inGEAR:
Words & Photos by Zygmund Brodalka
e l t t o r h Full T s l a n o i MX Nat Roun
stole it u o y e ik l it e id r d 5 East London
Marc Doornbos, A good friend of mine, ndon for the and I headed to East Lo Nationals fifth round of the MX und of the and the penultimate ro nship, which SA Motocross Champio st. I really enjoy commenced on 11 Augu as the journey itself events travelling by car to these of course there is the and , ure is always an advent aing, nd of fantastic racing, bra ultimate reward: a weeke . nds frie new and old talking shop, and meeting
Dirco van der Westhuizen
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This trip did not disappoint. En route from Cape Town we had the unexpected pleasure of passing beautiful snow capped mountains and white Christmacy-looking trees all the way from Swellendam to Mossel Bay - what a treat! As I haven’t been in this neck of the woods for many years, it was also amazing to see how much these places have developed and grown, and the once sleepy coastal towns I knew back then are definitely not that sleepy anymore. With so much to see and discuss on the way, we missed the turn off to Grahamstown, via Port Alfred, and almost found ourselves in Craddock. Luckily we realised that the N2 was becoming awfully quiet and stopped to get some directions from a cattle farmer. After an 1,100 km stint we finally made our way into East London, but the saga was not over yet. Road works saw us getting lost once more and caused a further two-hour delay. Tip: always add an extra two hours travel time for those unexpected delays. We arrived at the Border MX track just before dark and pitched our tent on the softest grass imaginable. The weather was superb so we ended up having an awesome braai, and chatted about the riders, the history of the track and its very capable owner, Luch Hannan, before dragging ourselves off to bed. This is what the good life is all about!
Border MX is one of the older MX clubs in South Africa, boasting a 42-year legacy. Even though it has been around for a long time, the track is one the newer ones and a pleasure to ride on from a racer's perspective because it’s an easy sweeping ride. This track also has a long and proud record of successfully hosting the MX Nationals, which is famous for the rowdy crowds and party people it attracts in their thousands. Although it’s not the biggest jump track, with only one major step down in front of the pits, it became famous when two BADBOY Honda teammates, Ross Branch from Botswana and Merik Sprag, collided in mid-air in 2009. This resulted in one of the biggest crashes witnessed in South Africa, but luckily no one was seriously injured. Race day started at the crack of dawn on Saturday for us as we headed out to check on the track, which had been well prepared, as we knew it would be. It was a beautiful, clear, sunny day and perfect for racing, but unfortunately this was not to last. By late afterno on the track
had been transformed into a windy dust bowl, which led to the eventual cancellation of the 2nd Moto’s for all but the 50 cc classes.
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Kerim Fitzgerald
Kerim Fitzgerald
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The track is split into two sections: the section from the starting gates to the first half of the track is high-paced pinned one, while the second section consists of whoops and loads of tight turns, with a massive step down and some bowl turns that are mostly hard-packed, with occasional sandy bits. Even with a little bit of everything thrown in to challenge the riders, there was no holding back and such was the intensity of the racing that the track ended up as a two lane race due to rutting. This resulted in even more spectacular racing, with lots of spectator appeal. The kiddies track is one of the tighter tracks on the circuit, with some bowl turns and a lovely little whoop section. These youngsters hit those whoops with no fear, even if the feet are all over the show. This is great preparation for their future as the whoops only get bigger. The first heat of the 50 cc class was one of the best of the day when Camden McLellan shot out of the gates to get to the holeshot first, with a hot pack of riders chomping at his heels. Looking comfortable in the lead, Camden made a mistake and went down, leaving championship leader, Justin Sangster, to take the lead, with Jonothan Mlimi right behind. During a last lap attack, Jonothan made a sneaky pass and snatched glory from Justin Sangster, who looked to comfortably consolidate his championship title. Camden came back to claim a well deserved third place. The 2nd Moto didn't go as well for Jonothan, who came in fifth position. Overall positions for the day were: Camden in first after his win in the 2nd Moto, Justin in second (but still leading the championship with one round to go), and Jonothan in third.
