Saturday 3^rd March 2012. Saw a blistering start for the BikeFin Honda team at the opening round of the South African Supersport Championship held at the short yet tricky Zwartkops Raceway outside Pretoria.

The first signs of the well prepared BikeFin Honda CBR600RR’s by Anassis Racing, showed results during the practice sessions on Friday. With each session, one of the riders came out quickest and at the end of the day, none other than a BikeFin Honda rider had topped the tables. Little work was required of the race engineers to prepare the 4 bikes for the qualifying on Saturday.

Qualifying saw a perfect show-down for the BikeFin Honda Team when they filled the front row with a perfect 1-2-3-4. Clint Seller P1, Lance Isaacs P2, Brent Harran P3 and a debut for Cam Petersen in P4. The BikeFin Honda team was ecstatic and knew that history was in the making.

Race 1:

From start to Finish it was all about the Honda BikeFin boys who took off in style and treated the crowd with a nailbiting fight with Clint Seller and Lance Isaacs in a severe battle for the lead, exchanging the lead multiple times with Harran hanging in the wings waiting for a gap. Cam Peterson hung onto fourth position in his maiden ride with Bikefin Honda for most of the race. On lap7 of 10 he lost the back end on turn 5 but his raw talent saved him from falling off and finished in a solid eight position. It was a spectacular finish as three BikeFin Honda’s crossed the line in under one second Clint Seller 1^st with Brent Harran 2^nd and Lance Isaacs 3^rd   

Heat 1 Results:

1. Clint Seller – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
2. Brent Harran – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
3. Lance Isaacs – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
4. Steven Odendaal – GSXR600
5. Dean Vos – ZX6R
6. Dylan White – Triumph

Race 2:

The gloves came off for race 2, it was a fight from lap one to twelve, three BikeFin Hondas went side by side into turn one but no one wanted to give an inch. The crowed were treated to the race of the day. In the end it was the victorious Clint Seller thet stood up on the pegs to claim his second victory of the day with Lance Isaacs only 0.2 behind in second place. Cam Peterson found his zone and finished in a solid third. Brent got stuck behind Odendaal and Vos and a frustrating battle ensued as we know that the track is difficult to pass on and with temperatures soaring the track became very greasy. A full house for BikeFin Honda racing team, Pole Position – Top three steps of the podium – and a new Lap Record for Lance Isaacs.

Heat 2 Results:

1. Clint Seller – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
2. Lance Isaacs – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
3. Cam Petersen – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
4. Steven Odendaal – GSXR600
5. Dean Vos – ZX6R
6. Brent Harran – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda

Overall Results:

1. Clint Seller – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
2. Lance Isaacs – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
3. Brent Harran – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda
4. Steven Odendaal – GSXR600
5. Dean Vos – ZX6R
6. Cam Petersen – CBR600RR BikeFin Honda

BikeFin Honda will run with the super-fast Clint Seller and again feature experienced Lance Isaacs and two of South Africa’s promising young stars Brent Harran and Cam Petersen who will all compete in the 2012 SA Super Sport WSS Series.
 
Team Manager Brad Anassis: “BikeFin Honda goes into 2012 with its strongest ever line-up of riders with all of them capable of reaching the top step of the podium, in this year’s SA Super Sport Championship, with no weak point. After narrowly missing out on the Championship in 2010 and 2011, this is our best chance to win the title with one of our talented riders”

“We are delighted to continue our association with BikeFin after a promising 2011 season. Clint Seller and Lance Isaacs will yet again create an exciting combination. Clint has youth and speed on his side while Lance comes into the season with experience and high expectations, he will be focusing on this class from the start of the season. Brent Harran, now with his schooling behind him, goes in with a breath of fresh air and new team member Cam Petersen is one of SA’s most promising young guns. These two will make a young but formidable pairing in our pit box”.

“All our riders will receive exactly the same machinery and support. AR operates an open-book policy where all riders share and learn from information, data and technical assistance. It means all have the same opportunity to perform on one of the best Super sport race bikes in the world, Honda CBR600RR.”

Team product partners include: MP Martin Paetzold Suspension, Portable Shade, Air Age Engineering, Sasol, Race! SA, Dainese, Samco by Racebikebitz, NGK, Cobalt Engineering, Alcoa. NEW exciting partners include lubricant giants Liqui Molly and UD Magnis Trucks Midrand.

AR teams will be concluding a three phase test series starting in PE during January before travelling to Cape Town, then to Zwartkops for a further test ahead of the opening round of the Championship at Kyalami on March 4^th. For more information on the team visit www.bikefin.co.za or www.anassis.com or www.hondasa.co.za or follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/bikefin/honda.

