MXSA RACE REPORT: MIDAS, RAD MOTO, VISION RACING MX TEAM

RACE REPORT: MIDAS, RAD MOTO, VISION RACING MX TEAM - MX NATIONAL Round 2 in CAPE TOWN
23 April 2013

RAD Report by Geoff Kruger

The second round of the WOMZA, Full Throttle, Monster Energy, National Motocross Championship event for 2013 was held at Melkbos in Cape Town. The track was awesomely prepped and probably one of the toughest in the country. Fire and wind could not stop proceedings and as always the Cape Town MX Club put on a great show.
Thanks to many behind the scenes individuals and sponsors such as Ryan Shapiro from Full Throttle, Monster Energy, Mark and Karen Sangster from CTMX as well as all local sponsors. Well done, thank you and please keep it up!
The weather in Cape Town as always had an influence and heavy gusting winds on Saturday as well as a massive bush fire contributed to the challenge. Sunday was quieter and cooler and much better for racing and spectators alike.

PRESS RELEASE: RAD Moto and Grant Foley from VISION RACING join forces

We are very excited to announce that RAD Moto has joined forces with Grant Foley from Vision Racing to create a super race team. Matthew and Cameron Kruger of RAD Moto’s current MX Team will now benefit hugely from the additional support from Grant Foley and his VISION RACING TEAM at all future events. This will assist them to compete at their highest level. The collaboration allows us to pool resources in terms of track side, race day and training support, coupled with the benefit of discounts to the team on overall spares and maintenance costs.
Grant Foley brings 35 years of experience with him in many facets of motorcycle racing as well as coaching and contributes immensely in terms of managing the team’s success. Grant will be taking care of rider training during the 2013 season as well as managing the team. We look forward to working with Grant to make 2013 a great season for RAD Moto and Vision Racing. Welcome on board Grant!

RAD Moto and Vision Racing Team riders
- 25 James Thompson 50 junior
- 6 Cameron Kruger 65 cc
- 35 Peter Thompson Pro Mini
- 92 Tristan Tredoux Pro Mini
- 4 Matthew Kruger 85 cc
- 64 Shayne Steenkamp 125 cc
- 35 Peter Thompson 125 cc
- 25 Fernas Baptista MX1
- 92 Zeponta Fernandes MX2
- 25 Fernas Baptista MX2

RAD Moto and Vision Racing Team Pits – National MX Round 2 – Cape Town 2013

The Team Review
Cape Town is the first big event where we got to test the new team structure and it was a fantastic event for us.
- 25 James Thompson 50 junior 4th overall
- 6 Cameron Kruger 65 cc (Currently Injured)
- 92 Tristan Tredoux Pro Mini 7th Overall
- 4 Matthew Kruger 85 cc 3rd Overall
- 64 Shayne Steenkamp 125 cc 14th Overall
- 35 Peter Thompson 125 cc 13th Overall
- 92 Zeponta Fernandes MX2 24th Overall
- 25 Fernas Baptista MX2 25th Overall

Grant Foley hard at work in the Pits

The 85cc Junior Class
Matthew is improving in leaps and bounds and will soon close the gap on the front runners. Grant has started a training regime with Matthew and the other team riders that should soon start to show dividends and we look forward to many more podium finishes this season.
Keegan Mahoney started the season well and was probably the favourite for this year’s 85cc title until an unfortunate wrist injury forced him to sit out the rest of the season. Our best wishes go out to the Mahoney family for Keegan’s speedy recovery.
The title chase is now between Seth Van den Abele, Slade Smith and Matthew Kruger
Matthew qualified 3rd fastest in qualifying practice, which was commendable after a hard fall in open practice earlier on Saturday morning. Matthew hurt his shoulder and groin and rode in pain most of the weekend.
Heat 1 saw Matthew getting a poor start. With the concrete starts it was difficult to get drive and traction out of the gates and we tried three different options during the weekend with no real luck. Matthew managed however each time to get through corners 2 and 3 very quickly to make up positions and slot into third place, behind Smith and Van den Abele.

Matthew rode solidly all day, and although a little off the pace of the front runners he came in 3rd in heat 1 with Seth van den Abele coming in 1st and Slade Smith 2nd.

Matthew Kruger High flying over the grandstand table top

Heat 2 again saw Matthew getting a poor start. We changed the header and silencer overnight hoping to get better starts and lap times on Sunday, but this backfired and Matthew’s lap times slowed in Heat 2. He did however manage a solid 3rd place and back at the pits we changed back to his preferred combination - the FMF SST pipe.

Heat 3 saw Matt again get a poor start getting squeezed on the inside and having to slow down to avoid going into the tyres. Matthew made an excellent recovery from 7th off the start and by turn 4 was in 3rd place. On the 2nd lap Smith had a bike issue and Matthew was able to get up into 2nd position. Ruben Aucamp rode very well all day to keep the pressure on Matt and he slotted into 3rd place. At the halfway mark Matthew’s silencer vibrated loose (not the mechanic’s fault) and started to bounce off the back tyre every time Matt hit a bump. We prayed that it would stay on as Matt started to slow down as he was unsure what the problem was.

Thankfully the silencer stayed attached to the bike and Matt managed to nurse the bike home for a solid 2nd place in the final heat. Unfortunately for Ruben Aucamp, a well-deserved and good overall result was spoilt as his bike seized on the last lap. This allowed Smith to get up into 3rd position with the win going to Seth Van den Abele. Overall we were happy with Matt’s solid performance and look forward to Port Elizabeth in May.

The silencer came loose and was hitting the back wheel for half of the final heat, but Matt still managed a 2nd position

Prize Giving

On the podium for RAD Moto and Vision Racing. From Right, Matthew Kruger, Seth van den Abele and Slade Smith

We look forward to Round 3 of the WOMZA Full Throttle MX Regional Championships, which will be held on the 13th April at POLOKWANE.

A BIG thank you to Grant Foley for his support over the weekend. It is much appreciated.
Overall I believe that the RAD Moto and Vision Racing MX team represented themselves very well at the event and a BIG thank you to Dave Griffin, Nel Bosch and everyone at the RAD Moto team for your on-going valuable support. Thank you to Stefan Le Roux and Ken Taylor from MIDAS and Phil Baker from Autocycle centre for sponsoring Matthew the fantastic Golden Tyres. Really awesome tyres!

See you next year!

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