.
Grobler turned in the best performance of his career so far in Superbikes with an inspired third place ahead of Leeson, leading the trio of privateer BMWs. Egan finished fifth on his BMW after starting in sixth place and was followed home by Willcox in seventh on the third S1000RR.
While Morais took the overall win for the day ahead of Gildenhuys, the 22-year-old from Boskruin in Gauteng remains in the championship lead with an advantage of 26 points over Morais and 36 ahead of third-placed Leeson with five rounds remaining.
BMW privateers Grobler, Egan and Willcox are fifth, sixth and seventh. The next round is at Aldo Scribante circuit in Port Elizabeth on August 6.
