                 Photos by Brodalka Photography
Riders from all over South Africa made their way to P.E to battle at Rover Motocross Club for Round 3 of the National Motocross. With rain on Friday during practice, things were looking bleak. Remember – the last round was cancelled because of the rain…
Thankfully, on Saturday the rain stayed away and we saw some great action.
50cc.
Heat 1.
The first to line up behind the gate were the youngsters of the 50cc class. The gates dropped and the kids were off. The field started to spread out as the laps fell.
#14 Ethan Style was leading the pack with #44 Tiaan Scheppel not far behind, it was Style who crossed the line 1st followed shortly by Schepple in 2nd. #30 Brayden Tucker came through in 3rd place.
Heat 2.
In their last heat, Style took control of the race as he left his competitors to slug it out. There was no catching the front runner as he made his way to the finish line, Style took a stylish 1st overall. Tucker was next to follow taking 2nd place and #6 Milan Roux finished 3rd
                                 Overall Results.
1st #14 Ethan Style – KTM
2nd #30 Brayden Tucker – KTM
3rd #6 Milan Roux – KTM
65cc.Â
Heat 1.
The 65cc class was a heated affair from the start as the riders fought for the top spots. #345 Rayden Woolls kept a good pace as he made his way through the track. He crossed the finish line in 1st place. #404 Rhys Wentzel took 2nd and was followed by #85 Ross Mackenzie in 3rd.
Heat 2.
Saw another good start from Woolls to take an early lead. There were some great dices taking place throughout the track. Woolls kept his cool and secured his second win. This time it was Mackenzie who claimed 2nd place and Wentzel took 3rd.
                                 Overall Results.
1st #345 Rayden Woolls – Husqvarna
2nd #85 Ross Mackenzie – GASGAS
3rd #404 Rhys Wentzel – KTM
MX1.
Heat 1.
The fans made their way to the track to witness the action from the top tier riders in the MX1 Class. KTM’s Reigning SA champ #1 Cameron Durow took control of the race and flowed through the track to take the win. Honda Rider #337 Slade Smith finished in 2nd with #914 Keegan Hickson-Mahony in third.
Heat 2.
Durow was out of the race thanks to a tumble in the MX2 Class. It was Smith stepped up to the plate and claimed the win, #42 Marco de Vrye took 2nd with #783 Ethan Hoffman following in 3rd place.
                                  Overall Results: Smith and Honda take the win.
1st #337 Slade Smith – Honda
2nd #42 Marco de Vrye – KTM
3rd #24 Mark James Carty – Yamaha
85cc.
Heat 1.
The 85cc Class never disappoints and once again it was a lot of action throughout the race.
Pushing his KTM to the limit was #280 Kabelo Ledwaba who crossed the line in 1st place. The reigning champ Trenton Kretzman took 2nd with #28 Evan Frost in 3rd.
Heat 2.
For their last race of the day #42 Aiden Retief had a great race that led him to claim the win, Ledwaba came through in 2nd place with Frost taking another 3rd spot.
                                   Overall Results.
1st #280 Kabelo Ledwaba – KTM
2nd #42 Aiden Retief – KTM
3rd #28 Evan Frost – KTM
MX Ladies.
Heat 1.
The ladies gave the fans a great race. With a good run on her Yamaha #21 Jessica Osner rode her way to the win, #202 Mienke Cawood crossed in 2nd and #16 Kelly Beegte took 3rd place.
Heat 2.
Heat 2 started with a big roar as the ladies stormed turn 1. Another good race kept the spectators next to the track in support. This time it was Cawood who claimed 1st place followed by Osner in 2nd and #349 Mackenzie Bam in 3rd.
                                  Overall Results.
1st #202 Mienke Cawood – KTM
2nd #21 Jessica Osner – Yamaha
3rd #128 Zoe Botha – Husqvarna
MX High School.
Heat 1.
22 Riders took their spot behind the gates for the 125cc High School Class and as they dropped, the youngsters opened wide. As the race came to a close it was #300 Trent Valsecchi on his GASGAS in the lead. He kept a tight line and took the win, #141 Christian Berrington-Smith placed 2nd with KTM’s Factory Rider #1 Trey Cox in 3rd place.
Heat 2.
Determined to do better in the last race, Cox went out and rode his heart out and as he made sure to make no mistakes,. It worked well for the champ as he secured 1st place. Berrington-Smith took another 2nd with Valsecchi in 3rd.
                                   Overall Results.
1st #1 Trey Cox – KTM
2nd #300 Trent Vasecchi – GASGAS
3rd #141 Christian Berrington-Smith – KTM
MX Support, MX3 & Vets.
MX Support.
Heat 1.
With the race in full swing we had a couple of great moments that kept everyones eyes glued to the action. Taking full control of the race was #447 Kyle Townsend who picked all the right lines all the way to take the flag in 1st place. #47 Ty Potgieter took 2nd, followed by #331 Ashlin Nicholas in 3rd.
Heat 2.
Repeating his performance, Townsend was just too quick for his competitors and claimed the double win. #29 Craig Kruger made his way to 2nd place with #45 Cameron Grobler filling the third step.
MX3 & Vets.
Heat 1.
The MX3 & Vets joined the Support class out on track which made for more good racing.
#141 Royce Griffin was the rider who took control and kept it so all the was to finish in 1st place. #515 Jan Ryan took 2nd with #99 Levi Doherty claiming 3rd.
Heat 2.
From early on there were no stopping Griffin as he flew through the track and secured himself 1st overall, Ryan finished in 2nd with #144 Morne Janse van Rensburg taking 3rd place this time round.
                                    Overall Results.
                                     MX Support.
1st #447 Kyle Townsend – KTM
2nd #47 Ty Potgieter – Husqvarna
3rd #45 Cameron Grobler – KTM
                                     MX3 & Vets.
1st #141 Royce Griffin – Honda
2nd #515 Jan Ryan – Husqvarna
3rd #144 Morne Janse van Rensburg – Yamaha
MX2.
Heat 1.
At the beginning of the race, we saw the reigning champ and KTM Factory Rider #1 Cameron Durow go down hard bringing an end to his race day. This lead to his fellow team mate #450 Luke Grundy taking not only full control but taking the win. He was followed by #747 Jordan van Wyk in 2nd with Out of Africa Yamaha Rider #81 Jordan Proctor in 3rd place.
In Heat 2, Grundy did not disappoint as he, yet again showed off his skills flying through the track. He took a second win. Grundy’s team mate #37 Trey Cox added to their championship points finishing in 2nd place with Van Wyk taking 3rd.
                                  Overall Results.
1st #450 Luke Grundy – KTM
2nd #37 Trey Cox – KTM
3rd #747 Jordan van Wyk – KTM
Round 3 was nothing but entertaining and left the riders and fans hungry for more. With KTM adding a lot of valuable championship points to their tally it seems that the Austrian Motorcycles are going to be hard to beat in 2025!
Catch Round 4 on the 31st of May in Pietermaritzburg.
