The infamous “sand round” of the National Motocross Championship took place at Rover in PE this weekend and it was a mixed bag for Husqvarna Racing. Grant Frerichs the newly appointed group Marketing Manager for KTM Group described the weekend as a mixed bag for Husqvarna Racing.
“It was good to see Michael Docherty leading the race and his experience in the sand having lived in Dubai for years clearly showed,” he said. It might be a case of him still building up his fitness as could not quite sustain it to the finish but third is a good result as he continues to build both his fitness and confidence after joining the team halfway through the season.
Docherty had this to say: “All in all it was a pretty good weekend and there were some improvements from previous rounds, I felt good running at the high pace and even managed to hold off Tristan for a while before a small mistake cost me.” He commented that he knows he still has some work to do but that he is happy with the progress shown and the result from the weekend. This season was all about consolidating and building towards the next season for him as a start.
Neil van der Vyver put in a solid effort “I have always loved racing in PE, so after qualifying third quickest I was really stoked, but the pace just wasn’t quite there and I just couldn’t catch the guy in front of me” he said. “After finishing second in the first moto I got another good start but Trey Cox was on fire and passed me in the very last corner pushing me into third in the moto and overall” he added.
There was a visible improvement for Joshua Mlimi as he is also settling back into racing speed and fitness. He got blinded in a corner that cost him the lead in the first moto and even managed the holeshot in the second moto. “I knew it was going to be tough to keep the pace to defend my position but after seeing my brother crash that hard and lying on the deck was very demotivating but I kept it together and managed to grab my first podium of the season,” a visibly distraught Mlimi said. The next round heads off to Phakisa in the heart of the gold fields of the Free State.
