Motorcycle Cross Country series balanced on a knife edge

If ever a South African national racing title has headed into its final weekend balanced on a knife’s edge, it has to be the 2020 Cross Country Motorcycle Championship Double Header in Mid-Illovo, KwaZulu-Natal on 17 and 18 October.

All six of the national classes heading to the RBS Yamaha TBR Suspension National at Virginia Trails remain far from resolved. Of the three open classes, two have riders sharing the title leads. The leaders in the other are split by just two points. And seven points separate the overall championship top six, too! Best of all, there are two full points paying rounds over the weekend, so quite literally anything can happen…

Gauteng Brother Leader Tread KTM rider Jarryd Coetzee leads the overall Cross Country Moto title race into the final weekend by just one point from 350 cc OR2 class KwaZulu-Natal rival Brett Swanepoel’s Pepson Plastics Husqvarna. Open class OR1 leader Charan Moore from Lesotho sits two more points behind on his Brother Leader Tread KTM, three points clear of Gauteng rider Kenny Gilbert’s Pepson Plastics Husqvarna.

He’s a point clear of top small class KZN rider OR3 Bradley Cox’s Brother Leader Tread KTM, who has class rival Davin Cocker all over him on a Pepson Plastics Husqvarna. The overall top ten is rounded off by KTM riders, OR2 man Ian Rall and Senior leader Wade Blaauw, OR2 lad Taki Bogiages’ Motul Pepson Husqvarna and OR3 rider Ryan Pelser’s KTM.

It’s even closer in the classes. Moore and Gilbert are tied at the front of OR1, with Husqvarna men Wynand Delport and Jaycee Nienaber likewise tied in third and John-Care de Lange Kyle Holton on even points for fifth! Swanepoel and Coetzee share the OR2 lead with Rall and Bogiages all even in third, ahead of KTM men Gareth Cole and Gert Davis.

Bradley Cox breaks the tied trend with a two-point OR2 title advantage over Davin Cocker. They have KTM men Ryan Pelser, Erik Merry and Scott Heygate, and Stefan van Deventer’s Yamaha in hot pursuit. Wade Blaauw leads Hannes Saaijman’s similar KTM, Yamaha man Marco Cocci and Deon du Toit’s Husqvarna in over-36 Senior. And Wayne Farmer’s Husqvarna leads the over-46 madala Masters from Martin Poole’s Yamaha and KTM duo Pieter Holl and Jan Berning.

It’s also tight in the High School class, where Matthew Wilson’s MCA Husqvarna leads Dylan Cox on a Yamaha by four points. KTM lads Branden Swanepoel and Dumel du Plessis are next up. Two interprovincial kids classes will also be in action.  Cobus Bester’s Husqvarna takes on 85cc rivals Stefan Zybrands’ Yamaha and Lucian Meyer. And Brandon Clarke and GJ Coetzee’s Husqvarna take Jake Pretorius’ KTM and the rest of the 65cc runners.