Clint had a superb race weekend on his Anassis racing prepared CBR600RR by claiming pole position and overall victory. Unfortunately, it was not enough to claim the South African Supersport title 2011. The competition needed the full 18 races in order to beat the Honda CBR600RR of the BikeFin Honda team.

On race day, Clint Seller started off on a high note by claiming his 5th pole position of the season in front of his team mate Lance Isaacs. At the start of the race, Clint had to bridge a 9 point difference with the championship leader David McFadden. In order to stand a chance to win the title, Clint had to win both races. Race 1 was an absolute thriller when Clint and Lance took off as the leading duo.

Gradually the championship leader worked his way up and a fierce battle erupted. Clint was able to maintain his leading position until the last corner of the last lap when Macfadden made a pass up the inside. Clint crossed the line 0.076 seconds behind the winner with Lance Isaacs following 1.5 seconds in P3.

The second race saw Clint and Lance taking off and leaving the rest of the field behind for the whole race. Clint Seller took victory in front of Lance Isaacs, but it wasn’t enough to be crowned champion for 2011.

The BikeFin boys can look back on an extremely successful season by ending in final P2 Clint Seller, P3 Lance Isaacs and P4 Brent Harran. Throughout the eighteen heat season, the team produced 7 pole positions, 6 wins, 30 podiums,     2 overall 1-2-3’s and a staggering 815 points (and 841 including Sandro and Jason)!

Brad Anassis has shown the South African racing industry that the BikeFin Honda racing team is setting the standard and are the winning combination now and will be in the future. 2012 will see the introduction of the new Portable Shade F1 style paddock system and the new ultra modern racing rig has shown it’s face. It is clear that BikeFin Honda were the champion show makers on and off the track for 2011.

Friday saw the team struggling with the fuel supply of the new power commanders while the boys still managed to stay in the top five during the day – all within a second of the leader board. On Friday night the team engineers put in some long hours to sort out the problems with the Honda CBR600RR’s. Regardless of the intense preparations of the team prior to the race weekend, this was an element of surprise to the team engineers.

Saturday morning during qualifying it seemed that everything was under control when Clint Seller claimed P2 with Lance following closely in P3. Race 1 saw Clint fighting for the lead. However, with only two laps to go, the gremlin electrical problem kicked in again! Clint helplessly dropped back to P3 behind the championship leader and saw him cross the line in first. All in all it was a great accomplishment that Clint managed to bring the bike over the finish line.

Immediately after the first race the mechanics stripped Clint’s bike to sort out the problem. Minutes before the second race, the team had the bike ready to race again. Race 2 saw a highly motivated Clint once again fighting for the lead. A red flag in the sixth lap forced a re-start.

During the sprint race that followed, Clint rode the wheels off the BikeFin CBR600 coming home in P2 and claiming the overall second position of the day. Lance Isaacs also had to fight very hard for his fourth position overall but he left the track content with the knowledge that it was the most he could have done. With his fourth place, Lance strengthened his P3 in the championship at the expense of Brent Harran who only finished in sixth.

It has to be said that the whole team did an amazing job and with just ten points behind the championship leader in second place, the BikeFin Honda Team is confident that the title crown is still within reach. There is no doubt that in the next week, the team will do whatever it takes to give the boys the best bikes for the final round of the championship at Zwartkops Raceway again!

The BikeFin Honda Racing Team impressed everyone yet again with their second of the season overall result of 1-2-3 at the 6th Round of the South African Supersport Championship which was held over the weekend at the ultra fast Grand Prix Circuit in East London.

Whoever thought that the Honda CBR600RR couldn’t win in East London was WRONG! Anassis racing had other ideas and made history with their second consecutive full house podium invasion. Also rocketing, Lance Isaacs now holds both the 600cc and 1000cc outright lap records around the extremely fast East London GP circuit on Honda CBR’s!

Race 1:  Clint Seller claimed victory after an intense track battle with his teammate Isaacs. It all came down to the last corner where Clint claimed the most wanted spot on the track, inside of the last corner, to give him the advantage run to the line. Lance showed his true speed by shattering the lap record by .4 seconds while Brent Harran completed the success by taking fourth position.

Race 2:  The second heat was a dog fight and it’s no secret that the BikeFin riders had to push extra hard and box cleaver to achieve this brilliant result of 1-2-3 overall – the teams second podium clean sweep of the season.

Race day overall result:

1st Clint Seller

2nd Lance Isaacs

3rd Brent Harran

Clint Seller did exactly what he planned to do at the EL Grand Prix track and that was to depart EL as the leader in the SA championship.

