Rover Raceway in Port Elizabeth played host to Round 1 of the 2019 TRP Distributors South African National Motocross Championship. The tiring sandy conditions and new longer race formats were thrown into the mix and tested the riders as the new season kicked off.
Lloyd Vercueil posted the fastest qualifying time in the MX1 Class, and then continued his early morning pace into Heat 1 to win by 22 seconds. Maddy Malan, who on pushing to pass Vercueil during the heat, overshot a jump and ended up crashing. Malan remounted in time to hold on for 2nd place ahead of 3rd place finisher Royce Griffin. A hard charging Tristan Purdon and Kerim Fitz-Gerald made up the top 5 in Heat 1.
Lloyd Vercueil
In Heat 2 it was all Maddy Malan as he set the pace and took the win to take the overall for the day. A slow puncture that eventually resulted in a collapsed back wheel saw Lloyd Vercueil cross the line in 5th, just enough to hold onto 2nd overall. Tristan Purdon and David Goosen, both returning from injury, put on a battle for 2nd and 3rd and finished in those positions respectively. Purdon rounded off the podium in 3rd.
Maddy Malan
Cameron Durow, racing in the MX2 Class for the first time surprised everyone when he ran away with the win in Heat 1 and finished 2nd in Heat 2 to take the overall for the day. Anthony Raynard put in a great effort in Heat 1 to come from the back of the pack and finish behind Durow in 2nd – a 4th place in Heat 2 would see Raynard take the 2nd place for the day.
Cameron Durow
Nick Adams suffered a few crashes in Heat 1 and finished 12th but a convincing win in Heat 2 proved that he’s a rider that will be in the championship hunt. Kerim Fitz-Gerald went 3 for 3 to take the final step of the overall podium.
Nick Adams
Cameron Durow raced back-to-back raced by also competing in the 125 High School Class, and also taking the overall here with a 2 – 1 finish, a brilliant achievement for the day. Camden McLellan took the win in Heat 1 and 2nd in Heat 2 for the 2nd overall. Dalton Venter rounded off the podium with his 3rd and 4th place finish’s.
Cameron Durow
The MX3 Class missed injured champion Ian Topliss but never failed to deliver great racing with Stuart Laing taking the overall win ahead of Craig Kruger and Brett Bircher.
Stuart Laing
In the Ladies MX, 50cc, 65cc and 85cc JNR races it was double wins for Kayla Raaf, Ethan Williamson, Niel van der Vyver and Barend du Toit. Whilst in the 85 Pro Mini class Dylan Kirk took the win ahead of Nate McLellan.
Kayla Raaf
Dylan Kirk
Niel van der Vyver
The next round of the 2019 TRP Distributors South African National Motocross Championship heads to Zone 7 in Cape Town on 30th March.
2019 SA Motocross Nationals Rover Results
MX1
1st Maddy Malan
2nd Lloyd Vercueil
3rd Tristan Purdon
4th Royce Griffin
5th David Goosen
MX2
1st Cameron Durow
2nd Anthony Raynard
3rd Kerim Fitz-Gerald
4th Nick Adams
5th Joshua Mlimi
125 High School
1st Cameron Durow
2nd Camden McLellan
3rd Dalton Venter
4th Aviv Orland
5th Ethan Hoffman
MX3
1st Stuart Laing
2nd Craig Kruger
3rd Brett Bircher
Ladies MX
1st Kayla Raaff
2nd Leah Heygate
3rd Natasha Rugani
85cc Pro Mini
1st Dylan Kirk
2nd Nate McLellan
3rd Blake Young
85cc Junior
1st Barend du Toit
2nd Seth Young
3rd Seth Whittington
65cc
1st Neil van der Vyver
2nd Liam Botha
3rd Jordan van Wyk
50cc
1st Ethan Williamson
2nd Jake van Schoor
3rd Keenan Strauss
Photos by Ruben Louw Photography.