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inGEAR: Words & Photos by Zygmund Brodalka

Full ThrottleMX NationalsRound 5 East London - ride it like you stole it

A good friend of mine, Marc Doornbos,

and I headed to East London for the

fifth round of the MX Nationals

and the penultimate round of the

SA Motocross Championship, which

commenced on 11 August. I really enjoy

travelling by car to these events as the journey itself

is always an adventure, and of course there is the

ultimate reward: a weekend of fantastic racing, braaing,

talking shop, and meeting old and new friends.

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 afternoon 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 hard-

packed 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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Buy ONEIssuEONLINENOW

Brendon Fleming

Reid Sinnicks

Loydd Vercuill

Justin Mittens

Richie van der Westhuizen

Brendon Fleming

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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 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 three-

second 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!

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!

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.

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)

Brendon Fleming

Richie van der Westhuizen