Inland MX championship series motocross bike racing

A muddy slip and slide…

Full gates and happy faces.

Words and photos by Deon vdl Photography.

After a very, very wet and rainy week, we thought that this would be soppy, muddy track racing. When we got to the track that is exactly what we got, but not from the rain, it was from prepping the track after it dried up the day before.

Uncle Xavier pulled off his magic and made the track a slippery day of mayhem and skill…

Let’s start in race order.

50cc JNR & SNR.

The qualifying runs had more parents on the track than riders and they were kept busy running around picking up kids and bikes out of the mud. It was a clear sign that the day was going to be quite a spectacle.

JNR: #30 Brayden Tucker started his qualifying round with a run that let his class know he was going to be a tough nut to crack. #212 Alex Sutherland, just 1.603sec off Tucker’s pace was still 5.329sec ahead of #88 Reestin Bartlett.

Race 1: Tucker picked all the right lines as he rode to a convincing win of 1:07.700 #18a Gary Hamer and Bartlett were trickling through the mud to see who would take second place. Hamer took 2nd as Bartlett followed in 3rd by 2.396sec.

Race 2: Saw the pack spread out almost evenly as the riders fought the track more than each other. As the flag came out, it was Tucker to take it first by 25.247sec. Bartlett had a much better run this time as he was the one crossing in 2nd leaving 3rd to Hamer who came 22.795sec later.

SNR: Taking thier shot at the muddy madness was #20 Luan Jordaan who had the fastest time by nearly 5sec.

#6 Millan Roux came next with #117 Trey Dean 0.384sec off Dean’s pace.

Race 1: Jordaan had a very good run as he left the pack well behind him and took the win by 25.159sec. Dean with a great run of his own took 2nd with #118 Mason Vrey taking the 3rd spot.

Race 2: Trey and Jordaan went at each other as they fought for the win. At the end it was Trey who came through in 1st with Jordaan just under 2sec in 2nd place.

Vrey secured another 3rd place.

Overall Results:

JNR:

1st #30 Brayden Tucker

2nd #88 Reestin Bartlett

3rd #18a Gary Hamer

SNR:

1st #117 Trey Dean

2nd #20 Luan Jordaan

3rd #118 Mason Vrey

MX3 Masters & Grand Masters.

Masters: Out for their practice run Championship leader #187 Ty Taylor and #37 Craig Maynier had a tight run as Taylor was only 0.517sec faster than Maynier with #58 Warrick Peeters 4.343sec behind Maynier.

Race 1: Determined to keep his spot as the leader, Taylor made clean work of his competition in race one as he conquered the mud to take a 24.277sec win. Maynier came 2nd with a 1:05.681 gap between him and #20 Andrew Beeston in 3rd.

In race 2: Maynier had a much better race as he chased Taylor but to no avail as Taylor still took 1st place by 6.534sec. Maynier made it to the end in 2nd 1:03.408 sec before Beeston crossed in 3rd.

Grand Masters: The practice run had the top three riders less than 3sec apart. #47 Shaun Lloyd quickest, #4 David de Witt 1.157sec off pace then 2.496sec after de Witt came #159 Adrian Maguire.

Race 1: What an epic battle this was as the fight for first place got intense, #19 Darrel Lehman’s battle with Lloyd had Lehman take the flag 0.001sec in front of Lloyd in 2nd now that is what you call a photo finish with Maguire 3rd.

Race 2: Mr. Lloyd didn’t like the results of the first race so he put more effort in the last race which paid off as he rode to a 21.675sec. Victory. Lehman beat Maguire to the line for 2nd.

Overall Results:

Masters:

1st #187 Ty Taylor

2nd #37 Craig Maynier

3rd #20 Andrew Beeston

Grand Masters:

1st #47 Shaun Lloyd

2nd #19 Darrel Lehman

3rd #191 Pierre Smit

MX3 Vets.

It was no surprise when the Wheeler brothers came out as the top two riders in practice with #135 Dean 5.423sec ahead of #73 Brandon who was 7.606sec quicker than #717 Wayne Meyer.

Race 1: Dean had no problem with the muddy conditions as he just kept his pace flowing all the way to 1st place, beating his brother. Brandon kept #100 Sean Strukheide well behind him to grab 2nd and Strunkheide took 3rd.

Race 2: Dean had no problem staying ahead of the guys all the way to the end. He made it two out of two. Brandon made sure to keep the Wheeler’s name high as he placed 2nd again. This time it was #22 Sarel Prinsloo that made his way to 3rd.

Overall Results:

1st #135 Dean Wheeler

2nd #73 Brandon Wheeler

3rd #22 Sarel Prinsloo

MX2.

This practice run between the riders was so close that the top three riders were split by only 0.274sec #74 Cole Meyer, #25 Ricky Raaff and #136 Mark-Anthony Filip.

Race 1: When it came to race time, things went a bit sideways with Filip chasing Raaff. Raaff just kept going as his gap grew until he took a massive win.

#228 Louis Mostert made his way to 2nd with Cole Meyer 1.741sec behind him in 3rd.

In Race 2: Things went better with Filip in this race but it was still not enough as Raaff kept himself in the lead to take his second 1st for the day. Filip looking much stronger but was still slower than Raaf. He took 2nd nonetheless and Cole Meyer came in 3rd.

Overall Results;

1st #25 Ricky Raaff

2nd #228 Louis Mostert

3rd #74 Cole Meyer

MX4 Ladies.

