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RACE REPORT: FULL THROTTLE GAUTENG
MX CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND 1: DIRT BRONCO
12 February 2013
by Laren van der Westhuizen
With 2012 bringing about changes in the world of motocross for
the first time in more than 2 decades, people were excited to see
where the changes had lead in 2013. One of the changes in Gauteng
is for the administration of the Gauteng regionals to be taken to
a professional level, to begin the new idea of MX changing to a
professionally run sport in SA. Whilst the road is going to be a
long and rocky one, we believe that the first regional this weekend
was a good indicator of the direction we headed.
Even though we are in an economic down turn and the sport is considered
a luxury sport for the elite, the riders turned up in numbers for
the first round. Aided by the fact that the first Womza national
is at Dirt Bronco, the fields included riders from all over the
country. Dirt Bronco has made a few significant changes to the circuit
of late and they have made the track more technical with more options
for passing.
The day started with a bit of drama though, as an electrical cable
was stolen at the power station and no power meant no water, no
fridges, timing or PA system. Thank goodness, Honda SA had sponsored
a generator, so we could get practice under way with the timing
working. It wasn’t long before Ernie and the DB crew sorted
generators for the water and PA system.
50cc senior class was up first
and saw holeshots from Vincent Van Rooy and Hayden Tully. Camden
McLellan seemed to be the fastest, but after winning heat 1, heat
2 ended in disaster putting him 2nd overall. This handed the win
overall to heat 2 winner, Hayden Tully. Vincent Van Rooy was 3rd
overall. Jonothan Mlimi had a quiet day in 4th.
The 50cc junior class is new for 2013. Tyler Tarantino was quickest
in practice and was able to win heat 1. In heat 2, Tyler was stuck
in the pack and only managed 3rd. The win in heat 2 and the overall
went to Willem Hough. 3rd was Barendt DuToit who hoeshotted heat
1. Great rides from James Thompson and Lukas Venter who finished
4th and 5th respectively.
The MX2 class was up next.
They ran with the MX2B class
and 32 riders lined up for heat 1. Danny Lailvaux on the WRR Kawasaki
got the holeshot, but when his handlebars dropped down on his tank,
he dropped back through the pack. This left the 2 hotshot favourites
to battle up front. Kerim Fitzgerald on the RedBull KTM took the
lead on lap 1 and was shadowed from then by Richard VD Westhuizen
on his Full Throttle Yamaha. The pressure finally told as Kerim
made a mistake, handing the win to Richard Van Der Westhuizen. Darryl
Fitzgerald finished a commendable 3rd. The youngster Jesse Wright
surprised a few with a solid 4th. Caleb Tennant was expected to
show some good pace, but an early crash left him out for the rest
of the day.
No. 21 Danny Lailvaux - courtesy SLN Photography
In heat 2, Kerim Fitzgerald got the holeshot he was looking for
in heat 1. He checked out as quick as possible when he saw Richard
buried in the pack. By the time Richard worked his way to 2nd, the
gap was too big to close down. He had to settle for 2nd and 2nd
overall. Once again, Darryl showed he still has the metal, with
a solid 3rd. Jesse Wright was 4th overall and Zane Farquharson was
5th.
The MX2B class was won by Graham
Obery with Sebastian Callen in 2nd and Donovan Raubenheimer in 3rd.
Next up was the open support class and we saw a familiar name rise
to the top, David VD Westhuizen. He won both heats comfortably and
left the tussling to the rest. There was a huge battle for 2nd in
both heats, but Brad Pieterse won the battle to finish on the middle
step of the podium. Johan Bezuidenhout was 3rd overall.
