Pietermaritzburg – Having formed a close friendship over the past year, defending champion Andrew Hill has chosen to team up with Western Cape star Adriaan Louw for the second edition of the BSi Steel dusi2c that takes riders from Camps Drift in Pietermaritzburg to Blue Lagoon in Durban over two tough days on 21 and 22 June.
Hill won the first edition of the race with Tyron Bird in 2013 and this year he and Fairview Swift rider Adriaan Louw will team up and it seems that the pair have a good understanding of one another even though they are based in different parts of the country.
“It always helps when you riding with a friend and myself and Adriaan are good mates which makes the riding a bit easier. He has been in good form recently and we ended fourth and fifth respectively at the Clarens race earlier in the year so we are feeling good leading into the dusi2c.”
Photo: Anthony Grote/Gameplan Media
“It is going to be a hard period of racing with the SA Champs, dusi2c and then the World Champs the following weekend but it is a great bit of hard training for the World Champs,” an excited Hill added.
The dust has hardly settled on what was a successful outing at the 10th annual Nedbank Sani2c where Hill and partner Darren Lill ended in fourth place overall. Although the pair missed out on a podium Hill was happy with the way things went for the duo.
“It was such a good race,” the TIB Insurance rider mentioned. “The level of riding was really high with so many of the top guys taking part and we were disappointed that we didn’t get on the podium but it was just 27 seconds that was the difference!”
The Hillcrest resident has spent a fair amount of time riding the track along the uMngeni River from the Mfula Store overnight stop. It will be a first outing in the valley for Louw but Hill is confident that they will be ready after a reconnaissance prior to the start of the dusi2c.
“I have done a lot of training on the second part of the route but the first bit from Pietermaritzburg I am not as familiar with but Adriaan will be up here for the whole of June so we will have a chance to scout it out before the race,” Hill mentioned.
For the Western Cape resident riding in Kwazulu-Natal is always exciting and having the opportunity to ride in the dusi2c is something that he is looking forward to because it would not usually fit into his racing calendar.
“I really enjoy riding in KZN. The terrain is the best and it is what you dream about!” the 23-year old explained. “It is pretty rocky in the Cape and up there (Kwazulu-Natal) and the trails get ridden so often so they are great!
“The dusi2c is something that I have looked forward to doing and with so much racing in KZN in June it was the perfect chance for me to experience what so many people have been talking about and with it being a week before the World Champs it gives us a chance to get away from the International riders,” a keen Louw added.
Photo: Nick Muzik/Gameplan Media
It is evident that the relationship struck up between Louw and Hill is a special one and the former is happy to have found a riding partner that he can trust even though the two compete against each other more regularly than they ride together.
“It is quite hard to find guys that you can trust and Andrew is a guy that I trust and we have been friends since we met at the Cape Pioneer last year.
“We have got to know each other really well away from riding and I know his style and he knows mine so we have a good understanding of each other which makes our lack of training time together a non-issue,” he said.
With three races in quick succession Louw has set his sights on the SA Champs as his main priority and is hoping that he can add that to his growing list of achievements.
“I am going to be riding at the World Champs but for me the national champs are going to be my main focus, I would much rather be a national champion than a top 20 finisher at the World Champs,” Louw concluded.
More information can be found at www.dusi2c.co.za
Source: Gameplan Media
