Race Report: The Diamonds
and Dirt Amateur Ladies Fun Race - Round 2
13 May 2014
Published with Permission
by Michelle Smith
Photos and Video courtesy Katherine Otty
After the nice ‘warm-up’ round for the ladies at
Chestnut Hill, we decided to up the game on the Enduro side
for the second round of the series. We took the race to InXess
Off Road club in Rustenburg for another brilliant round. A
huge thanks must go out to them and all of their volunteers
that helped us out not only on the day but in the weeks leading
up to the event. Another big thanks to Noleen and her family
for spending several days there preparing the enduro path
and making sure it was safe for everyone. Thanks to them and
InXess Off Road Club, the ladies had another amazing time.
Photo courtesy Katherine Otty
MOTOCROSS
Following the same format as the first race, the first half
of the day was dedicated to Motocross. Due to injuries and
mothers day we only had one youngster participate in our Junior
class, young Gabriella Botha on her KTM65cc. She slotted in
nicely with the Beginner Ladies and had and absolute ball
racing with the older ladies on the flat track.
We were pleasantly surprised at the intense race going on
in the front of the Beginner Ladies with Chrisitine Fick,
Juliana van Niekerk and Yolandi Hichens. Both Juliana and
Yolandi each took a heat win with Juliana taking the overall
for the day. A special mention must go to the second heat
race and the battle between Annelize Boshoff and newcomer
Leyah Bresler. The two ladies were side by side the entire
race and it was only at the very end that the experience of
Annelize paid off and saw her take the chequered flag before
Leyah. We can’t wait to see what happens next for these
Beginner Ladies, we think maybe it’s time we introduce
them to bigger jumps….
Overall Results
MX Juniors
1. Gabriella Botha 50
MX Beginners
1. Juliana van Niekerk 47
2. Yolandi Hichens 47
3. Christine Fick 40
4. Amore Hichens 38
5. Annelize Boshoff 35
6. Jessica Taljaard 34
7. Leyah Bresler 17
We now moved to the big track for the Intermediate and Advanced
MX girls. Unfortunately our star in the Advanced class, Amy-Leigh
Sawyer had suffered a bad crash a few before and even though
she came out to participate, a crash in practice proved that
it was the wiser choice just to give it a skip and heal up
for the next one. We look forward to having her join us again
at the next one.
We unfortunately lost another of our advanced favourites due
to injury, Bloem rider Samantha Erasmus. We wish her a speedy
recovery.
This almost left Natasha Rugani out on her own with the Intermediate
Ladies if it wasn’t for our guest rider of the day Toni
Jardine. Toni showed just how well her off-road and Enduro
skills benefit MX and rode at an incredible pace. Toni did
not score and points and participated purely for the fun of
it and to help set the pace for the ladies which can help
quite drastically for the ladies out front.
In the Intermediate Ladies class, it was Durban rider Tanya
van der Walt that was on top form but another Enduro rider,
Tanya Kioykas made sure she didn’t lose concentration
and stayed on her tail in both heats. It was an excellent
race from both Tanya’s. Our winner from race one, Belinda
de Villiers worked hard and grabbed third overall for the
day.
Overall Results
MX Advanced
1. Natasha Rugani 50
MX Intermediate
1. Tanya van der Walt 50
2. Tanya Kioykas 44
3. Belinda de Villiers 39
4. Adel Pieroni 38
5. Corinna Botha 19
The improvement at each race and with each lady is visible
and we look forward to seeing the intense battles at the end
of the year at the final.
ENDURO
For this race our Enduro Beginner ladies had their own route.
A very basic loop of about 5km. It was Juliana van Niekerk
that was putting in the quickest laps with young Amore Hichens
having a great race until some mistakes allowed our winner
from race one, Jenine Klette to make the pass and start chasing
down Juliana. The ladies managed to hold their positions and
after 45 minutes the chequered flag went out. A special mention
must go to Jessican Taljaard who has progressed in leaps and
bounds from the first race.
Overall Results
ENDURO Beginners
1. Juliana van Niekerk 25
2. Jenine Klette 22
3. Jessica Taljaard 20
4. Amore Hichens 19
The Beginner, Intermediate & Advanced ladies started
in rows together. It was incredible to see 17 ladies all waiting
to race, laughing and joking around. It was an amazing sight
and proof of things to come for ladies racing.
After some disappointments at the first race for the Intermediate
ladies, the race was definitely one as the flag dropped. Each
time the ladies came around to complete a lap it was interesting
to see how the positions were changing. It was Corinna Botha
however that had her hand on the throttle and despite some
falls, she blazed through for first place. Another solid and
consistent ride from Tharien Smith saw her take second and
it was newcomer Ilne Marx that came through for a comfortable
third place after the one hour time limit.
We had a very strong group of Advanced ladies, led out by
Toni Jardine. A much tougher course of around 8km with a very
memorable water crossing with off camber climb was definitely
the highlight for both these and the Intermediate ladies.
Young Natasha Rugani once again pushed hard and took the win
for the day. We also saw an incredible ride from Margaret
Kalis who recently participate in a GOC, and took second.
The usual battle ensued between Adel Pieroni and Cathlene
Roos but some delays at the water crossing saw both ladies
lose valuable time.
Overall Results
ENDURO Intermediate
1. Corinna Botha 25
2. Tharien Smith 22
3. Ilne Marx 20
4. Katherine Otty 19
5. Shakira Vawda 18
6. Yolandi Hichens 17
ENDURO Advanced
1. Natasha Rugani 25
2. Margaret Kalis 22
3. Cathlene Roos 20
4. Adel Pieroni 19
There are plenty of pictures posted on our Facebook page,
go check it out! Diamonds
and Dirt
Our next event is in September (when its warmer). Look out
for all the details in the coming weeks on our Facebook,
Twitter
and Web
Site.
BACK / Close
this Window
|