Camden Mc Lellan (MX2), Cameron Durow (MXGP) and Tristan Purdon (MXOpen), three of South Africa’s top motocross (MX) talents will compete in the Olympics of motorsport – the 2024 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations – which is taking place from October 4 to 6 in Matterley Basin in Great Britain.
According to Neville Townsend, Motorsport South Africa MX’s commission president, 20 nations from across the globe select their three best riders to battle it out over three gruelling races on Sunday, October 6. The winner will claim the sought-after Chamberlains trophy.
“We are confident that the selected South African team will represent our country with pride. South Africa had its best showing in 2004 where we finished a respectable fourth overall. Since then, the SA team has participated in 15 events and has managed to finish inside the top 20 overall standings 10 times,” he said.
Townsend said the commission is grateful for the opportunity provided by Motorsport South Africa through its affiliation with Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and FIM Africa. “The team are all seasoned riders and we are sure they will gain even more experience from this exciting event.”
In 2023, 37 teams competed in this event and South African team manager, Cheryl Mc Lellan, is confident that the SA team will make it to the top 10.
This is the SA team:
Cameron Durow
The 21-year-old Cameron races for Red Bull KTM South Africa and recently wrapped up the 2024 South African MX 2 National Championship and MX 1 Championship. He is an eight-time MSA National Champion with even more experience under his belt, having participated in many of the AMA Outdoor rounds this year and partook in the Motocross of Nations at Ernée in France in 2023. In 2019, he was the first person to achieve both a 125 High School and MX2 Overall win at a round of the MSA Nationals.
Camden Mc Lellan
Born in South African and now living in Portugal racing in the MXGP World Championship, the 20-year-old Camden started riding dirtbikes for fun with his dad and his friends. He soon started enjoying the competitive nature of the sport and started racing in local MX events. This escalated quickly and he was racing the National MX series in 2012. With many Junior MSA Championships to his name, he started racing in Germany and secured a European Title in 2018. In 2024, he finished third overall in the MXGP in Sardinia and in 2023, finished the season 13th overall after starting with a dislocated shoulder.
Tristan Purdon
Tristan, the oldest of the three at 27, has been riding since he was three and has time after time proven to his competition that it’s not about who has the best, but rather who was able to work hard to be the best. He is a seven-time SA Champion, has represented South Africa twice in the MXON, and was placed fourth in the REVO MXGB Championship in the United Kingdom in 2023.
Adrian Scholtz, chief executive officer of Motorsport South Africa, wished the team well and is confident that they will do well.
Source: Cathy Findley PR / Photos: Supplied
