National Motocross Championship – Round 4

Red Bull KTM have reason to be quietly confident ahead of the fourth round of the National Motocross Championship that is set to take place in Port Elizabeth this Saturday. The sand track of Rover is renowned for being tough and unforgiving and with most of the team leading their classes expect to see some fireworks on Saturday.

Freshly back from a stint in the United Kingdom, Tristan Purdon said he is looking forward to some big battles at his hometown track. He said: “I’m hoping my recent races in the UK added a bit to my speed and fitness going into this national. I’m feeling comfy on the 250 and the 450, especially on my home track. I’ve always been a fan of the sand” he added.

An elated Trey Cox who is currently leading his class said: “PE is the toughest race of the calendar, and it’s the race where you have to get as many points as you can and not throw away any points. I’m really excited, I’ve been putting in a lot of hard work and I went to Europe a month ago so I’m feeling really good and excited for this National. I’m leading the championship by 9 points now so it’s quite tight but otherwise feeling good and confident, ready for it!”

Also leading his class this time in MX2 Cameron Durrow said he is really looking forward to race in the sand in PE. “I really enjoy racing in the sand, I’ve been riding sand the whole year in Europe so it’s a round I’m really looking forward to” he added. He went on to say “I still haven’t lost any points since the first round in the MX1 Championship, so it’s still really close, and PE is a really tricky track so there is often some big change-ups that happen in PE when it’s in the middle of the season, else there is a lot of big changes if it’s in the beginning of the season, it doesn’t really represent the class.” Durrow also competes in the MX1 class where he will be hoping to get an opportunity to get some points back.

Expecting some fireworks, new to the MX2 class, Jono Mlimi has a score to settle sitting in the third spot “The calendar is a bit different this year, so it’s going to be very interesting to see what goes down in the sand, I am currently sitting 24 points off the leader in the MX2 class and in third place” he said. “There are only three rounds left, so I’m hoping to achieve the maximum points as always because it is what I train for” he added. This will be his first time racing a 250 in the sand and he is clearly relishing the prospect.

Another class lead for the orange family comes in with Luke Grundy, he commented “I was in PE two weeks ago and I really enjoyed the track and the way I felt around the track. I’m looking forward to this coming National and I’m hoping to extend the championship lead as it’s my first time with the red plate in this class”

He added “I haven’t really looked forward to a national like this yet compared to previous rounds because this is an extremely difficult track, but the same to the riders who know how to ride sand, will make it look easy. At the moment I’m feeling really good training sand so hopefully, I can take that to the national in PE!”

Published by: Louwrens Mahoney – KTM Motorcycles SA

Photography by Justin Reinecke – ZCMC Media