Dolly Mdiniso is not your average development rider. She's 33,
well-educated and works for a cellular tracking company in Johannesburg.
But her passion for motorcycles is as real as that of any of the
teenagers she'll be competing against - it's just better honed.
Mdiniso grew up in Soweto, the second of four siblings raised by a
single mother, matriculated from Emewalene High School and got a job.
But what she really wanted to do was ride a motorcycle.
It's probably the dream of every salary-earner stuck in an office but
for her it was a silent passion - until she saw an ad in a local
magazine for Women in Motorsport Day
She
convinced Van der Ross she was serious about riding - and had talent
.
So on August 9, 2009 she pitched up at Wild Thing Raceway in Alberton,
south of Johannesburg, with absolutely no idea what to expect, but
managed to convince instructor Neil van der Ross that she was serious
about riding - and that she had talent.
top.DisplayAds('SquareAV',19,3558);
He began training her in his own time on a borrowed mini-bike until she
became a competent motocrosser but, when Mdiniso was ready to enter her
first race, the little pit-bike simply wasn't up to it.
So Van der Ross approached Yamaha, which felt this was too good an
opportunity to miss to promote motorsport to a wider South African
audience - so Mdiniso has spent the past few weekends getting used to a
brand new TTR230.
Keep an eye out for Mdiniso at future Club and Regional motocross
meetings in Gauteng. She's proud of her status as South Africa's first
female black motocrosser but has no plans to stop there - she still
wants to try hare scrambles, enduro, Supermoto and even circuit racing!
We say, go for it!
