Camden Mc Lellan (MX2), Cameron Durow (MXGP), Tristan Purdon (MXOpen), three of South Africa’s top Motocross (MX) talents will compete in the Olympics of Motorsport – the 2024 Monster Energy FIM Motocross of Nations which is taking place between 4 – 6 October in Matterley Basin in Great Britain.
Neville Townsend, Motorsport South Africa MX Commission President, says the event sees 20 nations from across the globe select their three best riders to battle it out over three gruelling races on Sunday 6 October to determine who will be victorious and awarded the much sought-after Chamberlain Trophy.
“We are confident that the selected South African team will represent our country with pride. South Africa had its best showing in 2004 where we finished a respectable fourth overall. Since then, the SA team has participated in 15 events and has managed to finish inside the top 20 overall standings ten times,” he says.
Townsend said the Commission is grateful for the opportunity provided by Motorsport South Africa through its affiliation with FIM and FIM Africa. “The team are all seasoned riders, and we are sure that they will gain even more experience from this exciting event,” he says.
South African team manager, Cheryl Mc Lellan agrees. She says that, in 2023, 37 teams participated at Ernée in France and Team SA finished 13th. This year she is quietly confident the team will be able to break into the top 10.
This is what Team SA looks like:
Cameron Durow
21-year-old Cameron races for Red Bull KTM South Africa and recently wrapped up the 2024 South African MX 2 National Championship and MX 1 Championship. He is an eight times MSA National Champion with even more experience under his belt having participated in many of the AMA Outdoor rounds this year and also getting to experience Motocross of Nations at Ernée in France in 2023. In 2019 he was the first person to achieve both a 125 High School’ and MX2 Overall win at a round of the MSA Nationals.
Camden Mc Lellan
South African born and now living in Portugal racing in the MXGP World Championship, 20-year-old Camden started riding dirt bikes for fun with his dad and his friends but he soon enjoyed the competitive nature of the sport and started racing in local MX events. This escalated quickly and he was racing the National MX series in 2012. With many Junior MSA Championships to his name, he started racing in Germany and secured a European Title in 2018. In 2024 he finished 3rd overall in the MXGP in Sardinia and in 2023 finished the season 13th overall after starting the season with a dislocated shoulder.
Tristan Purdon
Tristan, the oldest of the three at 27, has been riding since he was three and has time after time proven to his competition that it’s not about who has the best ??, but rather who was able to work hard to be the best. He is a seven times SA Champion, has represented South Africa twice in the MXON and was placed 4th in the REVO MXGB Championship in the United Kingdom in 2023.
“MSA would like to wish the team the best of luck. International events like this are an excellent opportunity for our local riders to test their skills against the best in the world and these three talented young riders will definitely be flying the SA flag high,” says Adrian Scholtz, Chief Executive Officer of Motorsport South Africa.
Compiled on behalf of MSA by Cathy Findley PR