Holeshot Harry’s in Harrismith (Free State) played host to the sixth and penultimate round of the South African National Motocross championship this past weekend. Competitors were well aware that this was an important round to count towards their respective championships with only one round left after Harrismith.
Heading off on what turned out to be a cold and rainy day in the Free State, Red Bull KTM’s Joshua Mlimi started off with an impressive hole shot on board his KTM 250 SX-F in the MX2 class and managed to secure a third place in heat one after a good battle with his rivals. Mlimi went on to replicate his excellent start in heat two with another hole shot and an impressive start-to-finish victory, giving the talented youngster a second place overall for the day and his best result this season.
“I had two really good starts, but got passed in the first heat and had to settle for third place. I gave it my all in the second heat, set my mind free and just rode a perfect race from start to finish. I’m extremely happy that I took the win in heat two and can’t wait for the last round of the championship!”, said Mlimi.
Luck wasn’t on Kerim Fitz-Gerald’s side when he just couldn’t find his rhythm during the first MX2 heat. Some crashes on the rough Harrismith track saw the multiple champion falling back and having to play catch up, resulting in a sixth place in the first heat of the day. Heat two went a lot better for the current MX2 championship leader and saw Fitz-Gerald finishing the second heat in third place. Fitz-Gerald is now leading the MX2 class by 9 points on his KTM 250 SX-F.
Fitz-Gerald had an equally bad start to MX1 when he had to play catch up from last place after crashing on his KTM 450 SX-F, he however fought back to fifth place and with a third place in the second heat Fitz-Gerald is now lying third in the MX1 championship, only one point behind second place and 12 points behind championship leader Naudé.
The ladies class saw Red Bull KTM’s Leah Heygate come back from injury. The talented rider from Zambia enjoyed the rough track on her KTM 250 SX-F and managed to secure a third place in heat one and a fantastic second place in heat two.
In the Pro Mini class Camden McLellan was in a league of his own. With lap times faster than all his rivals he took the hole shot and pulled away from his competitors in both heats, not only giving McLellan the win for the day, but also securing the 2016 Pro Mini MX Championship with one more round to go.
“I had a great race here at Harrismith. I really pushed hard for the first few laps and managed to pull a big lead. It feels great to win the Pro Mini championship and I’m looking forward to our last National next month.”, said McLellan.
In the 85cc Junior class championship leader Jonathan Mlimi didn’t disappoint on board his KTM 85 SX when he brought home victory with a 1-1 finish, extending his championship lead in his class over his Red Bull KTM team mate Nate McLellan who finished the day with a 2-3 finish.
With championships still up for grabs, the seventh and final round of the series will make for action packed racing at the new Terra Topia MX track in Gauteng on 8 October.