Terreblanche takes sword to a gunfight and carves out some points

TERREBLANCHE TAKES SWORD TO A GUN FIGHT AND CARVES OUT SOME POINTS 15 AUGUST 2009       Motocross fans are as a whole, an attentive and knowledgeable lot. The dyed-in-the-wool fans know their favourite riders' every move, and when something changes,  it is not long before the fraternity is abuzz. When Shannon Terreblanche rocked up to the Belgian Championship event at Balen on a 250cc Suzuki last weekend, the eyebrows shot skyward. THe fans are used to seeing him on a 450cc Kawasaki, albeit a white one, suddenly on a smaller bike of a different brand. What gives? We can remove some grist off the rumour mill straight off the bat. The change was done with the full blessing of the Sturm Racing team. IN investigating the South African's possible return to the MX2 class, the team collaborated with their long time friends at Pol motors, and Shannon was therefore Suzuki mounted for the event. Like always, he opted to ride in the Open INters class, and if ever there is a place  where a 250cc motorcycle is seriously outgunned as compared to the big brutes, it is in the deep sands of Balen.   Nevertheless, this race was an outing with a different objective, and Shannon got stuck in and rode out for the qualifying session. In a start field that looked for all the world like a GP line-up, he qualified 22nd, and  with the power deficit of his smaller machine, he knew that the would struggle off the starts on the sandy, uphill start drag.  Unfazed by all this, Shanter worked his way into the points scoring zone in race one until he visibly began to slow, casting quizzical looks at his bike. After a few laps, the bike was spluttering with more determination, and the South African retired from the race.   The South African battled off the start in race 2, and knowing that sand racing is often a matter of endurance, he stuck to his guns, but his efforts received scant reward as he finished in 21st position, just out of the points zone. The determination oozed out of him as he lined up for race 3, and straight away, he found the rhythm and settled into the points. The  bigger bikes may have had a power advantage, but he drew on his conditioning and brought the game little bike home in  seventeenth spot, reaching his goal of hauling in some points despite the power disadvantage he was sitting on.   Shanter's diary looks like that of a Hollywood plastic surgeon for the next few weeks. His next outing is at Gaildorf, Germany, for the next round of the German Masters series, and then he's back to Holland for the penultimate GP of the 2009 season at Lierop.         MAYBE, JUS TEAM SPONSORS   PRIVATE SPONSORS

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