After bad luck at the first round of the South African Cross Country (SACC) Motorcycle championship, Brother Leader Tread KTM riders Louw Schmidt (OR2 class) and Juan 'Bollie' van Rooyen (Seniors class) both walked away victorious from the second round of the SACC championship that was held this past weekend in Dundee, KwaZulu-Natal. Their team mates Ross Branch (OR1 class) and Jarryd Coetzee (OR3 class) delivered more podium finishes in the cold pre winter conditions after completing a 50km time trial on Friday that was followed by a 355km race on Saturday.
Brother Leader Tread KTM's Ross Branch went out first on Time Trial, but being the first rider out, Branch made a few navigational mistakes, putting the talented rider from Botswana further back in the starting order for Saturday. Branch was motivated to catch up, and so he did on race day, making up places and rounding off the OR1 podium in Dundee.
"The race was rough, but I really enjoyed my KTM 450 XC-F and made up a lot of placing during the race, finishing third overall for the day. I can't wait for the next race coming up in June in my home country Botswana.", said Branch.
Defending OR2 champion Louw Schmidt had to make up places after a bad start to the season at round one at Vryburg. The Marble Hall based rider however proved yet again why he's worthy of the title when he comfortably won his class in Dundee, adding valuable points to the championship scoring.
"I first struggled with arm pump and had to get used to the track which was quite slippery. I qualified ninth and started making my way through the field during race day, taking the lead in the OR2 class 50 km's into the race. I enjoyed the first three long laps and really had fun heading into the shorter loop towards the end.", said Schmidt who posted the fastest lap on the shorter loop, winning the OR2 class and finishing in 4th place overall.
In the OR3 class the battle between Brother Leader Tread KTM's Jarryd Coetzee and Brett Swanepoel continued and made for some exciting racing. Coetzee had to settle for second place in this highly competitive class and can't wait to continue this battle in Botswana where he is hoping for a race win onboard his KTM 250 XC-F. His team mate Jonathan van Wyk finished the OR3 class in sixth place in class.
The Seniors class was dominated by defending champion Juan 'Bollie' von Rooyen, who posted the fastest times in the Seniors class onboard his Brother Leader Tread KTM 300 XC-W and is now back in the running for the title.
The team is looking forward to round 3 and 4 of the SACC championship which will be held in Jwaneng, Botswana, from 24 to 26 June.
