Seize the Championship lead. That will be the Vodacom Nashua Yamaha team’s overriding purpose at AA Kyalami next Saturday (August 3), during the Vodacom Power Tour’s third visit to the circuit. In dispute is this year’s South African Superbike title chase, which will reach its halfway mark with Rounds 11 and 12 next weekend. –
– Going to Kyalami, Vodacom Nashua Yamaha team leader Russell Wood occupies second place in the Championship standings, four points behind works UUNET Ducati rider Trevor Crookes. Thus far this year, Wood has scored six victories, one second place and three crash-related retirements from the season’s ten race starts. He will be shooting at nothing less than two outright victories at Kyalami. “That is the only way to win this Championship, which is probably the most tightly-contested in the country,” Wood said this week. “After the year’s first ten races, five riders could leave Kyalami as the Superbike Championship leader next Saturday – and I intend to be that man,” he added. –
– Wood will enjoy the support of fellow veteran Vodacom Nashua Yamaha team member Brad Anassis. Following a slow start to the year, Anassis showed podium pace during the previous meeting of the season at Zwartkops in June. While Wood won both of the day’s races, Anassis scored a second and third place on the day. “That was brilliant – Russell took maximum points at the front, while I prevented his closest adversaries from taking the next-best scores behind him,” Anassis said. “I believe that we can produce similar results at Kyalami,” he added. –
– The two veterans apart, the Vodacom Nashua Yamaha equipe will be represented by Development rider Dino de Wet and former World Jet-Ski Champion Ricky Sneddon at Kyalami. –
– The whole team is confident, following a successful test session at Kyalami two weeks ago. “We tested for two days, and it was inmensely productive. We gained pace and – even more importantly – a lot of knowledge about tyre wear and suspension setup,” Wood said. “Those factors are always extremely important at Kyalami, where tyre preservation plays a large part in the outcome of both race heats,” he added.
