Kieran kicks into high gear
He might be pint-sized, but Toti's little racer is rapidly becoming one of the fastest on two wheels.
Eight-year-old Kieran Holm recently represented his country when the SA motorcross team took on their African neighbours Uganda, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Botswana and Zambia at Saringa Park in Johannesburg.
“It was great to be selected for the SA team,” said the Toti Primary School grade 2 pupil. “I didn’t know I was up for selection, so when my dad told me I was very happy.”
Kieran was the second youngest riding for SA and the only rider to be selected from KZN. “It felt great to ride for the SA team.”
He finished eighth overall with a fifth place in the first race and a sixth in the second. Unfortunately he crashed in the last with two laps to go. “I hurt my knees and my elbow because I went over the handlebars. My bars were bent, so I unfortunately had to wait for them to be fixed before I could finish the race.”
The crash hasn’t deterred the young speedster from improving his skills. “My results have given me more confidence with my racing.
I got a fourth place at the regionals in Pietermaritzburg on Sunday, 22 September, which I was not happy with as I definitely should have done better. It’s a lot of pressure on race day because you don’t know who you will be up against.
My school has been very supportive and I was presented with a SA motorcross team school badge, which I am allowed to wear every day. I am lucky as they allowed me to take time off to practise and go to Johannesburg.”
Kieran started racing at the tender age of four in the peewee class and showed his natural talent for motorcross when he finished second overall in the 50cc support class last year at the SA dirt bike nationals.
The KTM 50cc mini pro racer will next be in action at Pietermaritzburg’s Thunder Valley on Sunday, 13 October. He is sponsored by Ride Dirty, Seabreeze Build-It and Amandla Plumbing, and is coached by Andre Deardon.
