Until fifteen years ago South Africa was primarily known more for something very political – apartheid. All politics aside though, the country has, through fate and circumstance, produced some of the best motorsport drivers and riders in the world. Jody Scheckter, Jim Redman, Jon Ekerold and Alfie Cox are but a few of them, but where it really matters for the fans of today, it is Greg Albertyn, Grant Langston and to a degree, Tyla Rattray.
When after eighteen years South Africa was invited to hold a round of the World Motocross Championship, there was only one place for it – Sun City. After three successful races, the first in September 2004, the others in July 2005 and 2006, disaster struck. A promoter invited the Grand Prix to KwaZulu Natal, a province with a rich history of motocross. The plans evaporated, and so did the chances of a rescue. While the round was cancelled and replaced with a second round in Italy, plans for 2008 were already set in motion, and together with the country's motorsport federation, Motorsport South Africa, the hunt for a suitable track that could hold a race of world-class calibre, was on.
Nelspruit is the last frontier before the vast expanse of the Kruger National Park and a gateway to South Africa's two neighbours to the east, Swaziland and Moçambique. Three hours east of Johannesburg by car, it is in a spectacular location; on the lowveld with the massive mountains as a backdrop, it is idyllic to say the least. And it is here in the bushveld of Mpumalanga, in the middle of July, that the World Motocross Grand Prix descends on the Alkmaar Raceway. It is shoe-horned between the railway line between Nelspruit and the west, and a river teeming with local wildlife. Long and narrow, it winds its way around banana trees and acacias, and even though it is winter time, it looks absolutely stunning. It is not the artificial construction of Sun City, but rather a track that has been there for decades and one that is truly a track that South Africans race on.
As I arrive from a long and torturous drive from Johannesburg, the riders and press depart for an afternoon at the Jane Goodall Chimpanzee Eden refuge. Earlier in the morning they already had a visual of the local inhabitants, three hippos, in the river, and to complete the whole animal experience, will go on a safari on Monday morning too. But I take my time to survey this new place. Everything just seems to be just right. While the Grand Prix is being run on a shoestring budget, Victor Picoto, the track owner, has made a lot of effort to ensure that the place leaves a lasting impression.
The Saturday morning kicks off with the news that Red Bull KTM's Tommy Searle and Red Bull De Carli Yamaha's Antonio Cairoli have had a telling off by the FIM after the now infamous press conference comment at Uddevalla two weeks before. The warning is such that if either tries to get even with the other on-track, both will be disqualified. FIM takes the reputation of the championship quite seriously. At noon the work really begins for everyone. MX2 pre-qualifying already is a good start for the homeboy, Red Bull KTM's Tyla Rattray. He claims pole position, half a second faster than rival Cairoli. The first qualifier sees Rattray teamed up with his team-mate Searle, Molson Kawasaki's Stephen Sword and Ricci Racing Yamaha's Nicholas Aubin, and it is not the most auspicious start for him. While Searle goes on to lead and win the qualifier, Rattray first has to suffer from a small crash that costs him two positions, but he returns strong and eager to at least come second. He does with a margin of only nine seconds.
It goes without saying that the second qualifier is all about Cairoli and CLS Racing Kawasaki's Steven Frossard. Frossard leads the qualifier until just before the halfway point, after which Cairoli, who has ruthlessly pursued the Frenchman, is able to make a move that leaves him the leader. NGS Team Honda's Marvin Musquin and Team KTM UK's Shaun Simpson battle briefly for third, but it is Simpson who emerges as the third man across the finish line. South African riders Leeroy Enslie, Michael Kok and Wesley de Jager finish in twelfth, and eleventh and twelfth respectively in their qualifiers, giving them a bit of a boost for the races the next morning.
The MX1 class is, just like the MX2 class, stacked with South African riders. This is mostly because Youthstream only provides travel assistance to the top fifteen riders of each class, and many teams further down the line do not consider the expense of an overseas round to be worth the effort. The six second gap in qualifying times between the last Grand Prix regular, UTag Yamaha's Carlos Campano, and the first South African, Johannes de Bruin, clearly shows how much South Africa remains isolated from the rest of the world where racing is concerned, and the gap is even larger for the lone rider from Zimbabwe, Warren Thorne, and Namibia's Tommy Gous. Pole is Teka Suzuki's Steve Ramon.
The last session of the day is held in the growing twilight of the winter evening, and at the top of the LCQ are – surprise, surprise – two Grand Prix regulars who didn't quite make it in the first time. The qualifying times here also show a distinct disparity between the fastest of the six riders, CLS Racing's Gregory Aranda, and the last qualifier, Angelo Picoto. There is an eight-second difference, a difference that means all too much in racing.
