Ktm

In the name of the father

Bradley Cox is none other than the son of thirteen-times Dakar participant Alfie, former member of the KTM factory team. At the tender age of fifteen, Bradley moved all on his own to Belgium to join a moto-x team. And the plan was working out OK until a series of injuries forced the then eighteen-year-old South African back home for a year’s recuperation. It was during this time that he got his first taste of enduro racing, which led to him being signed up by the national KTM team and winning nine national titles in various disciplines. In May 2021, Bradley was due to make his debut on the Andalucía Rally with his first Dakar in mind. But the Covid crisis postponed his rally-raid debut with the BAS World KTM Racing team until the Rallye du Maroc. At the age of 23, he would have made an even bigger impression had it not been for a crash and the presence of another young teammate, Mason Klein. Third in Rally 2 in Morocco, Bradley’s Dakar followed a similar scenario, though this time it wasn't a crash that prevented him from getting closer to the American revelation, but a fuel tank holed by a rock on stage 9. That incident saw him finish the day in 84th place just as he was about to break into the top 15 overall… 25th in Jeddah, Cox was beaten in his Rally 2 class by older riders such as the Frenchmen Camille Chapelière and Romain Dumontier, but also by Jan Brabec. By signing up for the world championship season with KTM’s B-team, Bradley is definitely following in his father's footsteps. "The best coach I could have," as he repeated during the Dakar. On the second round of the W2RC in Abu Dhabi, Bradley once again bit the dust while leading stage 2 in the Rally 2 category. A bruise on his leg, though not serious, prevented him from continuing the race. Mason Klein, like on the Dakar and the Rallye du Maroc went on to take the victory. Cox left the Emirates without having collected a single point. Despite this he only dropped from 5th to 6th place. On the Rallye du Maroc he finished 2 nd in Rally2 over 40 minutes behind the untouchable American. Enough to head back towards the podium only 3 points behind Konrad Dabrowski. Bradley has everything to play for at the last round of the season…