NATIONAL ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP – SEASON FINALE
The curtains of the National Enduro Championship are about to be drawn to a close. This weekend marks the highly anticipated season finale, where riders will have one last opportunity to battle it out for national glory.

All eyes will be on Rockstar Energy Husqvarna’s Heinrich Aust, who enters the event with only 9-points separating him from the top of the E1 Class leaderboard. It’s been a nail-biting season for the youngster who has been locked in a bar-to-bar battle with championship rival Bradley Cox all season long.

Having also committed to the Extreme series this season, the weekend will be a double header event for Aust. The rider is on the cusp of snatching up the Extreme title as well, and lines up tied for points in the E1 Class with Stefan van Deventer.

“I’m up for the challenge of a double-header event this weekend! As a technical rider, the more challenging the route, the better. I’m really looking forward to seeing the kind of terrain that Creighton has in store and giving this last event everything that I’ve got!” said Aust.

Having pulled out of an event this season due to an illness, it’s no secret that teammate Brett Swanepoel’s chances of snatching up the E2 Championship are slim. With a 12-point gap to bridge, the rider has nothing to lose this weekend and will undoubtedly give the final race everything he’s got.

As a Natal local, Swanepoel will line-up with a significant advantage having spent countless hours using the technical terrain as his training ground. After recent rainfall, the already technical route will present the added challenge of being slippery. Undaunted by the terrain and the leaderboard, a confident Swanepoel commented: “Like they always say – it’s not over until it’s over. No matter what the leaderboard says, my goal has always been to win every race I compete in. That’s all I have to focus on this weekend.”

In the Extreme Championship, the rider finds himself in a similar position to Aust. Swanepoel is bracing himself for a three-way battle as he enters the event tied for points with Scott Bouverie and Luke Walker.

With what will certainly be the most exciting event of the season in store, Husqvarna South Africa’s Fred Fensham commented: “Our Enduro season has been a tough one for the team this year. Brett has had a tough fight back after having to pull out of a round due to illness, and with such a short season it’s an impossible task. For our young gun Heinrich, in his first season with us he has battled against a very on form rider in the form of Brad Cox. You can put your money on the fact that he won’t give up chasing the win till the checkered flag drops!”

Published by: Husqvarna Motorcycles SA

Picture Caption: Rising star Heinrich Aust.
Photography by: Sage Lee Voges

Leading rider Tristan Purdon took a clean sweep for Red Bull KTM at the fifth round of the National Motocross Championship when he stormed to victory in both the MX1 and MX2 Class respectively. With the class win having narrowly evaded his grasp in the last few rounds, the rider came back swinging to take top honours in all four heats he competed in.

As the curtains of the prestigious series slowly start to draw to a close, it’s full steam ahead for Purdon as he prepares to defend both red plates. The double victory comes at the perfect time for the rider who is about to compete in the biggest motocross race of the year, the Motocross of Nations. The pinnacle event gives Purdon the opportunity to test himself against the very best in this sport and will put him in good stead for the final two rounds of the South African championship.

Adding an exciting element to the race for the MX2 title has been the battle between Red Bull KTM teammates Purdon and Cameron Durow. The riders have fought tooth and nail for points this season with Durow edging his way to the top of the leaderboard in the last few rounds.

Durow came off second best this time around after two unfortunate crashes in the first MX2 heat. Regaining his composure, he managed to salvage the moto to finish in fifth place. He set off with a blistering pace in the second moto before Purdon made his move, but held onto his pace to finish in second and ultimately secure second place overall.

While the result was not what Durow had hoped for by his own high standards, the race for the prestigious championship is far from over. While getting his hands on the MX2 title is his main focus, Durow has also been getting valuable experience racing in the MX1 Class. This weekend he put on an eye-catching performance when he placed second overall in the competitive class – his best MX1 finish this season.

Once again, Red Bull KTM’s Jonathan Mlimi stole the show in the High School Class. It was a perfect race for the rider who finished first in everything from qualifying to the two heats he competed in.

The event didn’t come without its challenges, however. After setting off with the holeshot in the first heat, Mlimi had a slight tip over in a corner. Shaking off any unsettled nerves, he fought his way back to the front to secure the win.

The second moto started off with yet another holeshot, and Mlimi didn’t look back. He explained: “After the holeshot I controlled the race from the front to bring home another win for the day. This was a very memorable race as it was my first 1-1 of the season!”

A seemingly elusive Pro Mini victory only just evaded the grasp of Trey Cox. Having secured the holeshot and the win in the first heat, a victory overall looked promising for the rising star.

With only two laps to go in the second moto, Cox had a crash that kept him from the top step of the podium. The results were enough to defend his championship lead, however, and Cox will line-up with the red plate in the next round.

