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Out Of Africa Monster Energy Yamaha Racing announce their Motocross team for the 2023 season. Following the press day held at Legends Raceway, here is the rider list, photo epic and a word from team owner, Guy Henley.
Out Of Africa Rider List:
- Jesse Wright – MX1
- Dirco van der Westhuizen – MX1
- Dalton Venter – MX2
- Garrick Henley – MX2
- Thor Johnson – 125 High School
- Aiden Henley – 85cc
Jesse Wright
Dirco van der Westhuizen
Dalton Venter
Garrick Henley
Thor Johnson
Aiden Henley
“Where does one start – PASSION!
What drives me mostly is the passion for the sport. Yes there are many other things, creating platforms for riders to excel, exposing talented technicians as well as allowing branding creativity.Out of Africa has been involved with sponsoring dirt bike teams since 2007, so we have seen quite a few changes over the years and in some cases not. We have had some of the best guys to throw a leg over a dirt bike in our team, where we have learnt from each other and grown to.
Out of Africa is very privileged to have some global brands as sponsors and in some cases, we have brands that have been with us since the beginning. We like to see ourselves as a team that participates at a professional level and still gives a lot back to the sport in all facets of it.
I am always looking at expanding the boundaries and pushing the limits so as to extrude the best from the team, that goes from the rider to the most junior technician. I believe it is important to do things properly from the word go, yes you don’t always get it right and yes it often takes time. But with passion and vision you can achieve what you set out to.
If one looks how we started – a bakkie and a trailer with a few gazebo’s, it takes hard work and huge effort, to progress.
Often in South Africa you get, “we don’t need all that for our type of racing”. We have some of the best riders in the world that have come from here. I believe that our promotion/ marketing of the sport needs to be more positive and we need industry to assist to get back to its glory days. We should be looking at how we can uplift it and make it great again, just how it was in the 80’s and 90’s. We had American’s and Europeans coming here to race our series, that’s how good our sport was.
There is often politics, that can make things complicated and one spends energy on that rather on the sport. Decisions have to be made for the greater good of the sport, period. We need to show the greatness again.
If you look at the new generation of riders coming through the ranks, we have a lot of talent as well as new demographics, which I believe is fantastic, as well as something we need to work on more. There is a lot to offer in the world of dirt bikes and we all need to play a part in it, if we want to see it grow, big or small it all counts.
One thing I have not listened to is the phrase “In SA, we don’t need to do that’, I believe we do and should, we should be looking at making it all more professional and maybe less complicated.
For 2023 we have an awesome team with huge talent and the capability to win races and in some cases championships.”
Regards – Guy Henley.
Photos by The Black Sheep.
