Bradley Cox, son of motorsport legend Alfie Cox, couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2020 season. Cox, a multi-disciplined star from KwaZulu-Natal, stormed to a double victory this weekend in both the National Cross Country and Enduro season opener in Lesotho.
The rider has fast made a name for himself in Cross Country in particular and stepped into the season as the reigning OR3 National Champion. With a strong determination to break into the world of enduro too, Cox signed up to compete in the E1 Class for the first time in 2019.
With every passing race it became increasingly clear that he would soon become a force to be reckoned with in this sport. It was a break-out season for Cox who managed to place third nationally, and later that year narrowly missed a top ten finish at the ‘Mother of Hard Enduro’ – the Motul Roof of Africa.
Fast forward to 2020, and Cox has spent the ‘off-season’ preparing for what looks to be one of the most exciting racing years of his career. In a highly competitive field this weekend he stormed to the top step of both the E1 and OR3 Class.
“I’m a bit lost for words to be honest. I always set big goals for myself so when I saw this weekend would be a double header, I wanted to go for both wins. I trained really hard this off-season because I knew that to achieve something like this my fitness had to be up there. I felt the pressure carrying the number one plate in Cross Country, but knew what I had to do and it all went super smoothly. It was my break-out season in enduro last year, so I’ve become really hungry to win the enduro title too. I just went for it – I’m paid to do a job, and that job is to win!” said Cox.
Brother Leader Tread KTM teammate and fellow multi-disciplined athlete Jarryd Coetzee had a solid start to the 2020 season too.
With a strong determination to defend his 2019 OR2 title, Coetzee managed to secure the second spot on the podium behind Brett Swanepoel. Perhaps even more impressively to some, Coetzee pushed the pace with the frontrunners in the E2 Enduro Class in his debut race to the sport of enduro entirely. He finished fourth in what is the most competitive national enduro class the country has to offer.
The opening round of the series was a far cry from what Scott Bouverie had hoped for by his own high standards. Bouverie lined-up as a favourite in Lesotho this weekend – a place that he tasted enduro glory multiple times in his career. After a crash in the first kilometers of the route, however, the rider was forced to limit his losses and pushed to finish the event fifth overall.
After his stellar performance at the 2019 Motul Roof of Africa, Bouverie has given but a glimpse of what he is truly capable of. It’s onwards and upwards for the rider as he continues his pursuit of what has been a seemingly elusive E2 title.
Rounding out the Brother Leader Tread KTM squad was Kirsten Landman, who after conquering the 2020 Dakar Rally was all too happy to be back on her KTM 250 XC-W TPI. As the only female in the E2 Class, Landman once again put on an impressive performance as she took her place as one of the select few to finish the unforgiving route.