Published by: Louwrens Mahoney

Photography by: Sage Lee Voges

NATIONAL MOTOCROSS CHAMPIONSHIP – CHESTNUT
South Africa’s rising motocross star Neil van der Vyver put on yet another eye-catching performance at the fifth round of the National Motocross Championship. Securing a back-to-back victory, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider stormed to glory at Chestnut Track on Saturday, edging his way even closer to the top of the Pro Mini leaderboard.

Van der Vyver was off to a blistering start in the first heat where he quickly established a comfortable lead. A small mistake in the second last lap cost him two places, however, which ultimately saw him finish the moto in third.

Having faced his fair share of setbacks this season, Van der Vyver has been working relentlessly behind the scenes to improve his start out the gates and his overall consistency. With a determination to see his hard work pay off, the rider regained his composure for the second moto and left no table unturned in his pursuit of victory. After yet another impressive start, Van der Vyver battled his way to the front and held his lead until the finish line.

“It’s so good to see the stuff I’ve been working on behind the scenes pay off. While a little mistake cost me in the first moto, I held my nerve and fought my way back to the front and stayed there until the finish line. I bagged some valuable points and will be back for more at the next round!” said an elated Van der Vyver.

Adding to an eventful outing for the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna camp was another consistent performance from David Goosen. Having found the technical track quite challenging, the rider finished fourth and third overall in the MX2 and MX1 Class respectively.

While the results weren’t what Goosen was hoping for by his own high standards, the rider was grateful to have secured some championship points. Fully aware that the race for national titles is far from over, he commented: “Looking back, I believe I didn’t take enough chances this weekend. The new #MY22 Husqvarna range is running like a dream and I couldn’t be happier with the performance of my motorcycles – I just rode too conservatively, which doesn’t pay off in motocross. There are still two rounds left and plenty of points up for grabs, so the season is far from over.”

Shaking off the disappointment, Goosen will now turn his focus to Motocross of Nations where he will represent his country on the world’s biggest motocross stage. The prestigious event will take place in Mantova, Italy, this weekend where he will be joined by South African teammates Tristan Purdon and Camden Mc Lellan.

As he prepares to put his skills to the test against other world-class athletes, Goosen is undaunted and will fall back on years of international racing experience. Husqvarna South Africa’s Brand Manager Fred Fensham commented: “Another bitter-sweet day at a new venue for our team. With the move from Zone 7 to Chestnut Hill, it meant our Cape Town based riders came to a new track that they only had seen once before. This was not ideal preparation, but we had to make the best of the situation.

Neil was outstanding and showed his class. Again, he closed in on the championship leader and will go to Bloemfontein full of confidence. David, understandably, has given up so much to grab the opportunity to go to Italy and certainly approached the day in a conservative mood. Sadly, in this sport it’s no risk no reward – at the end we dropped a few points but still have five heats to charge back!”

Published by: Fred Fensham

9th position and seven MotoGP championship points were earned by Red Bull KTM Factory Racing’s Brad Binder at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli today for the Gran Premio Octo di San Marino e della Riviera di Rimini. The fourteenth round of the season took place in overcast conditions on the Italian east coast.

The first of two visits to San Marino in the final five rounds of 2021 MotoGP was a tricky proposition for teams and riders with sunny and warm conditions mixed with the threat of stormy showers. Free Practice 2 on Friday afternoon was already a wash-out and looming clouds by the time of the 27-lap MotoGP race on Sunday afternoon caused concern that there would be another radical change in the climate.

In the end the event remained dry and the KTM MotoGP contingent started from the sixth, seventh and eighth rows of the grid with Brad the further forward in 17th place. The South African immediately started to push up the order and hovered on the edge of the top ten. As other riders made mistakes and faltered Brad arrived to 10th and then sought to attack Takaaki Nakagami for 9th and made his move with five laps to go.

MotoGP maintains a busy schedule. The penultimate test session of the year will take place at Misano on Tuesday and Wednesday and then the teams will travel outside of Europe for only the second time in 2021 to make the journey to North America. COTA in Austin, Texas will be the scene of round fifteen and the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas on October 3rd.

Brad Binder:
“I gave my max today from lap one until the end. I feel we made an improvement from yesterday to today and that was clear from the morning and warm-up. We finished 9th when I struggled to break through the top 17 all weekend, so hats off to the boys, they are working hard. We need to keep grafting. We have the test coming up so we need some more understanding and then we’ll be back to where we need to be.”

