Barend Pretorius was forced to retire his Husqvarna from the 2021 Guateng Xcross Country Club Season Opener outside Rustenberg this past Saturday (February 13) due to a rear-brake issue.

After making a good start off the line to emerge in the leading pack of the Class OR3 field in the Three-Hour race, he encountered rear-brake issues early on the opening lap of the off-road course. This necessitated the Pesty Racing team to conduct repairs heading into the second lap, but these had little effect as the problem resurfaced early on Lap 2. Subsequently, Pretorius retired in the pits.

“It was so bad that it became a real safety concern and therefore we decided to rather park the bike when I made the second stop.” said Pretorius. “We did a few small repairs on the rear brakes which held up for the start of the first 10km of the second lap. In that stint, the bike also really felt good on the sandy terrain, but soon after I lost the rear brakes again. Given that we already lost a lot of positions and track time, we decided to retire at the end of the lap.”

Published by:  Reynard Gelderblom