Hanging cable, banging bars, mixing gas, hauling ass and dropping the hammer were all the order of the day at the first-ever Monster Energy Supercross Africa event.
Held on Saturday, 1 November 2014 at the 100-year-old Loftus Versveld stadium, around 3,000 tons of dirt was added, sculpted and moulded to transform the field into a world-class track. It took the brainchild behind the event, Grant Langston (the former motocross grand prix champion from Durban who is now living in USA), and his team three days of working around the clock to set up the track, and just 24 hours to clear it after the event. Previous supercross events have been held in Nelspruit and Sun City, so this was a first for Pretoria. Going forward, it looks like the event will take place in Dubai.
Competing for the biggest prize purse in Africa of $50,000, 20 riders from around the globe descended on our fair capital city, including that of Josh Hill (USA), Jake Weimer (USA), Blake Williams (USA), Michael Kok (SA), Darren Durham (SA), and Wyatt Avis (SA). In addition to these top riders and big-name sponsors, key people behind the most exciting supercross action to shake our continent included MC Greg Maloney, motorsport's 'Voice of Choice', along with Supercross Africa Stadium Commentator Matt Smith; the ex-world champ and event commentator Grant Langston; renowned track designer and builder Justin Barclay; Monster Energy's Brand Manager Garan Reck; and the ever-popular Race Director Paddy Venske.
An electric atmosphere greeted the thousands of petrol heads who attended the event, many of which could be seen walking around the pits and proudly clutching memorabilia autographed by their favourite riders.
The stadium seating provided visitors with a full view of the track, thus ensuring that they didn't miss any of the crashes, bumps and crazy freestyle action from the riders while in mid air.
The riders warned that this race was going to get 'bumpy' and lots of bar banging was likely to take place. Michael Kok, also known at The KokStar, commented at the press conference held earlier in week, that he had the utmost respect for the USA riders and welcomed them to South Africa. He went on to say that although he kind of knew he was going to get a hiding from them, he hoped he would not get lapped. "This is a contact sport of note, so there should be some good bangs and it's going to get greasy!" said Michael.
After some incredibly tough and exciting competition, it was Josh Hill (USA) who clinched the top podium spot and coveted 2014 Monster Energy Supercross Africa title. Josh walked away with $20,000 in prize money. Second place went to Cody Gilmore (USA), who took home $10,000 in prize money. Third place, and $5,000 in prize money, went to South African rider Michael Docherty, who was the big surprise of the night. Michael also put on a lap faster than both Weimer's and Gilmore's fastest laps, and claimed the second fastest lap of the main event.
There was no caging or breaking Michael Kok's relentless spirit to be the best he can be. Committed to making South Africa proud, he did just that. All eyes were on The KokStar as he gave it everything he had, however he had a setback when one of the riders crashed into him. Although this slowed him down, it made him even more determined to ride faster and harder. At the end of the final race he placed eleventh, but Michael didn’t need to take first place to show what a champion he is. He won over the crowd with his outgoing personality; by dancing, doing somersaults and blowing kisses to his adoring fans.
After the event, I caught up with Michael Kok to ask him about his training schedule and the dedication it takes to keep motocross fit. He said that he rides three times a week and this includes a 30-minute motocross session, as well as working on his speed. His daily training programme at home consists of running on the treadmill for an hour plus some swimming. All this hard work is definitely paying off because, in my book, he was the rider of the day.
Well done to all the riders and sponsors involved in making the 2014 Monster Energy Supercross Africa the monstrous success it was.
