With one hand on the title and four of the season’s 20 races left to run, the Autopage Cellular Yamaha team will tackle Saturday’s SA Superbike Championship races at the Port Elizabeth Aldo Scribante circuit with “cautious optimism”. –
– Going to the Eastern Cape, Autopage Cellular Yamaha team leader Russell Wood tops this year’s South African Superbike title log on 241 points. His closest Championship challengers are the First Technology Yamaha team’s Shaun Whyte on 208 points and Cell C Suzuki rider Hudson Kennaugh, with 198 points on his scorecard. Starting on Saturday, the year’s final four races offer a possible tally of 80 points. –
– “That means that nobody can afford mistakes – even those made by other people,” said Russell Wood this week. “If I fail to finish any of the year’s final four races, my Championship lead will be in jeopardy – which makes title victory expectations premature at this stage,” he added. –
– Wood has reason to be nervous – twice before this season, he has been the victim of other riders’ mistakes while leading races. The first occasion was at the Aldo Scribante circuit in April, when his Autopage Cellular Yamaha was T-boned out of the day’s opening race by the Cell C Suzuki of an errant Noel Haarhoff. The second occasion came at AA Kyalami in August, when Wood’s motorcycle was struck from behind by the First Technology Yamaha of an over-zealous Arushen Moodley. –
– “Between them, the two crashes cost me some 38 points – which means that similar incidents could cost me the Championship,” said Wood. –
– The multiple former Champion has no intention of taking things easy during the weekend’s races at Aldo Scribante. “The top eight riders on the grid should be covered by less than a second – and race that closely together most of the time.” –
– “Dropping back slightly from the front will simply put one in the middle of an ultra-tight bunch – more likely than ever to get involved with somebody else’s disastrous desperation passing effort,” Wood said. –
– “I have no choice but to go as hard as I can in both races, with the ability to slow down an unlikely luxury,” he added. –
– Rounding out the Autopage Cellular Yamaha team on Saturday will be Greg Dreyer – currently ninth in the 2003 SA Superbike Championship – and Charles Grassie, who lies fourth in the year’s National Superbike Privateers’ Challenge.