WILLOW Grove motocross star Thomas Ravenhorst flew across the finish line in emphatic fashion in China over the weekend winning the coveted 2016 China International Motocross Invitational Cup in Liupanshui in the country’s south-west on Saturday, August 13.
The 21-year-old privateer rider had an unlucky run of injuries at this year’s Victorian Senior Motocross Championships but was lucky enough to receive an invite from the event’s organiser and the Chinese motorcycling commissioner.
“I’ve had a rough start of the year at the Victorian Senior Motocross Championships and the MX Nationals due to injuries but I was lucky enough to get the opportunity to go overseas and race in China again,” Thomas said.
He last competed in China in 2013 where he finished fourth in the International 250cc class.
This year, however, was a different story. “I qualified first in the International MX2 class, which was good. I led the first race and got a bit tired and young Cooper Pozniak (also from Australia) passed me so I ended up second in that one. In the second moto I ended up getting the win.
“The 2-1 gave me the overall result for the weekend and a nice big trophy,” Tom beamed. “It was pretty cool. The crowds in China are massive,” he added.
Thomas said it was tough getting used to the challenging racing conditions in another country. “In Liupanshui, we were actually over 3000 metres above sea level so it was very hard to breathe.
“It was also very similar to a supercross track. The lap-times around there were about a minute so we did 26-odd laps during the race so it was very long 30-minute races,” Tom, who went up against talented riders from China, Russia, Kazakhstan, France and New Zealand, added.
Thomas is now looking forward to competing in the last two rounds of the 2016 Motul MX Nationals in Toowoomba, Queensland this Sunday, August 21 and again in Coolum, Queensland on August 28 where he is currently competing in the MX2 250cc Pro class.
“I’ve been getting fitter and stronger each round so I’m hoping to achieve two top ten overall round results and put my head down and start preparing for the Australian Supercross Championships which is not too far away in September,” Tommy added. “I would like to thank my sponsors, Mum and Dad, and everybody who supports me,” he said.
You can follow Tommy’s progress throughout the year via his official Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tomas.ravenhorst?fref=ts.