It is all too quickly that everyone rushes for the brightness and warmth of their hotels to enjoy yet another night of African hospitality. Or perhaps not, because several riders don't feel all that fabulous the next day, as becomes apparent. Morning warm-ups are quickly completed before the select few of the public who chose to shell out extra for a pass storm the paddock for autographs and shooting the breeze with their heroes.
After a low-key display on both sides of the track, the one side having smoke canisters in the colours of the country, the other having an acapella group singing several songs, including the national anthem, the racing is ready to start.
Tommy Searle is the man with the perfect hole shot, but it is Nicholas Aubin who takes the lead out of the bowl turn and into the first wave section. Immediately behind is Steven Frossard, followed by Shaun Simpson, Davide Guarneri and Tyla Rattray. Antonio Cairoli is twelfth, in the rabble of the pack, trying to make progress early on. The South African after Rattray into the first lap is LS Racing Honda's Wyatt Avis in thirteenth, followed by Angelo Picoto. Several laps later the picture begins to change. Avis is moving up rapidly, followed by Cairoli. However, Cairoli makes a mistake that costs him the race, the round, and ultimately the championship. On landing into one of the many so-called bomb holes he puts his foot down, and because the dirt is slippery, twists his knee. The pain is enough for him to call it quits and spend the rest of the race with ice packs taped to his knee.
Rattray has a battle on his hands with Guarneri before setting his eyes on Frossard in fourth. By that time Searle has managed to work his way close to Aubin and make a good pass that gets the approval of the fans. Simpson, also still running well in third, is slowly reeled in and passed, giving Rattray the third place. Avis drops back late in the game, struggling to keep the bike upright as he retches to the point where there is nothing left to bring up. He has to call it and pulls in. Picoto falls twice, leaving him in the back of the pack while Michael Kok, consistently working his way up front, ends up being the leading light of the new boys. Wesley de Jager has to pull in to join two other Grand Prix regulars. The most astonishing progress made is by Molson Kawasaki's Stephen Sword though; Sword is second-last into the first corner after tangling with Ross Branch and Kok, rising ten positions in four laps and ending in a solid tenth with four laps to go.
The first MX1 race starts off well with Red Bull KTM's Max Nagl, Silver Action KTM's Jonathan Barragán and Monster Rinaldi Yamaha's David Philippaerts into the first corner. Ramon and Monster CAS Honda's Steve Boniface and Billy MacKenzie dive in and go on the attack by the end of the mechanic straight. Barragán is crowded out and lingers in fifth while Nagl takes the lead, chased by the Suzuki and the two Hondas. Soon after Boniface starts feeling unwell and drops back, giving Philippaerts an in. Mackenzie keeps the Italian at bay for the first half of the race, but Philippaerts pushes past for third.
Ramon's team mate De Dycker comes from eighth to give Barragán a good run for his money. As Barragán passes MacKenzie in the front, a bike goes up in flames in the middle of the pack. Sarholz KTM's Kornel Nemeth remembers afterwards that the fuel cap came off and soaked him in fuel on landing, and that the hot engine was the start of his maniacal dance trying to get his pants off. Fire extinguishers are thankfully required at all Motorsport South Africa events, and the marshal is quick to pull the trigger to cover Nemeth in white powder. He is thankfully unhurt.
With the timer expired, Nagl, who dropped one position under Ramon's onslaught, drops another two places, letting Philippaerts and Barragán through for second and third.
The next set of races goes to the line at three in the afternoon, an afternoon that is starting to tip into dusk. The sun is already dipping to the west, casting shadows across the ruts.
Cairoli, having decided to try again, takes the start corner wide with Rattray the inside. It is the two rivals together into the bowl turn followed by Frossard and Searle. It's looking good, but Cairoli concedes the loss three laps into the race as the knee simply won't play along. The race becomes the perfect duel between Rattray and Searle. As the two battle out front, trying to stay upright on the treacherous dirt and the glaring sun that dips lower and lower, Frossard and Aubin have their own battles with Simpson and Champ KTM's Jeremy van Horebeek. Frossard and Aubin are the eventual winners of their respective duels. Sword again has a horrid time as he again ends up in the back at the start. Again he makes his way forward, but this time he is not doing all that well. He works his way to sixteenth, then fifteenth, and finally, in the last lap, he leapfrogs to thirteenth.