Brad Anassis is extremely happy with the performance of the bikes and team saying that Honda proved that it has the pace to win at SA’s fastest track – an accomplishment that seemed an almost impossible feat at this super fast circuit.

The dominating style must be giving the competition something to think about. Brad Anassis is confident that with the teams’ improvement, the last three races could well be a repeat of the last two events.

With Clint in the lead of the championship and backed by both Lance and Brent, the competition is the chasing party. Brad made it clear that it is an accomplishment of the whole team who have all worked extremely hard to find that extra bit to win races.

With the championship lead now intact, the BikeFin Honda Team has no intention of letting go of the leading position at the next round in Cape Town – the hometown of Lance Isaacs.

Amidst all the controversy and politics surrounding the BikeFin Honda race team, it is safe to say that their perseverance, effort and team spirit paid off in the end.

Torrential rain and extreme cold made the Friday practice session a challenge to say the least.  Riders had to be careful as the weather conditions made the track treacherous to ride on. BikeFin Honda riders went out once to get a feel for the track and to literally “test the waters”.

Saturday morning delivered a still wet track and the race was declared a “wet race”.  However, rain stayed away and racing continued as usual.

Clinton Seller claimed pole position for race 1 and showed, through skill and talent, that he is the master qualifier. Seller has maintained pole position in every race this year.

Lance Isaacs followed in third position, while Brent Harran struggled with his visor in clearing up conditions.  The glare made it impossible for him to put in a decent lap-time and he literally ran out of time after he was forced to change his visor during the session. He ended up in 12th position on the grid for both races.

Race 1 – The talent and hard work of the BikeFin Honda team became evident as they took off and left all competition behind. While Lance Isaacs and Clinton Seller fought over the lead, it was Brent Harran who needed only three laps to join his teammates in third position.

Halfway through the race, Lance Isaacs kicked things up a notch and had a solid 5,2 second lead on Seller and Harran on the first checkered flag of the day. Lance was thrilled with his first victory of the year and he was happy to put an end to his battle with the CBR600RR.

Race 2 – At the line-up of the second race, the team had a clear understanding of what was expected – repeat the result of race one! That is exactly what happened and in the early stages of the race, it was once again Lance Isaacs and Clinton Seller who left the rest of the field behind in a display nothing short of masterful!

Brent Harran, still frustrated over his bad qualifying time, claimed seventh position in the first lap and by lap four, he had the two leading Honda CBR600RR’s in sight. Due to his hard work in the first race, Harran unfortunately had to settle for third position when his tires began to deteriorate. Lance Isaacs and Clint Seller finished in first and second position as in the first race, with the only difference being that the gap to number four was now over 10 seconds!

Total domination by the BikeFin Honda racing team was a long time coming. Half way through the season, the team left Port Elizabeth with maximum points and renewed motivation and drive. It is clear that all three riders are now contenders for the championship.

The team dominated the race weekend in all aspects and on all fronts, leaving the competition numb.

“This is the reward you get when you put SA’s best riders on the finest bike, backed by the most enthusiastic people in the motorcycle industry” said Brad Annassis. “BikeFin, you made a dream come true – but ‘BB’, this one’s for you. Thank you!”

Sandro Carvalho, the teams’ Angolan counterpart, surprised everyone by racing with his badly injured shoulder and bringing home another four points!

In three weeks, the team goes to East London to the ultra fast Grand Prix track, where the lead in the championship is up for grabs!

In 2010, Bikefin had the opportunity to sponsor one of the younger riders, Cameron Aitken, in the 100cc class. There is something special in watching a youngster being held up by dads, uncles, team principles or whomever it takes to get them out on the track.

And so we made it through the first year of watching little Cameron Aitken master the art of riding his Honda 100cc.

Still small in stature, Cameron is now a year older and needs no help getting out on the track! The last 3 local races saw him leading the field in his Bikefin colours to claim pole position. His continuous training, perseverance and plenty of track time paid off as Cameron was selected along with 2 other youngsters, William Friend and Dorren Loureiro, to represent Honda South Africa in the Honda NSF 100 World Championship in France.

The bike Cameron will be riding is the Honda NSF100. It is a four stroke 100cc bike. These bikes were initiated by Honda Japan and the vision is to develop youth in motorcycle racing world wide.

These bikes are not standard bikes that can be purchased and are valued at around R40 000.  11 countries participate in the series and they all come together annually where the best riders are sent to represent Honda in their countries.

It will be Cameron’s first visit to the international track and he is looking forward to riding on slicks for the first time.

Bikefin would like to wish Cameron the best of luck and they look forward to a podium finish for their little protege.

Supporting the sport is what we do, backing the riders is how we do it!