The 65cc class was up next
and was one of the bigger classes. A couple of hotshots from KZN
were up, namely Cameron Duro and Wikus Van Sandwyk. They certainly
got out in heat 1 good and left the rest chasing. The only Gauteng
rider to get up there and challenge them was Dalton Venter, who
set the fastest time in heat 1. Unfortunately, every time he went
for the pass for the lead, he made a mistake. Time eventually ran
out and he had to settle for 2nd. Wikus was 3rd and Christiaan Cilliers
was 4th. Special mention must go to Callum Mathews from Swaziland,
who finished 6th. In heat 2, Dalton Venter rectified his mistakes
and rode to a great win. Cameron Durow didn’t let him go, but
had to settle for 2nd. Wikus Van Sandwyk was 3rd again, with a great
ride from Calvin Jean-Jacques in 4th.
No. 122 Darrel Fitz-Gerald - courtesy SLN Photography
The 125 class was also one
of the biggest. Star talent like Nicholas Adams was in the field.
The rest of the field was made of relative youngsters and a few
of the challenged the front, like Dirco VD Westhuizen and Jason
Visser. Adams would win both heats convincingly, but the battle
for 2nd raged on. The experience of Dillon Charalambous came through
as he worked hard for a good 2nd. Jason Visser took the last step
of the podium in his first 125cc race. Full Throttle entry, Dirco
VD Westhuizen was 4th.
The 85cc junior class saw some
real talent. Mathew Kruger holeshotted heat 1, but could not hold
off Slade Smith and Keegan Hickson-Mahoney who would go on to battle
for the lead. Keegan was quickest, but new to the track, a few mistakes
crept in and Slade Smith only had to ride smooth to win heat 1.
Keegan did enough for 2nd and Mathew Kruger held on to 3rd ahead
of a hard charging Ruben Aucamp and Ricky Raaf. In heat 2, Keegan
did the job and took the win. Slade Smith was solid in 2nd and Ricky
Raaf rode to a great 3rd. Ruben Aucamp held 3rd on the last lap,
but a mistake cost him and he settled for 4th place.
The MX1 class was a real spectacle.
The top 2 setting lap times some 4 seconds quicker than anybody
else. The top 2 were of course Sacha Naude and Richard VD Westhuizen.
Richard wore Sacha down in heat 1 to take the win, also setting
the fastest lap of the day in the process; 1.54. In heat 2, Sacha
managed to deal with the armpump and held Richiard off for a well-deserved
win and overall. Richard was 2nd, with RedBull KTM rider Kerim Fitzgerald
in 3rd.
No. 717 Richard van der Westhuizen - courtesy SLN Photography
The pro-mini class was interesting
to watch. This class is stacked with young riders with at least
2 years in the class still. Marcus Phelps was the man to catch.
No one managed to make the pass on Marcus, although Jonothan Mlimi
tried in heat 1 and Jason Visser tried in heat 2. Jason ended up
2nd overall with Jonothan in 3rd. Marco DeVrye was a solid 4th on
a borrowed bike and a return to MX saw Charl Van Eeden in 5th.
Geoff Den was one of the picks for rider of the day as he went
1 – 1 in the Masters class.
He was chased down by Marc Ansley who won the Vets
class. The MX4 ladies were
also thrown in with the MX3 class and Amy Leigh Sawyer came out
on top, with Chaney Botha in 2nd and Bianca Prout-Jones in 3rd.
Great class to watch and was exciting to see battles between Niclaas
VD Linden, Fanie Meyer and Charlie Stebbing.
No. 86 Amy Chewins & No. 91 Bianca Prout-Jones - courtesy
SLN Photography
The day was a raging success and had a massive turnout of spectators,
which is a good sign ahead of the MX national in 2 weeks. All of
this was only possible because of great willing sponsors and we
say thanks to them:
- Full Throttle
- Monster energy
- Intertherm
- Audio touch
- Racestar Graffix
- Honda SA
Thanks also goes to Ernie and Dave and the DB crew, as well as MXSA
for the organization of the event.
For pictures from the event contact:
SLN-PHOTOGRAPHY - 082 560 0519
[email protected]
. www.sln-photography.com
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