The 65 cc class saw 'pocket rocket' Cam Durow, from KZN, claim his customary holeshot and race win. He was chased down by Slade Smith, who has just made a return to national MX after a serious injury, to take second place. Dalton Venter came back from a bad start to finish third on the podium. Strong performances from Wikus van Sandwyk and Grant Hutton saw them round out the top five. Riders in the 85cc class never cease to impress me with their incredible talents and no-fear approach. It was a battle from start to finish, with Janes van Sandwyk showing great form from the start and taking the lead for some time. He eventually gave up his lead to the relentless Marcus Phelps, who has been campaigning in the UK this season and shown what a world-class rider he is. Bevin Potgieter really impressed on the hardpacked sections to claw his way back from a poor start and finish in second. Justin Thompson also performed well to take third place. Although the Pro Mini class had small numbers, there was no shortage of pace. Local boy Tristan Purdon battled it out with his teammate Dirco van der Westhuizen in the early part of the race, however, Tristan's track knowledge and home town advantage saw him cross the line in the 1st Moto some 18 seconds ahead of Dirco. Joshua Mlimi was handed third place after Jason Visser's bike came to a standstill at the last step up with just three laps to go.
Mark Baxter
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Loydd Vercuill
Richie van der Westhuizen
Justin Mittens
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Brendon Fleming
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Brendon Fleming
The 125 cc class saw championship-favourite Justin Mittens start slightly slower than he would have liked, but he finished really strongly to take the top podium position. His main rival, Jesse Wright, who has been really consistent this year, had to settle for second, with holeshot king, Reid Sinnicks, in third. Strong performances also came from Marco Ras and Tristan Cuthbert, who came fourth and fifth respectively. Justin's win puts him at the top of the leader board and he now goes into finals of the 2012 championship with a home town advantage. But it's not a done deal for Justin just yet, as there is still Maddy Malan and Zane Farquharson who were even faster at Teza, so we can expect some epic battles from these lads in the finals.
The MX1 class saw Richard van der Westhuizen come out and make amends for his performance in the MX2 heat by dominating from start to finish, while Wyatt Avis had to pull out due to a bad fall in the MX2 event. A slow start saw Kerim Fitzgerald having to fight his way back into the lead pack, to finish second ahead of Michael Kok, who looked a little out of sorts and later said that he felt slow and tried to override to compensate. Mention must be made of Royce Griffen who held onto second place despite taking some time off from MX racing. If he works on his fitness, I think that he is going to be a real threat to this class at his home track in PE.
The MX2 class was a four-way battle between championship hopefuls Kerim Fitzgerald, Anthony Raynard, Richard van der Westhuizen and Wyatt Avis. Kerim used his USA experience to get around Anthony and Richie and open up about a threesecond lead. Three falls meant that Wyatt had to keep fighting his way back into contention, which he did with aplomb to secure a fourth place, and he also set the fastest lap time on track by over a second. Richie made an uncharacteristic mistake while chasing down Anthony, which allowed Wyatt to slip into third. After a hard-fought race, Kerim won with about a 4 or 5 second gap. The two PS Honda boys gave it their all, all the way to the line, but in the end it was Raynard who managed to hold on and finish second, with Wyatt in third and Richie in fourth. So with Team PS Honda once again sharing the podium with Kerim's Red Bull KTM, the last time being at the Cape Town Nationals, the excitement of racing just doesn't get better than this and I can't wait to see what will happen at the finals. One thing I do know for sure, it's gonna be a nail-biting affair!
Once again it was an awesome day of racing - despite the weather - and one that was filled with thrills and spills, and racing of the highest calibre as riders battled it out for the coveted red NR1 plate and 'Masters of Terra Firma' titles. Special thanks to the Reid family for their assistance in helping me get to East London. Now it is with bated breath that we wait for the sixth and final round of the WOMZA Full Throttle MX Nationals at Rover MX Club, in PE, on 22 September, and the crowning of our Champions!
Till next time keep it pinned! •
èRelated articles:
• Hometown Showdown at MX Nationals (Issue #18, p. 86) • Sizzling Action at WOMZA Full Throttle MX Nationals (Issue #17, p. 76)
In the MX3 class, aka the Veterans and Masters class, the 40-something-year-old Wayne Smith showed that he was no push over against the 'younger' vets and crossed the line in first place to win the heat. Despite Roger-Dean Bergstrom's best efforts to get up and race Wayne, he had to settle for second in the heat, but clinched first in the Masters class. Ian Topliss was second in the Vets, ahead of Craig Kruger. Geoff Den was second in the Masters ahead of Rod Bergstrom. It was great to see Alec Combrink from Cape Town back on the track after recovering from a serious ankle injury and then racing Mototard for a few years - welcome back Alex!
Brendon Fleming
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