SPORTS FEATURE
BUILT FOR SPEED
BY BYRON LUKAS
Four South African motocross titles don’ t come easy. For Anthony Raynard, they represent years of sacrifice, early mornings, intense training, and the determination to keep pushing when the going gets tough.
Cape Town-based Anthony Raynard started riding motocross at age 10 and joined a professional racing team in 2008. Since then, he has won four South African motocross titles, raced internationally, and represented his country at the Motocross of Nations.
Now, with his sights set on rally racing, Raynard is ready to trade motorcross and chase a new challenge. He chats to Inbound SA about life on and off the track, overcoming setbacks, and his ambitions for the Dakar Rally.
LOOKING BACK, WHAT DO THOSE TITLES MEAN TO YOU PERSONALLY? They mean the work was worth it. Titles aren’ t won on race day; they’ re won in the hundreds of early mornings nobody sees. Winning four tells me the consistency was there, and that’ s the part I’ m proudest of.
MOTOCROSS IS PHYSICALLY DEMANDING AND MENTALLY INTENSE. WHAT DOES A TYPICAL TRAINING WEEK LOOK LIKE WHEN YOU’ RE PREPARING TO RACE? Three days on the bike, five in the gym, plus cardio and recovery. Motocross is a sprint you have to repeat for 30 minutes, so fitness is half the battle. The mental work matters as much as the physical, so I put time into visualising race scenarios.
WHAT HAS MOTOCROSS TAUGHT YOU ABOUT HANDLING PRESSURE, SETBACKS, AND THOSE DAYS WHEN THINGS SIMPLY DON’ T GO YOUR WAY? You can’ t control everything that happens on the bike, the track, or the other riders, only your reaction. Bad days happen, so I focus on the next lap and not the last mistake. That mindset has carried me through every season.
38 INBOUND SA / NOVEMBER 2026