12 Mar Zone 7 Regional Championship Rnd 1
This past weekend we had the first round of the Western Cape regional series kick off.
With two races under our belts on the new bike and another week of testing in the bag, we felt more confident and ready to challenge for the Top spot on the podium!
The day started off pretty well in Practice with us qualifying in 3rd place just 1,5 seconds off the pace, and 3rd gate pick leading into the races in the premier MX1 class. ( Progress from the last race at Zone 7 where we qualified 5th )
HEAT : 1
Heat 1 we lined up with 3rd gate pick. We decided on the gate on the inside of all of out competition. Unfortunately this decision did not pay off as we got boxed in half way down the start straight.
Halfway through lap one we in in about 8th or 9th, managed to work our way into 5th position and was closing on 3rd and 4th place, and then had a crash and lost about another 15 – 20 seconds. All we could do is put our head down and charge hard. By the end of the race we caught 3rd and 4th place and with 1 more lap would have probably passed them. Unfortunately we ran out of time and ended up 5th.
HEAT : 2
We changed our strategy on the start, We started far to the right away from the competition and the chaos and this paid off! We got a 3rd place start with the current national points leader 1st another top national contender in 2nd.
The track was a little bit dry and dusty due to obvious water problems in Cape Town. This made it difficult to stay close behind the rider in front, But we gave it our best and raced our hearts out. We could have thrown a blanket over the top 3.
Overall
We ended up 3rd overall for the day with a 5th & 3rd. We definitely had a positive weekend and we did make progress! Starts weren’t great but the riding,feeling on the bike and fitness was definitely an improvement.
Thank you to everyone involved in this effort. we are making steps in the right direction and we will be back on top soon!