In the local South African contingent it is again Michael Kok who remains steady around the eighteenth place, dipping to nineteenth but recovering a position late in the game as Avis has to drop out with a cracked crank case. In a somewhat low-key ceremony it is Tommy Searle who takes the top spot on the day, his second place in the second race beating Rattray's third in the first. Rattray takes second, Aubin is third. Rattray keeps the red plate though, which in addition to the second race win, is somewhat of a consolation.
The final race of the day sees the riders with elongated visors, some crudely fashioned from tinted or mirrored goggle lenses, some pieces of plastics or card. The sun stands very low, the shadows are deep in the dips and on the shadowed jump faces. The start against the sun gives Nagl the hole shot again, Barragán this time quicker off the mark and in second. MacKenzie is in third, GPKR Kawasaki's Sébastien Pourcel in fourth and Philippaerts in fifth. For much of the race it is this same order that travels around the circuit in the fading sun. There is movement in the back of the pack, mostly amongst the lower-ranking riders who are trying to earn more points.
One movement in the top ranks is Monster Rinaldi Yamaha's Josh Coppins who works hard for those extra three positions that he will have at the end of the race. The first rider in the top five to change positions is Philippaerts, reversing positions with Coppins. Next is MacKenzie, first bowing to Pourcel, then to Coppins. And finally it is Nagl who has to suffer defeat from Barragán. Barragán takes the win and with it, the day overall. In second is Nagl, Ramon fills the final spot on the podium.
With the races over, the sky turns a beautiful purple and darkens as the teams pack everything into the boxes, ready to be shipped back to Europe. The teams all retire to their hotels, some flock to the local casino to try their luck. For some a safari awaits the next morning, others take a flight back to Johannesburg. With Nelspruit a success, there is but a third of the season left. It's the final stretch now.
Nelspruit (MQP, 14 mi) is reachable by air or by road from Johannesburg. Drive east on the N12, then join the N4 tollroad to Nelspruit. Expect toll fees of R33 (£2.20) and R49 (£3.30) each way. Fly from Cape Town or Johannesburg with South African Airways or SA Airlink. Fly directly to Johannesburg (JNB) or Cape Town (CPT) from Heathrow with South African Airways, British Airways or Virgin Atlantic. Stay at the Mercure (15 min) or the Emnotweni Sun (30 min) in Nelspruit itself. The track (10 mi west of Nelspruit) is visible from the road.
Results:
| MX1 Race 1 | MX1 Race 2 | MX1 Overall |
| 1. Steve Ramon | 1. Jonathan Barragán | 1. Jonathan Barragán 45 |
| 2. David Philippaerts | 2. Maximilian Nagl | 2. Maximilian Nagl 40 |
| 3. Jonathan Barragán | 3. Sébastien Pourcel | 3. Steve Ramon 38 |
| 4. Maximilian Nagl | 4. Joshua Coppins | 4. David Philippaerts 37 |
| 5. Ken de Dycker | 5. Billy MacKenzie | 5. Sébastien Pourcel 33 |
| | | |
| MX2 Race 1 | MX2 Race 2 | MX2 Overall |
| 1. Tommy Searle | 1. Tyla Rattray | 1. Tommy Searle 47 |
| 2. Nicholas Aubin | 2. Tommy Searle | 2. Tyla Rattray 45 |
| 3. Tyla Rattray | 3. Steven Frossard | 3. Nicholas Aubin 38 |
| 4. Shaun Simpson | 4. Shaun Simpson | 4. Steven Frossard 36 |
| 5. Steven Frossard | 5. Nicholas Aubin | 5. Shaun Simpson 36 |
Championship Standings:
| MX1 | MX2 |
| 1. David Philippaerts 339 | 1. Tyla Rattray 416 |
| 2. Steve Ramon 328 | 2. Tommy Searle 395 |
| 3. Joshua Coppins 316 | 3. Antonio Cairoli 357 |
| 4. Ken de Dycker 296 | 4. Shaun Simpson 287 |
| 5. Jonathan Barragán 284 | 5. Nicholas Aubin 243 |
| 6. Sébastien Pourcel 274 | 6. Rui Gonçalves 241 |
| 7. Maximilian Nagl 253 | 7. Xavier Boog 211 |
| 8. Billy MacKenzie 235 | 8. Jeremy van Horebeek 197 |
| 9. Tanel Leok 234 | 9. Steven Frossard 196 |
| 10. Marc de Reuver 178 | 10. Manuel Monni 187 |
Related Links 
www.samxgp.co.za
www.motocrossmx1.com
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