The South African Grand Prix, round 11 of the FIM Motocross World Championship, ended on a high note with Calvin Vlaanderen battling on his Desmo450 MX bike until the final corner in South Africa of the second manche to secure fourth place in his home race, held at the Terra Topia track just a few kilometres from Johannesburg.
Having his best qualifying performance of the season with a fifth place, the 30-year-old from Port Elizabeth got off to a good start in the first race but got stuck at the first corner and lost several positions during the first lap, finding himself ninth; with a cautious race, the Red Bull Ducati Factory MXGP Team rider moved up to eighth place, where he finished the first race. The final race of the day got off to a less brilliant start, with Vlaanderen, however, fighting tenaciously and climbing to fifth place on the opening lap. Determined to give the home crowd a stellar performance, Calvin, riding his Desmo450 MX bike, moved up to fourth place on the eleventh of the 17-lap race. (Qui sembra che manchi qualcosa, stai parlando di lotta con un rivale ma manca il contesto di chi ecc ecc) He fought back, managing to fend off the attacks of his rival and crossing the checkered flag in fourth place, taking fourth place overall, which is his best result of the season, and closing in on the top ten of the championship standings.
Calvin Vlaanderen: “Such a nice weekend at home, it’s just so nice to have my first Grand Prix in South Africa and to have a good result. The pressure I had with my family and friends and my fans cheering for me was huge: I had to execute and I’ve tried to block out the noise and focussing on my riding, doing what I know I had to do. I did it and I’m proud of myself and happy with the momentum we’ve had in the last couple of weekends. We are maintaining it and we keep getting better, the confidence is coming back, now we keep fighting.”
In MX2, Ferruccio Zanchi battled all weekend long for the top ten. Finishing 13th in the first heat with a cautious race, after starting in fifteenth place, the Beddini Racing Ducati Factory MX2 Team rider managed to get a better start on his Desmo250 MX in the second heat of the day, fighting with his opponents until crossing the finish line in 10th place, having made up two positions and leaving South Africa with a 13th place finish.
Ferruccio Zanchi: “Here in South Africa we’ve found a new and very beautiful track, but just like it’s been for some time now we’re struggling to stay at the front. We need to grow with the bike and try to get back into the fight for the positions we deserve. On Saturday, in qualifying, I crashed and then recovered as much as I could. In race one, I rode a cautious race, trying to avoid making any mistakes. Then, in the second race, I put in a bit more what I could, finishing tenth. Now we have a break in which we’ll work hard to prepare for Foxhills.”
