Anthony Raynard Feel The Rush

“Winners never quit and quitters never win”. These are words that one of South Africa’s top Motocross riders Anthony Raynard, lives by, and the reason why he is making big strides in this adrenalin-fuelled sport. The rush in motocross is mostly around the jumps. Now add speed and other adrenalin junkies and motocross racing as a sport comes to life. Anthony gives us his personal take on what it has been like in the sport since he started racing at the age of 13.

What led to you taking up motocross? I moved from Johannesburg to Cape Town at the age of 7. My first 3 years in Cape Town was occupied by playing soccer, until close family friends introduced me to motocross. As a 10-yearold visiting the motocross track for the first time was exciting yet very intimidating and yes you guessed right, I crashed hard on my first ride! As all kids do, we fall, we get back up, and try again. The rest is history.

When did you decide to start racing competitively? For the first few years the sport was a pure hobby until I started improving and getting better race results locally in Cape Town. The next step was to take regional and national racing at the age of 13.

What has been your most memorable moment in motocross? There are so many incredible memories over the years but two definitely stand out for me. Firstly, being chosen as team captain to represent South Africa at the 2011 Junior World Champs in Belgium. Secondly, winning my first ever senior SA National Championship in 2012.

You were head-hunted to join a professional racing team back in 2008, could you tell us more? I received a call from a businessman that was setting up a professional race team in SA. He followed my results over the years and wanted me to be part of the team. It was a huge breakthrough for me and the start of my young racing career.