Florida’s double bike champion
Young Florida biker became a double champion for 2014.
Lightning Lance Marais #99 is what they call him on the track, and he has the trophies to back it up.
The 15-year-old has been heating up the race track since 2011 and has not gone cold.
It all started when Marais accompanied his father to the 1000 bike show in Germiston.
“I was with my father at the race show when I saw this little motorbike. My father wanted to buy it for me but unfortunately they were not selling it – but they were willing to let me test drive it,” said Marais.
With a helmet and limited gear, Marais was put on the track with three other riders to see if he could ride, but soon he started overtaking the other racers.
Neil Harran from the South African Motorcycle Racing Academy (Samra) noticed Marais’ talent and recommended he go to Motor Sport South Africa racetrack to book his licence.
He joined the Honda NSF100 racing with only three races left for the year.
In 2012, the Hoërskool Die Burger pupil was one of ten young racers from Samra chosen to race at the Berghem track in Netherlands. Unfortunately, he crashed in his first race and could not compete further.
He however did attend the Moto Grand Prix race at the Assen race track where he met the biggest names in the sport including his hero Jorge Lorenzo.
“To meet the athletes that I watched on television for so long was just inspiring; to meet Lorenzo was so awesome and to have stood next to Marc Marquez before he joined the big league and break records is amazing,” said Marais.
It was only in 2013 when Marias started to come into his own. That year, he started by winning the Day Of The Champion race, his very first win. Once the monkey was off his back, Marais stormed to the 2013 Honda NSF100 championship.
This year, Marais moved up to the 250cc class, riding a CBR250 Honda. He won the Honda 250cc MOTOSA Championship in October and won the Northern regions Honda 250 Club championship early in November.
His parents Sherwin and Shenaz Marais have been supporting Lance from the beginning, with Sherwin mentoring the young biker.
Marais is aiming to join Red Bull rookies, where young riders are groomed for Grand Prix racing and then move up all the way to Moto GP racing.
“This is what I want to do as a career. If I reach my goal of Red Bull rookies, then racing in Moto 3, Moto 2 and Moto GP will be the natural steps I take,” said Marais.
