NEWS

Purdon & Goosen clean up at SAMXN taking home championship titles

Oct 162017

It's been a stellar year for Monster Energy and Tintswalo Out of Africa Yamaha's Tristan Purdon & David Goosen as they cap of their SAMXN season by taking both the MX1 and MX2 championships respectively. Purdon, who's first year racing 450's despite facing an injury half way through the season, came back strong and managed to stay ahead through consistency. Goosen, 7 points off from Purdon was the runner up in MX1 really shows how close competition was going into the last round at Terra Topia. Goosen however topped off a fantastic 2017 performance with taking the top step in the MX2 class. We caught up with both riders after the race to give us a recap on the season.

TRISTAN PURDON - MX1 WINNER

Congrats on taking the MX1 win Tristan, can you run us through your ride this weekend?

Thanks guys! I had quite a bit of nerves going on in the morning and I think they definitely got to me in the first moto. I ended having a pretty good race with my teammate who was also a championship contender (David Goosen) finishing in 4th.
The second moto I knew what I had to do to win the championship, it was down to the knuckle. I got a good start and found my way up to the front and pulled a little lead. 4 laps to go and the arm pump kicked in and David Goosen passed me. Although still I knew a 2nd would still get me the championship.

This is your first year racing on the 450?

Yeah it is my first year. I think I suit the bigger bike for sure.

Did you know you had the championship win in the bag this weekend? Who did you have to look out for?

I did in the back of my mind but I had definitely had to watch out for my teammate David Goosen.

The season hasn't been all glory though right? You fractured your fibula halfway through the season?

Yeah that was a scary part of the year, I thought that was my championship gone! Luckily I had a small gap to get the main part of the recovery out of the way then I just had to race though the pain.

Which was your favourite round in MX nationals this year and why?

I'd have to say the first round in PE. Sand based tracks are my favourite to ride. Winning the first moto in round one from behind and pulling a big lead was fun to say the least.

What was the most challenging part of the season for you?

Harrismith for sure, breaking my fib four weeks before wasn't ideal and I only had one ride on the bike before that race. Being able to still finish 3-4 for 4th on that day was good enough for me.

What are your plans for 2018 looking like so far? What are you going to be up to in the off season?

At the moment my goal is to retain the number one plate for 2018. In the off season I'll definitely be out there having a lot of fun riding my bike. The season isn't completely over for me yet. I still have one more Off Road national coming up. I’m hoping to finish 2nd in that championship, which is my first year doing Off Road.

Any thanks or last words?

Thanks to my Mom and Dad and Sister. My sponsors, Yamaha South Africa, Tintswalo, Out of Africa, Monster Energy, 211 Training Solutions, TRP, Fly Racing, Von Zipper, Fist Handwear, CTI, Bridgestone and Shoei. Also a big thanks to these guys, Dylan Jacobsen, Guy Henley, Warwick Gossen, Russel Thompson, Peter Wilkins.

DAVID GOOSEN - MX1 RUNNER UP & MX2 TITLE WINNER

Congratulations on your ride this year David, can you run us through the season?

I'm super pleased with my performance, Luckily I didn't face any major upsets or make mistakes which would've costed me, we steadily improved over the season ironing out all the kinks, going into 2018 I'd just like to be more prepared. Ending 2017 on a good note so no complaints there.

Close competition, how was the field this year competitor wise?

It was really close, some races there were 6 of us that were in contention for taking the win so that really shows you how close the competition was. It's really good being able to race in that environment. Everyone was really on it, if you had a bad start it was really hard to make your way up to the front of the field again.

Being the runner up in MX1?

We really went down to the wire on that one! In the end I was only 7 points off on Tristan, I wish it could've been even closer. However I did gain some good insight going into 2018 to make it really count next year!

Your MX2 win?

The 250 class I did gain a really good lead early in the year after Maddy Malan was out with an injury. I ended up taking the lead in the 4th round at Dirt Bronco. After that steadily Taking wins and staying on the podium the whole time did me a lot of good. Really good feeling having the title.

Overall you had a really good year. Will you be making any moves going into 2018?

2017 for me was a really good year overall, I never had any big crashes or major upsets. As a racer that's the last thing you need. Balancing a full time job with racing is pretty difficult but I'm happy to make it work. I'd like to thank everyone who's been behind me this year, Monster, Fox, Yamaha, Motul. Keen to get the ball rolling in December for the 2018 season. I'll be on a Yamaha again next year and the new bikes are amazing!

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