Alberton rider (16) on track to national championships

Jhandre Fourie, born on February 16, shares his birth date with MotoGP legend Valentino Rossi.

The Hoërskool Marais Viljoen High School learner is a motorbike racer whose journey of motorcycle racing took off in July 2021 when he asked his father if he could get a motorcycle to ride to school and back.

Jhandre’s father, Martin Fourie, bought him his first Mini GP 125 Kayo track bike after Jhandre attained good grades.

“I practised to ride with this bike until September 2021. My dad then bought me a Cbr125r road bike, which I used to do my first track day at Midvaal Raceway in October 2021, among all the big CC bikes. After that track day, my dad quickly converted my bike to a racetrack bike, and I entered my first-ever BRM Midvaal race against salted riders with big machines,” explained Jhandre.

He said during his first session he crashed out because of lack of experience. “This motivated me to become better.”

The talented youngster then entered a full new season of BRM Midvaal racing in 2022.

“I battled at first with some crashes and my bike that was only a 125cc against 250cc 2 stroke and 600/1000cc 4 stroke machines. My dad then got me a CBR150R, which was more competitive, and I started getting some podium finishes, but we still had much less power than the other bikes,” he said.

He later owned a KTM RC390R; giving him more top speed and he bagged a triumph. However, he had to jump back on his CBR150R to keep scoring points while the KTM was in for an engine rebuild.

Unfortunately, Jhandre was informed that the KTM parts would only arrive in 2023. With much determination, he geared himself and still scored podium finishes and valuable points.

Greater horizons

As our last race was announced for December 2022, which was the championship round, he was amazed to see that his points had already accumulated, putting him in the lead for the championship.

According to Jhandre, he still needed to win the last race to be the champion.

“As always, to keep the competition fair, my dad got me my Ninja 400 track bike, although it was stock standard except for the race tyres. It had the right amount of power for the straights. When race day came, I won my rookie season, and first BRM Championship,” he said.

For 2023, the New Redruth bike racer gunned for more experience, and entered The Red Star raceway SSP400/SUB400 series, which he described as very competitive.

He again entered the BRM Midvaal series, intending to get somewhere in the bigger series.

“At this point, my KTM was back and stronger than ever. In February 2023, my first race meeting took place at RSR. The KTM started boiling again, luckily in practice.

“I had to switch to my Ninja 400 for the first race. It was a very tough one as I did not get enough practice time. I qualified in the Sub 400 category as the SSP400 riders are super-fast and experienced,” he explained.

In April 2023, Jhandre was back on the temperamental KTM and unfortunately crashed out in race 2. He still managed a second place because other riders also had technical issues.

In the next race meeting, he got another sub-400 win.

“The last race was epic, as I did my best-ever times, and secured a win for the day. That ensured that I was now the RSR SUB 400 champion as well for 2023.

“Between all the RSR racing, we managed to still do BRM races, in which I scored points and got some podium finishes,” Jhandre said.

At the last race meeting in December 2023, he once again built up good points, but this time was tied with points, against a very fast rider and bike.

“We had an excellent race and a good clean fight on track, and I managed to take the championship again.

“Another one of my dreams also came true when my dad entered me for the final MRSSA National racing event at Kyalami Racetrack. Although I am far from the pace of the national champs, I did drop 15 seconds off my times. I rode an international spec racetrack and managed a third place overall for the day,” he said.

He thanked his supporters, especially his mother and aunt, as well as his father, for their continued support.
Should you wish to sponsor Jhandre towards his bike racing, email his father, Martin Fourie, at martin@stws.co.za