Race Report: The Diamonds and Dirt Amateur Ladies Fun Race - Round 3
30 September 2014

Published with Permission
by Michelle Smith
Photos by Carien Bresler

As we prepared for the third Amateur Ladies Fun Race Day of the year, we knew it was going to be another great one. In true form to what we have had in mind with our Ladies Development Programme, we once again supplied some new challenges and the opportunity for some exciting races.
For the third round we headed to the iconic Syringa X Park on Saturday 18 October. Thanks to owner Jannie and his team, we were able to offer the ladies not only a superb MX track but an incredibly fun enduro loop.

Photos by Carien Bresler

ENDURO
With each enduro race we have offered the ladies something different. This time the loop we put together with Jannie’s help was short, but a bit more technical, with some interesting sections that offered everything from speed to slowing it right down to get over some technical sections.
This was the first race where our Beginners that have been racing on their own for the first two rounds had the opportunity to join with the Intermediate and Advanced girls. We made sure to give them ways to bypass the difficult sections that the other girls had to go through and it was great to see the ladies step up to the challenge and even surprise themselves. It was just another step in our process to slowly prepare ladies for racing conditions.
In Enduro Beginners, we couldn’t believe the progress some of the ladies had made. Whilst they now raced with the faster girls, they still scored separately. Each of them rode well and handled the race traffic very well. It was Jenine Klette who once again took top spot and managed 7 laps. One more lap then the other ladies managed. It was an incredible show by the two young riders, Tania van der Walt who took second and Amore Hichens who took third. We are excited to see how these ladies do as they progress through the ranks.
In the Enduro Intermediate group, it was out of towner, Helen Squirrel-Armstrong that kept pace for the ladies. She did an incredible job and managed 11 laps. Another solid performance by Ilne Marx saw her take second and an excellent race by Dominique Tursini had her take third. They day didn’t go as planned for the other ladies, but we are certain to see them all in top form at the last race in November.
The Enduro Advanced is always great to watch. With only a few ladies ready to push their limits, we know its only a matter of time before these ladies move on to bigger and better racing. Young Natasha Rugani once again took the overall with a solid ride from Adel Pieroni saw her take second. Unfortunately injuries saw the other usual ladies not able to participate. We wish them a speedy recovery so we can see them all back at the last round.

Photos by Carien Bresler

MOTOCROSS
Once again it was the first race that the ladies all raced together. With over 15 ladies on the line it was incredible to see. It was the first race that the ladies got to use proper start gates so after some practice it was time to get racing.
In the Beginner MX, who would have ever thought that this class would provide us with some of the best racing. These ladies have really come along way and did an incredible job for their first time on a senior MX track in a race. It was a great battle between young Leyah Bresler and Juliana van Niekerk but it was Leyah that managed to fight for both wins, to take first overall for the day. Juliana took second and young Amore Hichens, who improves every time we see her took a well earned third place, despite a fall that set her back a bit.
In the MX Intermediate it was Belinda Spillings who took the overall for the day. She put in two solid races despite a great battle with Tanya van der Walt. If it wasn’t for a Tanya going down, we would have had a very close finish in heat 2. A great first time MX race for Helen Squirrel-Armstrong saw her grab an excellent third overall.
In MX Advanced it was Natasha Rugani who raced unopposed in the third round.

Photos by Carien Bresler

The overall results after three rounds is ensuring that we are going to have an extremely exciting final in November. We look forward to it!

Thanks again to Enlightened Life, Fox, 32Gi as well as all the friends and families that always come out to help and support us.
Thanks to Carien Bresler for taking all the photo’s.

There are plenty of pictures posted on our Facebook page, go check it out! Diamonds and Dirt

Our Final event is in November. Look out for all the details in the coming weeks on our Facebook, Twitter and Web Site.

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