Superbike glory for Jayden (7)
Seven-year-old Jayden Ferreira is no new kid on the block when it comes to riding motorcycles.
POLOKWANE – This weekend, he once again proved he is a force to be reckoned with when he competed in the mini Superbike category in a racing event held at Zwartkops, earning himself a second spot in the novice class.
He is currently ranked second in South Africa.
Riding on two wheels is something that his grandfather, JP Slemment, says he was interested in from a young age.
“He always insisted on learning how to ride a bicycle without the training wheels you kids usually have.”
“One evening at a braai, he saw an old beat-up motorcycle and the man who it belonged to gave it to him as a toy. He was pushing the thing up and down and loved it so much that I decided to get the bike repaired for him,” JP told Review.
He says that he and his wife then decided to take the bike to the track and see how Jayden fares on the track.
“He took to it like a duck to water. We would give him a space of about 30 metres where he could start from his grandmother and ride up to me. I would stop or pull him off the bike if it looked like he might fall.”
This soon became something that caused Jayden to love his motorcycle even more.
One day roughly two years ago, he did not stop once he reached his grandfather, continuing making laps on the track all on his own.
“This is when we knew there was no stopping him and he has not looked back since,” JP says.
“Racing is actually big in Polokwane and we would like to see the sport grow and see more young people take part in the sport from a young age,” JP adds.
Jaydon says he loves riding as he “can go fast and it feels really great to know that I can be good at a sport that is so different”.
