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Collin Matiza Sports Editor
ZIMBABWE’S female Superbike rider, Jessica Howden, met with mixed fortunes during Round 8 of the Wingfield Motors Power Series at Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday.
Howden nabbed pole position in the Clubmans first race but she, unfortunately, crashed out while leading in the second.
The combined Clubmans, Classics and Breakfast Run category produced the biggest upset of the day as a late entry, 17-year-old Howden, put her Ducati 955 Panigale V2 on pole and ran away with Race 1.
She won by six seconds, from Deon Ebel (Maui Jim/Edel Bros CBR1000RR), class doyen Wayne Arendse on the JJ Smith Trust ZX-10R and hot rookie Reginald Seale (CX International/AllMoto R1).
Howden, the daughter of former top Zimbabwean motor rally and main circuit racing driver Ian Howden, was then hit with a 30-second penalty for jumping the start.
This demoted her to sixth.
Wayne Gresse, on a Kawasaki ZX-10R, was the first Breakfast Runner home in 11th overall, while Hilton Redelinghuys, the only Classic rider in the field, retired his 1997 888 Motorcycles/HM Shifters ZX-7R on lap three, with a nasty misfire.
Redelinghuys got the old Kawasaki running on all four for Race 2, pulled a superb start and led the field into Turn 1 in pouring rain, closely followed by Seale and Howden.
Howden moved into second by the end of the lap, setting up a cliff-hanger dice between the youngest rider in the race on the newest machine and the oldest rider, on the oldest motorcycle. The Zimbabwean teen put in an aggressive overtaking move into Fastron Corner at the end of lap two and led Redelinghuys by a second over the line.
But, then it all went pear-shaped at the start of lap three as Howden got spat off in a huge high-side coming out of Turn One, bringing out the red flags.
Fortunately she was (in motorcycle terms) not injured and it was the Classic machine heading the tussle for the lead after the restart.
Redelinghuys went straight back into the lead at the restart with Seale, Jamie Hall (Master Glass R1) and Nick Benn (Two Wheel Solutions GSX-R1000) in hot pursuit.
Seale briefly took the lead on lap three, but Redelinghuys was soon back in front — only to be mugged by all three on the final lap.
He came home fourth behind Seale, Hall and Benn with all four riders covered by just 1.3 seconds.
The first Powersport race lasted just seconds before rookie Adrian Solomon (RST Ninja 300) fell off on the startline and the red flags came out.
Round 8 of the Power Series, presented by Wingfield Motors at Killarney on Saturday, was memorable for two reasons,
It was the first time, since lockdown in March 2020, the circuit was allowed to admit spectators, and the crazy weather.
Completely unpredictable weather, with bright sunshine interspersed with bouts of heavy rain, played havoc, especially the motorcycle categories.
It was also the first time in 19 months Killarney was allowed to admit spectators, and the fans who braved the conditions, were treated to some enthralling racing.
Online Reporter