Purdon Storms to Victory in Gqeberha
Red Bull KTM dominated the second round of the National Motocross Championship that took place in Gqeberha this weekend. Claiming his second consecutive double victory of the season, star rider Tristan Purdon snatched the win in both the MX1 and MX2 Class respectively.
The highly anticipated event was hosted by Rover, a track infamous for its unforgiving sand and deep ruts. Fully aware of the physical challenge in store, Purdon mentioned paying extra attention to his fitness levels in the weeks leading up to the race.
He commented: “It was such an awesome feeling to win both classes again. The track got super rough and demanding on the body, but that’s what I’d expected. I felt like the fitness training I’d been doing leading up to this made a really big difference. Our mechanic, Kevin, also setup my KTM 250 SX-F and KTM 450 SX-F perfectly – they couldn’t have felt better.”
With a strong determination to hold onto the red plates throughout the season, Purdon executed a perfect 1-1 in MX1 to take the victory overall. After finishing in a close second in the first moto of MX2, Purdon described feeling particularly fired up to win the second moto. He explained; “When I came that close to winning the first moto, I was even more determined to get out there and win the second moto. I was a little stressed for MX2 – it’s stacked with talent and I usually perform better in MX1. I’m really proud of the results and happy to have extended my points lead in both classes.”
Red Bull KTM teammate Cameron Durow added to the celebrations at the orange camp. As the fastest qualifier, the youngster managed to get up front for a large portion of the first heat in MX2. Durow described making a few small mistakes that cost him the lead, but he managed to finish the moto in a solid third place.
The rider made the decision to switch back to his practise suspension for the second heat and set off with a blistering place to take the holeshot. After a bar-to-bar battle up front with Purdon and Camden Mc Lellan, Durow finished both third in the heat and ultimately third overall.
“This race taught me a lot about the kind of suspension setup I need to perform at my best and gave me good experience racing upfront with Tristan and Camden. I learnt a lot from this weekend and have a good idea of the things I need to work on going forward, but I’m also really happy with the end result,” said Durow.
The event proved to be a challenging one for Red Bull KTM’s Jonathan Mlimi. The High School Class hero had an unfortunate crash that kept him from earning any points in the first moto. With a track record of making epic comebacks, however, Mlimi drew on his past experiences to enter the second moto swinging. Undaunted by the challenging start to the day, the rider tapped into new gears as he raced to the secure victory and a top ten finish overall.
A cherry on the top of what was a highly successful day of racing for the team was yet another podium finish from rising Pro Mini star Trey Cox. Despite a slow start in the first moto, Cox remained consistent and finished 3-2 to take third overall. The rider has now secured the points lead in the 85cc Class. He commented, “What I’m happy about most is that for the first time I managed to get the red plate! I’m going to hold onto it for as long as I can.”
Published by: Louwrens Mahoney