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Round 1 of the 2020 South African National Motocross Championship took place in Port Elizabeth at Rover Raceway. The infamously rough, sandy and demanding track made for exciting racing and kicked off what is set to be a competitive championship season.
It was great to see 20 riders line up on the MX1 class, and when the gate dropped for Heat 1 it was Kerim Fitz-Gerald who took the holeshot and the lead of the race, unfortunately short-lived as he was side lined due to a brake bolt coming loose. Maddy Malan was on the charge but went down. Tristan Purdon capitalised and took the lead to win the race with Lloyd Vercuil behind in 2nd.
In Heat 2 Purdon again took the win to claim the overall. Fitz-Gerald showed how competitive he was on board a 350cc to take 2nd place. Vercuil’s 2-5 finish saw him finish in 2nd overall, while Anthony Raynard rounded off the podium in 3rd with a 4-3 finish. Jesse Write had one of his best finieses in the premier class with a 5-4 for 4th overall.
Tristan Purdon
In the MX2 class it was David Goosen who dominated the field by taking the double win and the overall for the day. Anthony Raynard claimed another decent finish with a 3-3 for 2nd overall. Tristan Purdon put together a 2-5 finish for 3rd place. Slade Smith and Cameron Durow both showed promise in the competitive class by finishing in 4th and 5th respectively.
David Goosen
Reigning Champion, Ian Topliss, took top honors in both races of the MX3 class. Tyson Engelbrecht followed in 2nd with Enduro/ Off-Road star, Dwayne Kleynhans finishing in 3rd.
Reigning champion Kayla Raaff picked up where she left off with a double win in the Ladies class over Megan Jonker, who shared the 2nd’s and 3rd’s out with Natasha Rugani.
Kayla Raaff
The 125 Highschool class was packed full of action as usual, and saw Uganda’s Stav Orland take the overall with a 1-2 finish. Ethan Hoffman’s 4-1 finish saw him take 2nd overall while Liam Gilchrist finished off the podium in 3rd with his 2-3 finish.
Stav Orland
Daiyaan Manuel and Liam Botha both won double victories in the 85cc Pro Mini and 85cc Junior classes.
Daiyaan Manuel
In the biggest field of the day, the 65cc class, Jordan van Wyk took the win.
Jordan van Wyk
Chase Bekker hung on for two wins over local favorite Trenton Kretzmann in the 50cc class.
The riders will now be looking ahead to Round 2 taking place at Zone 7 in Cape Town on the 27 and 28 March 2020.
2020 SA Motocross Nationals Rover Results
MX1
1st Tristan Purdon
2nd Lloyd Vercueil
3rd Anthony Raynard
4th Jesse Wright
5th David Goosen
MX2
1st David Goosen
2nd Anthony Raynard
3rd Tristan Purdon
4th Slade Smith
5th Cameron Durow
MX3
1st Ian Topliss
2nd Tyson Engelbrecht
3rd Dwayne Kleynhans
Ladies
1st Kayla Raaff
2nd Megan Jonker
3rd Natasha Rugani
125 Highschool
1st Stav Orland
2nd Ethan Hoffman
3rd Liam Gilchrist
85cc Pro Mini
1st Daiyaan Manuel
2nd Bryce Petersen
3rd Emmanuel Bako
85cc Junior
1st Liam Botha
2nd Alon Orland
3rd Pieter Brink
65cc
1st Jordan van Wyk
2nd Trey Cox
3rd Jack Pullen
50cc
1st Chase Bekker
2nd Trenton Kretzmann
3rd Maxwell Fourie
Photos by Ruben Louw Photography.
