Bradley Cox, 14, son of the multiple off-road and enduro motorcycle champion and Dakar competitor, Alfie Cox, got a first taste of what it felt like to race in his dad’s tracks when he won the Senior 85cc (motorcycle) Class at the recent Junior Roof, the third round of the 2012 SA Junior National Off-road Championship that took place in Lesotho.
Alfie has won the Roof of Africa, the traditional 3-day event in Lesotho, a total of nine times overall with his first victory at the age of 26 in 1988. It is Bradley’s first season in the Junior National Off-road Motorcycle Championship and he is leading the class championship after he scored a hat-trick of victories this season.
It was, however, a first Lesotho experience for the young Maritzburg College student who also competes in the national and local KwaZulu-Natal regional motocross championships. He has won his first South African national motocross championship title in 2005 (he did so again in 2010), and father and son became the first South African pairing to win national motorsport championships in the same year when Alfie claimed the off-road championship title competing in the production vehicle category in the same year. Cox junior was also awarded his Protea Colours in 2005.
The Junior Roof off-road race for young off-road motorcycle and quad competitors between the ages of 7and 17 might not be as tough as the real Roof of Africa, but it was not an easy race for the young and upcoming star. Competing with his KTM 85sx, he started the 3-hour race leading the rest of the pack in the Senior 85cc Class for riders between 13 and 15 years.
According to the starting order, they started the race just behind the bulk of the older riders competing with 125c, 200cc and 250cc motorcycles with thick dust playing a major role as there was almost no breeze. Cox was still leading his class when he finished the first lap after having had a spectacular high speed crash just before entering the pits. He suffered a deep cut in his left hand and a cut above the knee cap while the bolts on his KTM’s handlebars broke and the footrest was sheared off.
His service crew (Alfie with the support of other fathers) managed to fix it, but it took the young (and injured) Cox the whole lap to get back into rhythm. He admitted that the words of his experienced father and mentor were never far from his mind: “Momentum is your best friend,” especially regarding the more technical areas in any race. He still won his class to strengthen his lead in the Senior 85cc Class championship to 13 points with four more races remaining in the 2012 season.
“It was pretty cool to follow in dad’s trails. I know it is only a portion of the real Roof of Africa, but it feels good to excel where my dad laid his tyre prints. In fact, in the 80s, The Roof always finished in the lowlands of Lesotho where we raced this weekend,” he said. “Lesotho and its people have always been close to my dad’s heart and now that I have competed here, I can understand why,” he smiled.
Bradley is currently busy with the final preparation for his first international experience. In July he will compete in two rounds of the ADAC Master Cup MX Championship in Germany, and in August he will travel to Bulgaria to compete in the Junior World MX Championship. He will then tackle the fourth round of the SA Junior National Championship, the BELL Junior National, on 14 August in the Hluhluwe area in KZN.
Bradley competes with the support of Red Bull, Comsol, BELL, Alfie Cox Racing, Oakley, Leatt, Gaerne, Thor and Airoh.