Extreme weather conditions; a testing track and competitive racing action contributed to an exciting H-TEC Junior National, the first round of the 2012 Junior National Off-road Championship that took place in the Hankey area in the Eastern Cape this weekend where young motorcycle and quad competitors between the ages of seven and seventeen opened their scorecards with the first points.

It was especially in the motorcycle category for the more senior competitors where the competition between the riders in the 125cc Class and the Open (250cc) Class reached fever pitch with the Fever Criterion Yamaha rider, Travis Teasdale, coming out victorious winning the category and the 125cc Class. Teasdale had to battle it out with his team-mate, local Port Elizabeth rider Angus Coetzee, who finished second in the class with Brett Swanepoel (JOAT KTM) third after a very close race.

Another local PE rider, Andrew Wren (Xtreme Yamaha Support) won the Open Motorcycle Class (he finished second in the Senior Motorcycle Category). Louw Schmidt (Dirtstyle Suzuki Honeydew) was second in the Open Motorcycle Class and Estiaan Steenkamp (Water Rite Racing Yamaha) rounded off the podium.

There were also good results for Donovan Farley (Ekerold Fox Yamaha) and Damien Scott (Fever Criterion Yamaha) who were fourth and fifth respectively with Jaycee Nienaber (Manhand Racing/Yamaha Support) finishing sixth. He was followed by Roan Lindsay (Roost Gemini KTM); Karel Hattingh (Guma Sports Yamaha); Jason Helm (Honda) and Dirk Swanepoel (Yamaha).

Jan Human (Roost Gemini KTM) finished fourth in the 125cc Class while Dylan McGovern (Fever Criterion Yamaha), who finished runner-up in the Senior 85cc Class last year, rounded off the top five as a newcomer to this competitive class. Also in the top ten were Eamonn Sullivan (Droomers Yamaha) who was sixth; the 2011 Junior 85cc champion, Brendon Fourie (Jaag Spinnekop Husaberg), who lost time replacing a flat rear tyre, but finished seventh; Aeron Thompson (Kargo Racing KTM) who suffered from a burnt calve injury; John de Souza (Roost Gemini KTM) and Joshua van der Merwe (Yamaha Support).

The motocross rider, Bradley Cox (Red Bull KTM) opened his first full national off-road season with a convincing victory in the Senior 85cc Class after a trouble-free race. Alastair Drennan (Roost Gemini KTM) is back after an injury that kept him from completing the 2011 season and he finished second with Matt van Galen (Helderberg Yamaha) rounding off the podium. He was followed by his team-mate, Calvin Wiltshire and Dean Lindsay (Roost Gemini Kawasaki).

Jaco Moller (PS Storm Racing Suzuki) took his first victory in the national series when he won the Senior Open Quad Class. He was followed by Wayne Smith (Honda) who had a relatively trouble-free run. Wayne had a good dice with his younger brother, Shaun, who started the race in second place after the time-trial on Friday, but the younger of the Smith brother's quad broke halfway through the race. Joshua Schenk (Yamaha Support) led a gaggle of Western Cape quad riders and rounded off the podium.

Adriaan Uys (Water Rite Racing Kawasaki) crashed during the time-trial on Friday and started the race from the back of the grid, but fought his way through to finish fifth.

Seven of the 10 quad competitors who completed the race, are from the Western Cape with Jean-Claude Vlok (JAG Quad Racing Suzuki) finishing fourth; Dylan Matthews (Avoprop Suzuki) sixth and Wernich van der Walt (Yamaha) seventh in his first national off-road race. Former champion, Melchior Huskisson (Can-Am) was chasing the front runners until both nerf bars (safety equipment under the foot pegs) broke and forced him to slow down. He was eighth followed by Dillon Joubert (Jag Quad Racing Suzuki) and William Nutt (Suzuki).

There was also bad luck for Colin Meder (Yamaha) who was in the top three when he got stuck in a ditch and had to go home without points.

The Western Cape riders also ruled in the junior quad category of the race where Brodie Jacobs (Yamaha) won the Modified Quad Class while Tyrone Renwick, also on a Yamaha, made a welcome return to the sport by winning the Junior Open Quad Class. He was followed by Dylan van Eden (Avoprop Yamaha) with the young lady from Richard's Bay (KZN), Jade Schutte (Perry Yamaha) rounding off the podium. Ruan Combrinck (Ekerold Yamaha Support) finished fourth. Tristan Joubert (JAG Quad Racing) and Eathan van Rensburg, both on Yamaha's, could unfortunately not complete the race.

Four of the youngest competitors on their 65cc motorcycles received the chequered flag with Matthew Green (Kargo Racing KTM) leading from start to finish. Stefan van Deventer (KTM) finished second and the 2011 champion, Erik Merry (Verotest KTM) third. Troy Sullivan (Droomers Yamaha) was fourth.

All the entrants in the Junior 85cc Class walked away with points with Tristan Asher-Wood (KTM) scoring full marks for winning the class. Keagan Coetzee (Roost Gemini KTM) was second and Calvin Hume (Perry Yamaha), who experienced small mechanical problems after crashing the day before, was third. Kayde Mante (KTM) was fourth; Travis Behrens (Ekerold Yamaha) finished fifth; Dorian Cordiner was sixth; Dean Gouws (Suzuki) seventh and Michael Glockle (Manhand Racing KTM) eighth in his first national race.

The Montagu Junior National, the second round of the 2012 season, will take place on 3 March in the Western Cape.