Dodd Continues Momentum at BMX Nationals, O’Keeffe Back On Home Turf

[Matt]

06 July 2012 – There was plenty of excitement and action on a sublimely fast track at the 3rd and 4th Legs of the BMX SA Grand National series at Giba Gorge BMX track near Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal on 30th June and 1st July.

 

The weekend ran like clockwork and consisted of Leg 3 on Saturday and Leg 4 on Sunday, the next two events on the local annual racing calendar that consists of six.

 

Andrew Kilian, Aston Tucker, Ethan Ellse, Ethan Goveia (9 Expert) at the 3rd and 4th Legs of the BMX SA Grand National series at Giba Gorge BMX track near Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal on 30th June and 1st July 2012. Photo Credit: Alan Heubner

 

Quite a few riders delivered outstanding performances across the age categories, from the youngest riders right through to the ‘ballies’. Top accolades in the men elite group and girls 15 and over group went to Kyle Dodd and Teagan O’Keeffe respectively, winning all their runs over the weekend.

 

For the riders of the fairer sex, Kyla Uys couldn’t put a pedal wrong in the 5 and under Novice group, winning all 6 of her Moto’s (a moto is a qualifying heat) and both finals. The 12-14 girls saw Lauren Coetzee also winning all 6 moto’s and both finals, with O’Keeffe delivering the same results in the 15+ women category.

 

The men’s categories saw Alex Dolman and Dylan Eggar win all 6 of their moto’s and both finals in the 12 expert boys and 13 expert boys categories respectively. Eggar returned from the recent UCI BMX World Championships sporting a World #8, which means that he is ranked as the 8th fastest 13-year old in the World; an accolade he has retained for the past seven years!

 

Dylan Heubner, Menzi Radebe, Chad Turck (14 Expert) at the 3rd and 4th Legs of the BMX SA Grand National series at Giba Gorge BMX track near Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal on 30th June and 1st July 2012. Photo Credit: Alan Heubner

 

Alex Limberg and Dodd achieved a full house in all of their moto’s and both finals as well, representing the 16 expert boys and elite men categories respectively.

It’s been 16 straight wins for Dodd this year, with a victory in every heat at each of the four legs of the SA BMX Nationals. “This is the 2nd biggest race in SA, after the SA National Championships, so to lead the series and to win all my races… I am very pleased with that,” said Dodd.

 

“Any of the top eight guys could easily win the finals. The competition is SA is really hard and difficult and it keeps you on top of your game. The track was in awesome condition, tight and very fast. Getting a good start is key to winning the race, so I worked hard in each heat to make sure that I had a good start! Some parts of the track were technical, but it was all lots of fun,” Dodd continued.

 

“I am stoked with my win, and would like to thank my all my sponsors for their support, and especially my coach Jonathan Chislett, who has made me the rider that can win.”

 

Kyle Dodd has enjoyed 16 consecutive wins with a victory in every heat at each of the four legs of the BMX SA Grand National series, seen here at Giba Gorge BMX track near Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal on 30th June and 1st July 2012. Photo Credit: Alan Heubner

 

Back home after her stint at the UCI World Cycling Centre (WCC) in Aigle, Switzerland, O’Keeffe relished the opportunity to race on home soil and her home track. Although the international races and level of competition cannot be compared to local racing at present, O’Keeffe was suitably impressed with her peers.

 

“I decided to race in the girls’ class to encourage them and inspire them as much as I could and by the end of the weekend I could already see improvements. I would really like to see the girls focusing a lot more on their technical skills, such as making speed off jumping and manualling, and I am happy to ride with them and help them as much as I can before I leave again.”

 

The remodelled BMX track at Giba Gorge was well received from all the athletes who found the racing fast-paced with a lot of action, including O’Keeffe. “I loved the changes they (Giba) made to the track and had so much fun riding on it. This weekend was all about fun for me and I had loads of it!”

 

Teagan O’Keeffe won all of her heats at the 3rd and 4th Legs of the BMX SA Grand National series at Giba Gorge BMX track near Pinetown in KwaZulu-Natal on 30th June and 1st July 2012. Photo Credit: Alan Heubner

 

O’Keeffe, who has finished her time at the WCC, will base herself at home until the end of the year before embarking on the next chapter of her BMX racing career.

 

“Generally the level of our riders is increasing from event to event,” said Eugene Eggar, National BMX Track Design Coordinator. “Hats off to BMXSA admin and officiating crew, without their efficiency and professionalism this event would not have run so smoothly.”

 

The final 5th and 6th legs of the BMX SA Grand National series will be held in Kempton Park in October.

 

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