South Africa’s rising motocross star Neil van der Vyver put on yet another eye-catching performance at the fifth round of the National Motocross Championship. Securing a back-to-back victory, the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna rider stormed to glory at Chestnut Track on Saturday, edging his way even closer to the top of the Pro Mini leaderboard.
Van der Vyver was off to a blistering start in the first heat where he quickly established a comfortable lead. A small mistake in the second last lap cost him two places, however, which ultimately saw him finish the moto in third.
Having faced his fair share of setbacks this season, Van der Vyver has been working relentlessly behind the scenes to improve his start out the gates and his overall consistency. With a determination to see his hard work pay off, the rider regained his composure for the second moto and left no table unturned in his pursuit of victory. After yet another impressive start, Van der Vyver battled his way to the front and held his lead until the finish line.
“It’s so good to see the stuff I’ve been working on behind the scenes pay off. While a little mistake cost me in the first moto, I held my nerve and fought my way back to the front and stayed there until the finish line. I bagged some valuable points and will be back for more at the next round!” said an elated Van der Vyver.
Adding to an eventful outing for the Rockstar Energy Husqvarna camp was another consistent performance from David Goosen. Having found the technical track quite challenging, the rider finished fourth and third overall in the MX2 and MX1 class respectively.
While the results weren’t what Goosen was hoping for by his own high standards, the rider was grateful to have secured some championship points. Fully aware that the race for national titles is far from over, he commented: “Looking back, I believe I didn’t take enough chances this weekend. The new #MY22 Husqvarna range is running like a dream and I couldn’t be happier with the performance of my motorcycles – I just rode too conservatively, which doesn’t pay off in motocross. There are still two rounds left and plenty of points up for grabs, so the season is far from over.”
Shaking off the disappointment, Goosen will now turn his focus to Motocross of Nations where he will represent his country on the world’s biggest motocross stage. The prestigious event will take place in Mantova, Italy, this weekend where he will be joined by South African teammates Tristan Purdon and Camden Mc Lellan.
As he prepares to put his skills to the test against other world-class athletes, Goosen is undaunted and will fall back on years of international racing experience. Husqvarna South Africa’s Brand Manager Fred Fensham commented: “Another bitter-sweet day at a new venue for our team. With the move from Zone 7 to Chestnut Hill, it meant our Cape Town-based riders came to a new track that they only had seen once before. This was not ideal preparation, but we had to make the best of the situation.
Neil was outstanding and showed his class. Again, he closed in on the championship leader and will go to Bloemfontein full of confidence. David, understandably, has given up so much to grab the opportunity to go to Italy and certainly approached the day in a conservative mood. Sadly, in this sport it’s no risk no reward – at the end we dropped a few points but still have five heats to chargeback!”
