Christian maintains top 5 position in National Championship standings
Christian maintains his fifth position in the national championship standings, and in so doing, is nominally eligible to participate in the FIM Junior World Championships in Finland during August.
Saturday, May 7 saw an early morning frostiness hang over Sand Trax in Sasolburg as the Northern Regions top guns rolled up for the third round of the championship series.
Twelve-year-old Christian Berrington-Smith from Weltevreden Park had a sizeable points lead in the 85cc Pro Minicross class coming into the event, and was focused on maintaining his dominant position at the top of the championship totem pole.
The race did not start smoothly for the Grade 5 Agape Christian School learner as he crashed just as he was about to start his first fast qualifying lap, which left him in among slower riders.
During the relatively short qualifying session, he never got a clean lap in, and qualified in fourth position. Christian found himself third as the pack exited the second corner at the start of race one, and set off in pursuit. He quickly found himself in second spot, and a titanic battle developed between Damien Venter in the lead, Christian in second place, and Matthew Correia in third. The three yo-yoed like a pedigree concertina, then stretching out, then compacting again.
Christian was hounding Venter, but at the same time had to fend off the attentions of Matthew. Matthew indeed used one such an opportunity to pass and relegate Christian to third and the battle continued unabated, with the three protagonists crossing the finish line within 1,6 seconds.
Christian was piqued, and wanted to set matters straight in the second race. An iffy start got him into fourth spot in the first right-hander, and very much at risk of dropping further back at the next left-hander.
Miraculously, he managed to come out of the melee in second position, and latched onto Matthew, who was in the lead. Christian crossed the line more than a minute clear of the next rider and earned himself a podium call-up for first overall, and handsomely increased his championship lead.
The next port of call would be Bloemfontein in the following weekend for the third round of the South African motocross championships.
The third round of the South African Motocross National Championships held at Bloemfontein Offroad Club (BORC) can be called the mid-way mark of the series in two respects. The location is as close to a central point in the country as one is likely to get for riders coming in from all the wind directions, and at the conclusion of the event, the national series had reached its halfway mark.
Christian and his Vangani Racing crew were buoyed by his strong showing during the pre-national event at this track two weeks before, and indeed he came out swinging, qualifying in fourth position.
He professed to have a good feel for the track, and was keen to get cracking. The genie of good starts still having abandoned him, Christian got into the corner in tenth position in the opening heat. He made quick work of getting up to fifth, and set off in pursuit of good friend and strong rival Jake van Schoor.
A setback came in the form of the relentless pull of gravity, and Christian dropped to the dark depths of the pack. He scythed through the field, making up huge ground. He got up to sixth, before time ran out and the flag called a halt to proceedings.
A similarly un-notable start again left Christian with a wad of work in race two, and again he made quick work of getting up to fifth, but those ahead of him had managed to open up a fair lead, and he rode a fairly lonely race in fifth, keeping the rubber side down to claim fifth for both the race and the overall.
Christian maintains his fifth position in the national championship standings and in so doing, is nominally eligible to participate in the FIM Junior World Championships in Finland during August.
