National Cross Country Championship – Zorgfliet
This weekend will be another battle of note for the boys in orange as the fourth round of the National Cross Country Championship hits Gauteng with the familiar Zorgfliet track as the host venue. The host club GXCC is renowned for putting together fast-flowing tracks and the dry winter conditions of the Highveld are bound to add some dust to the list of challenges on Saturday.
Brad Cox will be bolstering the team returning from a stint abroad after his intended Rally event got canceled. Cox who was forced to miss the second National due to an injured knee is visibly stoked at the prospect of toughing it out again this weekend. “I’ve had a good run so far this year and after losing 25 points in round two I’m obviously looking to add maximum points again here” he commented. “It is really cool being able to race alongside Kerim, there are maybe 5 of us who can pull of the win this round so it will be tight as usual” he added. Cox who clearly enjoys racing on the highveld highlighted that he is really excited to re-join the team and after having decent success racing the same venue last year has reason to hope for a strong finish.
Kerim Fitz-Gerald impressed at the last round after a ding dong battle with teammate Cox only to overcook it and crash that robbed him of a result is eager to get another crack at walking off with a win. “I raced a GXCC since our last outing and my unfortunate crash, I managed to win there and that was pretty sick” he said. “I’m really looking forward to race this weekend, I will be careful not to overdo it and get my confidence up, I know I have a lot to learn still when it comes to Cross Country racing and it certainly is not as easy as everyone might think” Fitzgerald mused. He wrapped it up by saying “I haven’t won a National yet, but I’m going to do my best to get it!”.
Zorgfliet happens to be the track where Matthew Wilson raced on a 250 for the first time which bodes well for the youngster intent on extending his lead in the OR 3 class. “I know it is fast and flowy so I’m super excited for a good result,” he said.
“The racing in Gauteng definitely suits me and I enjoy the terrain so keen to put in a strong effort and build on my learnings from the season so far and focus on the positives,” Scott Heygate said.
Heygate is still in search of his first OR2 Class win which is sure to happen any time soon.
Published by: KTM Motorcycles SA (Grant Frerichs)
Photography by: Justin Reinecke – ZCMC Media