Pietermaritzburg – Having spent many seasons fighting it out against each other on the single tracks around KwaZulu-Natal, the local pair of Tyron Bird and Tim Stark have joined forces for the second instalment of the BSi Steel dusi2c that begins at Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg on Saturday 21 June and ends at Blue Lagoon in Durban a day later.
Quattro’s Bird has come off a good result at the recent marathon race in Baynesfield and, having won the inaugural dusi2c race last year with TIB Insurance’s Andrew Hill, is confident that he and new partner Stark can make a real push of another podium finish at this year’s event.
“I am feeling quite good at the moment and we are just looking to go out there and have some fun,” Bird explained. “I had a good weekend last weekend with a third at Baynesfield so I am in some reasonable form and we are going out there to have a good time on some really good trails!”
After his 2013 victory with Hill, Bird explains it will be a strange feeling to line up against his former team mate on
Photo: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media
Saturday and believes it will be tough to overcome the deadly combination of Hill and Adriaan Louw.
“It is going to be a little bit odd riding against Andrew (Hill) in the race that we won together last year!” he chuckled.
“Beating Andrew and Adriaan (Louw) is going to be really difficult – those guys are unstoppable at the moment and have been riding together for a while now, especially with Adriaan staying with Andrew at the moment,” he said.
The unfamiliar combination of Bird and Stark might seem to be a foreign concept to many but, having ridden against each other on a number of occasions, Bird maintains that they know enough about each other to be a competitive duo.
“We are going to give it our all and, with a little bit of knowledge from last year’s race to share, we are looking to go hard through the single track and I think that could be a bit of an advantage for us,” Bird added.
Following a successful 2013 edition of the BSi dusi2c, the defending champion is looking forward to getting back out onto the trails for another shot at the title.
“I really enjoyed the race last year and I am sure that it is going to be much the same this year. Tim (Stark) jumped at the opportunity to race together so we are keen to go out there and push for that podium but really enjoy ourselves at the same time!”
Photo: Andrew McFadden/Gameplan Media
For Stark the 2013 edition was quite literally an eleventh hour decision and one that panned out well for the Pyga Bikes rider as he and partner Robyn Ryan came second in the mixed category behind Brandon and Bridgette Stewart (FedGroup ITEC).
“I entered last year’s race a day or two before the start of the race and although it was such a late decision, myself and Robyn rode hard and we ended up on the podium which was a good result for us. This year I am glad that I am able to be ready for the race though and riding with Tyron will be a good chance to push for an overall win.”
The pair have never been on the same team in a race previously and it is something that Stark is looking forward to after competing against Bird for a number of years.
“Tyron phoned me last week and asked whether I wanted to ride with him this year and it really was not an offer that I could refuse. My sponsors also mentioned that it would be a good opportunity for me and racing with a rider like Tyron will be great.
“Last year it was great and the GPS system was something that I had never used before but it added to the uniqueness of the race. It also meant that we didn’t know what to expect which was exciting,” he commented.
More information can be found at www.dusi2c.co.za
Source: Gameplan Media
