By: Tim Whitfield

Ballito’s Tyronne White will be hoping to use his home-ground advantage when he aims to keep his unbeaten record intact at the Sugar Rush Classic mountain bike race on Saturday.

The event on the popular Holla Trails routes is the fourth event in the lucrative Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum and White has had a perfect start at the opening three races.

The Sugar Rush Classic is a two-day festival of off-road events with the 16km and 8km trail runs taking place on Saturday afternoon, while the 45km and 19km mountain bike races are on Sunday morning.

White has not been beaten in an individual race this year and his victories include the Illovo Wartburg Classic, Fuel & Gas Kamberg Classic and Husqvarna Mid Illovo Classic — the opening thee events of the series — which gives him a perfect score of 300 points.

White’s closest challenger on the Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum log is his DriveTrain Academy teammate Andrew Johnson. Although a distant 111 points behind his training partner, Johnson is sure to be in contention on trails he knows well and rides on a weekly basis.

Their biggest challenger looks likely to come from a pair of young riders. 20 year old Henry Liebenberg has been building some impressive results recently while Travis Stedman is considered to be a star of the future and with his 18 birthday coming up next week he would love nothing better than a senior win as an early birthday present. 23-year-old Keagan Matthews has also been building some form recently and along with Mazwi Shimango and Sthembiso Masango could provide a surprise.

While White has a big lead in the standings he is only two aware that the rules of the series mean there can be big changes in the standings very quickly.

As he said after his win at the Husqvarna Mid Illovo Classic recently: “I could not have hoped for a better start to the series. Three wins from the first three events is a fantastic foundation for the rest of the year, but the nature of this competition is such that somebody can skip the first four races and then win the last six and still claim the overall title.”

In the women’s series things are a lot tighter with Debrah Thomas reaping the rewards of taking part in all three events to hold a 24-point lead over Christie-Leigh Hearder, who won both the opening two events but did not take part in the Husqvarna last month. Nadine Nunes, who skipped the opening event in Wartburg, made use of Hearder’s absence to win in Mid Illovo and is just 50 points behind Thomas in third.

Hearder is favoured for the win this weekend although she could face a strong challenge from Frances Janse van Rensburg, Nunes and Ballito local Natalie Bergstrom who lives on a farm on this weekend’s route.

The Quattro ROAG Trail Runnings Series powered by Momentum sees Mdu Zondi reaping the rewards of consistent finishes with his sixth-, second- and fourth-position finishes in the opening three events giving him a healthy 101 point lead over the three race winners. Zondi has 201 points while Mthobisi Mzolo, 2018 champion Nomore Mandivengerei and Mbhasobhi Gumede are locked in a tie for second on 100 points each after winning Wartburg, Kamberg and the Husqvarna respectively.

The women’s trail running series looks to be developing into a fascinating clash with Apiwe Gaga sitting on the top of the standing with 258 points from three second-place finishes, while Wendy Mills is on 212, and Sarah Gray lurking ominously on 200 points after she won both Kamberg and the Husqvarna.

Current series standings

MTB

Men

1 Tyronne White 300

2 Andrew Johnson 189

3 Warren Price 118

4 Mazwi Smimango 115

4 Dean Van dyk 115

6 Brennan Anderson 107

7 Carl Adendorff 106

8 Luke Chambers 103

9 Jedson Tooms 100

10 Sthembiso Masango 94

Women

1 Debrah Thomas 224

2 Christie-Leigh Hearder 200

3 Nadine Nunes 174

4 Belinda Mason 153

5 Linda Erskine 123

6 Tarryn Morgan 121

7 Ilse Longmore 120

8 Wendy Corkin 119

9 Donna Winter 100

10 Hayley Smith 86

10 Shelley Higgo 86

Trail Run

Men

1 Mdu Zondi 201

2= Mthobisi Mzolo 100

2= Mbhasobhi Gumede 100

2= Nomore Mandivengerei 100

5= Msawenkosi Mtolo 86

5= Dumisani Shabalala 86

7 Grant Humphrey 85

8 Neil Mackenzie 82

9 Craig Houston 79

10= Mthokozisi Chamane 74

10= Innocent Skhumbuzo 74

10= Mzwakhe Khanyile 74

Women

1 Apiwe Gaga 258

2 Wendy Mills 212

3 Sarah Gray 200

4 Patricia Dammann 115

5 Jackie Moore 100

6 Hayley Mackinnon 93

7 Theresa Hohls 88

8 Karen Maiden 80

9 Kirsty Scott 74

10 Anita de Waal 64

Remaining 2019 Quattro ROAG Series powered by Momentum events

DATE	EVENT	VENUE
11-12 May	Sugar Rush Classic	Sugar Rush Park, Ballito
1-2 Jun	Sappi Karkloof Classic Trail Festival	Karkloof Country Club
29-30 Jun	Gooderson Drakensberg Gardens Challenge	Gooderson Drakensberg Gardens Resort
20-21 Jul	Sappi Scottburgh	Scottburgh Main Beach
4 Aug	Illovo Eston MTB Challenge	Beaumont Eston Farmers Club
17 Aug	Harburg Tour de Krantz	Harburg Hall
15 Sep	Safire Baynesfield MTB & Trail	Baynesfield