NamibiaSport

By Bernd Kroemer

As in previous years, it was the Jägermeister Team from South Africa that ran away with most of the trophies at the AMU MX Championships that took place at the Gallina Race Track over the weekend. With the exception of Namibia’s Björn Bierbrauer who won bronze in the MX2 class, South African riders won all the medals on offer.

Unfortunately Namibia did not enter riders in the 50cc or 85cc Classes, but those classes that Namibia participated in, they always finished second in the nations rating, which was an excellent achievement.

The WMCC (Windhoek Moto Cross Club) can be proud of this achievement. All delegates of the various African federations commended Namibia for an excellent event. So the mammoth workload performed by the usual handful of activists within the WMCC paid off handsomely. It truly was a showpiece of how to do it, with professional commentators from South Africa, live-coverage by NBC-TV, and lots of spectators around the track.

Namibia did not participate in the M2Racing 50cc Class and it soon became clear that it would be an all-South African affair with Keegan Hickson winning on maximum points ahead of compatriots Ethan Boschi and Seth van den Abeele.

Results:
1. Keegan Hickson, South Africa, 75
2. Ethan Boschi, South Africa, 64
3. Seth van den Abeele, South Africa, 61
4. Jonathan Russel, South Africa, 57
5. Ricardo Raaf, South Africa, 55

In the nations-rating “African Trophy of Nations” South Africa won with 94 points ahead of Zambia (57) and Zimbabwe (45).

In the Safari Den MX65 Class Namibia competed with three riders. In the first heat disaster struck when Namibia’s Matthew Nederlof stalled his engine at the start. The junior rider however staged a great comeback to charge through the field and eventually finished in fourth position, much to the delight of the home crowd.

The second heat was not much better, as Matthew got “squeezed” by two Zambian riders and again found himself at the tail of the group. Again he started a hot pursuit, with the enormous help of the spectators and again finished in an excellent fourth position.

With more than a thousand enthusiastic spectators focusing on the starting line for heat three, Matthew got a good jump out of the gate and ran into turn one amongst the top 10. Racing hard on the opening laps the Namibian quickly clawed himself up to the sixth position. An unfortunate crash did not help either, but Matthew fought back and once again crossed the finish line in fourth place. Together with his teammates Michael Barlow in 10th and Jay-Em Tredoux in 14th spot, Namibia finished second overall.

Results:
1. Bevin Potgieter, South Africa, 72
2. Dirco van der Westhuizen, South Africa, 69
3. Dylan Mostert, South Africa, 60
4. Matthew Nederlof, Namibia, 57
5. Tyron Beverly, South Africa, 54

South Africa won the nations rating with 97 points ahead of Namibia (64) and Zimbabwe (64)

The Bike & Quad Clinic 85cc Class took also place without Namibian participants. Here it was South African talent Nicolas Adams who marched away with the trophy, although he had to fight hard to withstand the onslaught from compatriot Zane Farquharson. South African Reed Sinnicks also had his fair share of the limelight when he finished in second place in the second heat.

Results:
1. Nicolas Adams, South Africa, 69
2. Zane Farquharson, South Africa, 68
3. Reed Sinnicks, South Africa, 61
4. Brandon Brydges, South Africa, 57
5. Bradley Lionnet, Zambia, 57

South Africa won the nations rating with 97 points ahead of Zambia (72) and Zimbabwe (31).

With a full contingent of five riders the I Dream Africa Namibia Team competed in the Electrolight MX Lites Class (Fourstroke Bikes up to 150cc). Again this category became another South African affair. Nevertheless Namibia’s poster boy Mark Sternagel finished in an excellent fifth spot despite riding a motorcycle not on par with the competitors.

After a crash Mark was hammering his ‘blue machine’ around the corners. Running slightly wide on the loose dirt the Namibian emerged in 12th position and was on the gas. Turning out fast laps ‘Marki’ was eager to push for a top 10 position and it showed as he fought for position lap after lap, in the end finishing in eighth position.

