Shaun-Nick Bester is targeting victory in the second Trailseeker Series event at Legends MX in Pretoria on Saturday.
Bester, who won the PE Plett alongside Declan Sidey in March before winning the Great Zuurberg Trek with Andrew Hill a few weeks ago, finished third in the opening event at Buffelsdrift in early May.
NAD Pro’s Nico Bell and Gawie Combrinck beat the Silverback Bikes rider on that occasion and he would like to improve on that result this time round.
“I definitely want to finish on the top step,” Bester told In the Bunch today. “I would like to better my position from the first event. I want to try to do well in this year’s Trailseeker Series.”
Shaun-Nick Bester is targeting victory in the second Trailseeker Series event at Legends MX. Photo: Supplied
Despite being beaten by Bell and Combrinck last time, Bester felt PYGA Euro Steel’s Matthys Beukes, who did not take part in the first race, would pose the biggest threat on Saturday.
“Matthys has been in incredible form this season,” he said. “He will be the biggest competition, the guy to beat [on Saturday].”
Beukes’s dynamic teammate Philip Buys is also set to make his return after a lengthy injury layoff, while other strong riders such as Bell, Arno du Toit, Wessel Botha and Alan Gordon are due to take part. Combrinck, however, has not been listed.
None of the aforementioned riders, besides Bell and Combrinck, took part in the Buffelsdrift event.
“There will be a lot of strong competition this weekend,” Bester said. “I think it will be great competition for SA Champs [on July 14].
“Most of the top mountain-bike pros will be there, even a few from Cape Town.
“I am prepared to do well and hopefully I can deliver, so I am looking forward to it.”
Bester, however, will be entering the race relatively “blindly” having not ridden on the route before.
“I have not done the Legends MX route, obviously it being a new route, and I have also not ridden at Rosemary Hill Farm before.
“I am going into this race blindly, with only the route’s profile in mind. I saw that we will start with a 200m ascent within the first 7.5km, so I think warming up well will be quite critical to perform well on the day.”
Bester has been happy with his form thus far this season. “It has been good this year and the past few weeks I have turned my focus to strength work.
“I have not done too many long hours, so I think my form will be good for this weekend but I still want to pick up my fitness and endurance ahead of the SA Champs.
“I am feeling confident; you have to be confident if you want to do well.
“It can sometimes be difficult to stay confident if you look at a strong line-up, but if you are not then you’ve already lost the race.”