When the practice session ended for the ladies, the day was set for the three fastest to remain tops throughout the day. Quickest in practice was #110 Emily Pienaar, #16 Kelly Beegte and #222 Sienna Zoutendyk.

Race 1: With a fantastic race! Beegte made a run for the front and was just too fast to be caught and she made it to 1st place, Pienaar took 2nd and was followed by Zoutendyk in 3rd.

Race 2: With so many riders having a tough time with the track, Beegte’s run was not as great as the first. Pienaar took the lead and kept it until the flag waved her in. Beegte got the 2nd spot and Zoutendyk was 3rd again.

Overall Results:

1st #110 Emily Pienaar

2nd #16 Kelly Beegte

3rd #222 Sienna Zoutendyk

65cc.

As the little 65cc struggled through the thick mud it was #312 Qhamani Thu who got the best time with #66 Mikah Hendrickse almost 3sec off pace and #19 Tommy Wotherspoonin third.

Race 1: Thu rode his bike like a champ as he made all the right moves to take the win by a long way. Hendrickse still had a great race coming in 2nd place with Wotherspoon finishing 3rd.

Race 2: As the last race was on the way, things did not go as planned for Thu. Something went wrong and Hendrickse came out in front and just rode his way to an easy win, Wotherspoon took 2nd and #104 Richard Smith 3rd.

Overall Results:

1st #66 Mikah Hendrickse

2nd #19 Tommy Wotherspoon

3rd #312 Qhamani Thu

MX1 & MX Support.

MX1: #135 Dean Wheeler claimed another fastest time in a practice session with #337 Slade Smith just 1.402sec off Wheeler’s time.

Race 1: Wheeler had a great start and grabbed the holeshot doing well for the first part of the race before international star Smith came past and beat Wheeler to the finish line. Wheeler made his way to 2nd place with #746 Adriano Catalano crossing in 3rd.

Race 2: Smith was out to show everyone exactly why he races abroad as he powered his way to the front and took the chequered flag by 26.425sec. Wheeler took 2nd with another 3rd place for Catalano.

MX Support: Here we saw the top three fastest riders session end with very slight margins #34 Greg Gildenhuys at the top, #33 Blake Levey and #312 Waylin Olivier.

Race 1: Gildenhuys was in top form as he was untouched by his fellow riders and made his way to 1st. #122 Kyle Davey had a tough time with Olivier but managed to take 2nd by 0.853sec over Olivier with 3rd.

Race 2: Keeping the pack far behind him Gildenhuys was unbeaten taking another win making it a clean sweep for the day. Olivier made it to the line in 2nd and was followed by #509 Ruan Smith in 3rd.

Overall Results:

MX1:

1st #337 Slade Smith

2nd #135 Dean Wheeler

3rd #746 Adriano Catalano

MX Support:

1st #34 Greg Gildenhuys

2nd #312 Waylin Olivier

3rd #122 Kyle Davey

An unfortunate end to #161 Matthew Bronkhorst’s raceday.

85cc JNR & Pro Mini.

JNR: Starting their day with practice the top three riders ran like that throughout until the racing was done. #111 Keegan Miles had the best time followed closely by #711 Keagan Burns and #78 Keagan Crawford.

Race 1: Even though the track was tough, they kept pushing hard to keep the name dominant, Keagan Crawford won the first race by 1.833 sec with Keagan Burns 2nd and Keegan Miles taking 3rd. Three Keegans?

Race 2: The name remained but positions changed in this race. It was Keegan Miles who took the win, Keagan Crawford in 2nd and Keagan Burns with 3rd.

Pro Mini: A rivalry was formed early in this class between #555 Maxwell Fourie and #15 Dylan Bezhuidenhout. Fourie started with the best time, Bezuidenhout in second #91 Connor Schlebusch had the third best time.

Race 1: Bezuidenhout was the first to shoot back at Fourie to claim a 6.072sec win. Fourie got his 2nd with a big gap of between him and Schlebusch who crossed in 3rd.

Race 2: Now it was time for Fourie to retaliate as he grabbed the win by 6.356sec, Bezuidenhout following in 2nd and Schlebusch made it to the finish in 3rd again.

Fierce racing from these youngsters!

Overall Results:

JNR:

1st #78 Keagan Crawford

2nd #111 Keegan Miles

3rd#711 Keagan Burns

Pro Mini:

1st #555 Maxwell Fourie

2nd #15 Dylan Bezuidenhout

3rd #91 Connor Schlebusch

125cc High School & 125cc SNR.

High School: There was less than 2sec between the three fastest riders, giving notice of the mind blowing racing to come. Top three #38 Ethan Louw, #777 Asher Brown and #84 Marco Cherti.

Race 1: If the first race was to be an exam then Brown got full points taking a staggering win over his classmates. #96 Keno Preira was 2nd best by 6.487sec with Cherti 3rd.

Race 2: Had the birthday boy #13 Thomas Spear outclassing the rest for the win by 14.893sec, Cherti with good results took 2nd and Louw ended 3rd.

SNR: #337 Slade Smith and #25 Ricky Raaff made it interesting in Practice as Raaff was only 0.543sec slower than Smith.

Race 1: Raaff, with a good start had Smith chasing him for a while until Smith had an excellent display on how to close the gate on someone. He showed Raaff some international talent and powered off into the lead and a big win. Raaff had to settle for 2nd and Strunkheide placed 3rd.

Race 2: Only 2 riders made it to the gate for the last race of the day and Smith decided to go out with a bang as he dominated.