Published by: https://bradbinder33.com

What South African National Motocross Round 5 Report
Where Chestnut Hill, Bronkhorstspruit, Gauteng
When Saturday 18 September 2021
Community South Africa National

Tristan dominates Bronkhorstspruit MX Nationals

Double championship leader Tristan Purdon was without doubt the man of the meeting as the did a double-double to win both heats in both MX1 and MX 2 at the weekend’ Cannabis Energy Drink TRP Distributors South African National Motocross Championship races at Chestnut Hill in Bronkhorstspruit. It was also a day of ties as several riders shared the spoils across the classes, while others went far closer to form.

Red Bull KTM star Purdon romped home to a dominant double open class MX1 win on his Red Bull KTM. Red Bull KTM teammate Cameron Durow, David Goosen’s Rockstar Energy Drink Husqvarna and Jesse Wright’s Yamaha were second, third and fourth in both races, as Purdon doubled his title advantage over Goosen. KTM trio, Jayden Proctor, Johan Vogelesang and Arnu Saaiman duked it out for fifth.

Tristan Purdon also romped to the quarter-litre MX2 double on his Red Bull KTM to grow his championship advantage there too. His pursuers ended in a three way tie for second. KTM teammate Cameron Durow and David Goosen’s Rockstar Husqvarna and each took a second and a fifth as Dalton Venter’s Yamaha took both moto third places. Twice fourth, Joshua Mlimi and Jayden Proctor’s KTMs ended fifth and sixth for the day ahead of Christiaan Cilliers’ Yamaha.

Over-30s rider Grant Frerichs continued his MX3 title charge on his Husqvarna. He took another a double victory over over-40s winner Ian Topliss on a Yamaha. Second Over-30 man home Ryan Frerich’s Yamaha was third overall from over-40s Honda duo Bruce Viljoen and Phillip Harper and Over-30s man Oscar Masango on a Husqvarna.

Kayla Raaff was back to her old self as she sped to a double Ladies motocross win on her Kawasaki. Raaff kept title rival Leah Heygate ’s KTM in second in both motos to double her title advantage with the de Lima sisters, Husqvarna-mounted Cheyenne and Jadene on a KTM, in pursuit.

Jonathan Mlimi made no mistakes as he took an iron grip of the High School 125cc Motocross championship on his Red Bull KTM. He beat Miguel de Waal in both races, whose KTM closed in on Ethan Hoffman’s Out of Africa Monster Energy Yamaha in the title chase. Hoffman was beaten to third by both Luke Grundy’s Husqvarna and KTM lad and Barend du Toit, with Cuan Conway’s GasGas and Callan Broskie’s Ridgeway Husqvarna next home.

85cc Pro Mini proved another brilliant fight. Second race winner Neil van der Vyver’s Rockstar Husqvarna, double second placed rider Emmanuel Bako’s KTM and opening moto winner Trey Cox on a Red Bull KTM were split by just two points at the end of the day. Husqvarna duo Ryan Adler and Jordan van Wyk were next up ahead of Tristan Durow’s KTM. Cox left Gauteng in a 7 point title advantage over new second place man van der Vyver, van Wyk and Bako.

Championship leader, KTM rider Matthew Correia consolidated his 85cc Junior motocross championship lead to more than a race win worth of points. His title rivals Andrew Venter on another KTM and Tyler Petersen’s KTM shared out the second places ahead of first race third lad Caden Wiese’s Husqvarna and Kassim Hassim on a KTM.

The 65cc motocross day also went more or less to form as GasGas lad Blade Tilley and KTM kid Blake Frost his shared out the race wins and second places to leave the top of that title chase static. Third in the championship, Aiden Henley’s Out of Africa Monster Energy Yamaha took both third places, with Husqvarna trio Nicol Smit, Sven Larsen and Christopher Brindley next up.

There was however a bit of a turn up for the books in baby class 50cc motocross as second race winner Aiden Retief’s KTM and double second on the day, Rayden Woolls’ GasGas held first moto winner and championship leader Trenton Kretzmann’s Perry Husqvarna to a three way draw. That kept that title chase exactly as it was too. Casper van Zyl’s KTM, Maxwell Fourie’s Cobra and Joshua Peters-Newman on a Husqvarna were next home

Bloemfontein hosts the penultimate next round of the Cannabis Energy Drink TRP Distributors South African National Motocross Championship on 23 October. The 2021 South African National Motocross Championship is proudly presented by Motorsport South Africa in partnership with Cannabis Energy Drink, TRP Distributors, Prepsol, Bridgestone, Thor, Gaerne, FMF, Pro Taper, 100%, Fly Racing, Ogio, Bandit Graffix and the Race Shop.

Issued on behalf of SA Motocross

Photography by: Wouter Vermaak