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.

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