1511 DT final

4th, then 3rd, then I actually started to beat
them. When my father saw I had a talent,
his effort levels into the sport increased
with us going to practise mid-week and
then race or practise on the weekend. I
never ever looked at it as a career path,
it was mostly a passion that I shared with
my dad and all I wanted to do was ride my
bike at every opportunity possible. Once
my schooling was complete, in fact the
next year, I took a gap year from studies
and my parents said I must do what makes
me happy for a year and having a car and
my independence, I chose dirt bikes. I got
picked up by a team and started competing
on a National level doing Enduros. Then
in 2012, what a terrible year, that was
the year I DNF-ed at the Roof at my first
attempt and I had loads of stupid injuries
that just slowed my development down, I
really thought at the time, “well this is as
far as I go with racing” because I hadn’t
shaped at all. That was when the legend
of SA Off Road and Enduro racing, Daryl
Curtis introduced me to my now team
manager, Franziska Brandl of KTM SA.
Having lost my ride, KTM were looking for
a lady rider and I was put in touch with
these great people who helped me when
no one else wanted to. It was like a fairy
tale actually, I met the boss and within
days was signing a contract to be in the
most envied team in South African dirt bike
competitions, I knew then 2013 was going
to be a very different year for me.”
Q: Tell us about that year. The unlucky
number 13 reared its ugly head.
Kirst: Well I was having a good year until
halfway through the season where I had a
high speed crash at the Desert Race and
well let’s just say it wasn’t pretty. I had to
be medevac’d and had some bad injuries.
I don’t regret the crash as it made me
hungrier than ever to succeed and I feel I
grew as a person and as a racer. I learnt to
live in the now as you never know when it
will all be taken away from you. The bulk
of the remainder of that year was spent
mending.”
Q: And last year (2014), it was a good one
wasn’t it?
Kirst:” Yes it so was! I got my first taste
of Hard Enduro when I went to Romanics.
What a challenge and what an honour
it was. Then after that was the Roof at
the end of the year which I finished, the
whole year felt like every time I raced
I improved and became more wise
and consistent. Obviously the National
Enduros were also great.
Q: Okay so back to Sea to Sky. Tell us about
the experience.
Kirst:“Well I had no expectations. Obviously
I had sponsors that I had to please with a
strong result but I just wanted to go and
have fun and most importantly finish. My
expectation was only to get as far as silver,
and I would have been happy with that
result. Then on the second day my best
friend and helper on the trip, Dan, said to
me that I can finish gold. Until that point
it hadn’t crossed my mind really. Straight
away I started thinking that no woman had
ever done it before and I really had a shot.
When I reached the finish I thought oh well
at least I got gold and was so blown away
when the media, organisers and all the
public at the finish went so wild about the
fact that I was the first lady rider to achieve
gold. The reaction was so overwhelming
and I literally had to pinch myself because
it was surreal. It really was and still is a
great feeling.”
Q: So tell us, what’s next?
Kirst: ”Well the National Enduro champs
are done so its Roof of Africa time! We
will take the race step by step, I don’t
want to create too much expectation and
pressure as Roof is after all the mother of
all hard enduro’s and anything can happen.
I’m currently taking a week off to catch
my breath and then we start with final
prep and training for the Roof. My goal
as always is just to finish. Anything can
happen in this race, the weather, fitness,
bike damage, navigation and long hours
make for a race where to finish, the stars
have to align for you from a luck point of
view but the prep is key of course. I have
entered Silver again this year so the plan is
to finish and finish well up in the order.
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10
years?
Kirst: “Well being a sport of attrition and
your health and fitness being key to your
success, I plan to do as many extreme
races as I can. Erzberg for now is not
on that list as I find the prospect very
daunting. There is a possibility of me doing
some World Championship Woman’s Super
Enduro races and I am going to see where
that takes me. Away from racing, I have
just started to get the ball rolling on doing
my private pilot’s licence and hopefully this
will lead to a career after my racing.”
Q: “Anything you’d like to say to your fans
and followers out there?”
Kirst: ”Well all I want to say is thank you,
each and every one of you for your social
media posts and calls and emails and
every message I got, each and every one
of them touched my heart. I don’t plan on
letting anyone of you down soon. To my
sponsors, thank you. None of this would
be possible without your belief in me and
my abilities. To my family. You guys are my
rock and I love you guys.”
Photographer: Irina Gorodniakova
48 NOVEMBER 2015
1511 DT Sea to Sky.indd 48 2015/10/23 3:59 PM
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