Jack is revved up to compete in USA
The youngster is currently living and training in the USA and is excited to compete in the Dade City MX Series 85cc, the Mini O’s Thor Winter Olympics 65cc and the South African Nationals 65cc.
IN his first South African motocross season, Jack Pullen, a tenacious 10-year-old junior motocross rider from Kloof, earned both his regional (KZN) and national (Protea) motocross colours.
That was back in 2018, and now young Jack finds himself in Florida in the United Sates of America, in the midst of a global pandemic, travelling solo, coping with home schooling, living away from his family and, recuperating from an unfortunate tumble. He is facing all of this while ensuring he keeps on track with his training.
The junior motocross rider competed in the South African regional and national championships, and internationally in the USA, in both the 65cc and 85cc classes.
He has been in America since early June – his third time there this year.
“I’m here to train with my coach, Tyla Rattray, who is based in Florida, and also to tackle some local races. Florida is a good place to train, with great weather year-round, and also high temperatures and humidity in summers, which is helpful in getting race fit,” he said.
He described racing in the USA as ‘big’ as there is a lot more money behind the sport.
“There are full gates in each class and all the top amateur and pro riders competing together every weekend raises the competition and makes the sport more exciting! There are also a lot of tracks to choose from, some of them focus on developing young riders,” said Jack.
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From a training point of view, Jack said it was going well as he was constantly learning something new from his coach. In addition to fitness training, which includes cycling, running and gym, he also fits in about three hours of track time each day.
“Exposure to racing at this level has been great! I recently earned a second overall at Dade City, which was cool because it’s a new track for me,” he said.
This year hasn’t been smooth sailing for the young rider as he was caught in lockdown in the USA in March and wasn’t able to return home, as planned, for seven weeks before he boarded a repatriation flight home.
“Luckily, I was able to get back to the US in early June for my next round of races. Then, a few weeks ago, I had a big fall during a training session,” said Jack.
He was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Children’s Hospital in Florida with an open skull fracture with subarachnoid haemorrhage. He healed well after the operation and was back on the bike in mid-August.
“I’ve also had to learn to find my way around the world on my own, and to make time in my day for my schooling, which is currently all online,” he said.
He plans to compete in the Dade City MX Series 85cc, the Mini O’s Thor Winter Olympics 65cc and the South African Nationals 65cc. Next year, he will race in the full US MX season, as well as the South African Nationals 65cc.
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