Harran begins championship defence in satisfactory manner

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Sunward Park biker Brent Harran recently began the defence of his Super Motard Championship at the Zwartkops Raceway before finishing second overall on points.

The tournament is annually run over approximately eight events at various short circuit venues around the country from February to November.

There are about 25 racers who take part in the premier Super Motor 1 (SM1) class at each event.

At the Zwartkops Raceway, which saw the first set of races of the tournament, Harran finished in fourth place in the first heat after experiencing overheating problems on his motorbike before dramatically winning his second heat, holding off Greg Gildenhuys whom he beat by a split second.

The next event takes place at the Polokwane Circuit this Saturday (March 10) where Harran is hoping to make up a few points on championship leader, Gildenhuys.

Quizzed on his feelings following his crowning of the 2017 championship, he said: “I was really stoked about winning the championships. It was my first year racing in the Super Motard Championship, coming from the superbikes.

“It is definitely the place to be right now in South African motorsport: the costs are a lot lower than the superbike racing and the racing itself is a lot more competitive and also a lot more enjoyable as there are fewer politics; so just good, hard racing.

“But overall, it’s my third championship I have won throughout my racing career and definitely think the biggest one to date, so yeah, really proud to have won it last year and definitely want to defend my championships this year when a lot more of the national superbike riders have also come over as I did last year. So the racing is super competitive this year.”

The rider also extended a word of gratitude to his sponsors namely Thomas Brown from MVC Marketing, George Portman from BikesSA Magazine, David Postlethwayt from RD Racing and Edgar and Sylvano de Aguiar from Vanos Tech. – @SabeloBoksburg