In heat two it looked much better, as Sternagel finished in sixth position.
The last heat saw a better start for Sternagel as he drifted his bike out the first corner in fifth position. Riding a solid race from start to finish Sternagel crossed the line in fourth position, awarding him fifth overall for the day.

But the “Full Throttle AMU” is a team event and with the help of team-mates Tristan Muller in eighth, Pauli Loots in 10th, Eric Garbers in 11th and Joshua Teixeira in 17th position, they collected enough points to finish second overall in the nations rating.

Results:
1. Calvin Vlaanderen, South Africa, 75
2. Justin Mittens, South Africa, 64
3. Brandon Fleming, South Africa, 61
4. Ricardo Jardim, Zimbabwe, 54
5. Mark Sternagel, Namibia, 51

South Africa won the nations rating with 94 points ahead of Namibia (68) and Zimbabwe (60).

Now let’s look at the professionals in the Trip Travel MX2 Class. The hero came from Botswana, Ross Branch, well known on Namibian soil, riding for South Africa! Ross only had to swallow one defeat in the second heat, when he was involved in the first corner crash and had to plough his way through the field of competitors, in the end finishing second behind countryman Michael Kok.

Bjorn Bierbrauer fought enthusiastically in the first two heats finishing in an excellent fourth position. In the last heat Bierbrauer set a blazing pace as he fought back hard, re-passing Matthew Gildenhuys (South Africa) and closing onto the back wheel of Anthony Raynard (South Africa) to cross the line in thirrd position! The spectators were wild with delight - at last a Namibian on the rostrum! But there were more Namibians found in the Top-10, with Frank Klosta finishing seventh and Alexander Howard finishing ninth. Henry O’Kennedy finished 12th ahead of Ruhan Gous in 13th position, giving the Namibians an overall second in the nations rating.

Results:
1. Ross Branch, South Africa, 72
2. Anthony Raynard, South Africa, 62
3. Björn Bierbrauer, Namibia, 58
4. Michael Kok, South Africa, 50
5. Matthew Gildenhuys, South Africa, 50

Once more South Africa won the nations rating with 92 points ahead of Namibia (65) and Zimbabwe (65).

Another highlight was the premier class, the Novel Motor Company MX1 Class. Namibia’s Tommy Gous knew that his competitors were ranked amongst the best in the world, but he was prepared to show his mettle. And he did the impossible, as he rocketed out the gate in the first race to do some handlebar banging with the best. Tommy rode a great race with an aggressive style earning him third position. Then fate struck as Tommy tumbled and crashed and although he managed to resume the race, he could only finish sixth behind teammate Jaco Loots.

Another sixth place in the second heat and a good fifth place in the last heat proved that Tommy was not only hurt physically but this crash also hurt his ego. Nevertheless Tommy was the best Namibian in this category. Darryl Fitzgerald from South Africa began with two heat wins, but in the last heat he encountered some mechanical problems which cost him dearly. Namibian Jaco Loots finished in eighth.
“Oldy” Jose Teixeira finished in an excellent 10th spot. 14th for Tony Viljoen while Ronnie Adams only finished in 19th because he suffered a severe crash where his ligaments snapped and he had to withdraw.

Results:
1. Brad Purchase, South Africa, 69
2. Marc Baxter, South Africa, 59
3. Brandon Wheeler, South Africa, 57
4. Craig Kruger, South Africa, 57
5. Tommy Gous, Namibia, 52

The nations rating won South Africa with 87 points ahead of Namibia (68) and Zambia (57).

Overall results:
1. Jägermeister Team South Africa, 561
2. Erindi Ranch Zambia Team, 312
3. Red Square Zimbabwe Team, 301
4. I Dream Africa Namibia Team, 265
5. Crown Build it Uganda Team, 30
6. Royal Tours Kenya Team, 28

The prize-giving took place in the big tent, sponsored by I Dream Africa on the WMCC’s own premises in Olympia which was followed by a party. A big thank you must go to all the sponsors and all helpers who made this major event possible.