Against fierce competition and big surf, Jeep Team’s Hank McGregor and Barry Lewin both finished in the top 10 in the Elite Men’s race at the 2015 ICF Ocean Racing World Championships, which took place in Tahiti, from 2 – 3 October 2015.

McGregor, who set off to Tahiti only days after arriving back in South Africa following his sixth win at the ICF Canoe Marathon World Championships in Hungary, completed the 30km race in sixth position (2:00:43), with Lewin placing 10th (2:03:31). Australia’s Cory Hill secured the men’s Gold in 1:58:06, with Clint Robinson (Australia) second in 1:58:35. South Africa’s Jasper Mocké claimed bronze in 1:59:07, followed by Sean Rice (South Africa) in 1:59:32 and Michael Booth (South Africa) in 2:00:19.

Said Lewin, “It was a hard but good day out against the world’s top surfski paddlers.I used all I had out on the course. Travelling to Tahiti is always special with the Tahitian people and their rich tradition being a highlight. I will be back in the future for sure. Thanks for all the support from home. You all rock!”

McGregor now sets his sights on the next of his back-to-back challenges, defending his K2 title with racing partner Jasper Mocké at the 2015Hansa Fish River Canoe Marathon, which takes place from 9 – 10 October in Craddock, Eastern Cape. If the duo win, it will be McGregor’s sixth K2 title, and another unprecedented record for South Africa’s canoe king.

Said McGregor, “Jasper and I have formed a great combination over the years as we are like-minded paddlers and we always seem to go well together.We don’t train a lot together with him being in Cape Town and me in Durban. We both love to win and that is something that we know makes us a good combination.”

Other Jeep Team news…

It was a busy weekend for Jeep Team’s MTB and BMX athletes, with some impressive results.

MTB

On Saturday, Thinus Redelinghuys competed in Race#4 of the Nissan Trail Seeker Gauteng Series, which took place at the Hakahana Trails near Pretoria. Despite technical difficulties during the race, Redelinghuys placed 5th overall (3rd senior male) in 2:26:02. Philip Buys won in 2:21.26, followed by Arno du Toit in 2nd(2:21:27), StuartMarais3rd (2:24.18) and Henry Uys 4th (2:25:09).

In Mpumalanga, Jeep Team’s Pierre Smith and Dylan Rebellotook on the 180kmIsuzu 3-Towers Stage Race, which took place from 2 – 4 October at Mankele MTB Trails near Nelspruit. Rebello teamed up with Nico Pfitzenmaier, with the duo finishing 6th overall in a total time of 8:15:26. Smith, racing with Marcel Marais, placed 15th overall in 8:55:31.

Team Biogen-USN (Max Knox and Rourke Croeser) won the race in 7:41:01, followed by Team RECM (Erik Kleinhans and Nico Bell) in 2nd (7:44:02) and Team EAI (Gawie Combrink and Johann Rabie) in 3rd (7:49:29).

BMX

On Sunday, Jeep Team’s youngest athlete, Alex Dolman (15), competed in Event #10 of the Gauteng Provincial BMX Series. Racing in the Elite category, Dolman finished 3rd in each of his moto’s, and sixth in the final.

This coming weekend, Dolman and Jeep Team’s Kyle Dodd will be competing in the South African National BMX Championships, which are taking place at the Alrode BMX Club in Gauteng from 10 – 11 October 2015.