Ruché's fearless chase to Moto3 ride

While an 11-year-old Ruché Moodley lay on his bed, with fractures to his skull, right femur and hip, his parents Arushen and Chanelle decided he would no longer race motorbikes. 

Chanelle never liked it anyway, and often encouraged her son to try something else. His dad — a former South African superbike champion who had thought bike riding with his child would be a hobby and a good way to spend time together — agreed. “We basically said: ‘That’s it, he needs to stop, that was the last’,” the elder Moodley recalled this week, shortly before he and the 18-year-old Ruché headed to Thailand for the opening round of the MotoGP world championship. 

“But he’s quite stubborn and determined. It is difficult to take someone’s passion away. They could start channelling that excitement into something else, maybe drugs, to get him the same high...”

For the 11-year-old Ruché, the future was clear. He would get back on the bike, return to racing and fulfil a dream of racing in MotoGP — once he learnt to walk again. “It was difficult to come back from that, because I had a lot of time off the bike, lots of pins and screws put in to get that right.

“My [right] leg basically couldn’t bend for a long time. I had to learn to walk again which was tough. But when you’re young, you heal quicker. [That kind of experience] definitely makes you stronger.” 

His mother was “surprised” when Ruché told her he’d be heading back to the track. “She understands that this is what I am going to do. She obviously doesn’t watch any of the races because she is really scared, but she’s also very supportive.” 

Fear is not an emotion that concerns Ruché. “On the bike you can’t think about having fear because that is a distraction, and then it is more dangerous.” 

Moodley, who had a dreadful fall in pre-qualifying on Friday, will line up in 19th on the grid at the Chang International Circuit on his DENSSI Racing BOE machine, after his first official qualifying session yesterday in Moto3. 

“The ultimate goal is to get to MotoGP and become world champion,” said the young Moodley. “But there are a lot of small steps you need to take to get there. The first was getting into the Rookies Cup and then to Moto3.”

He signed with the Spanish BOE team at the start of the year after three relatively successful years racing on the junior circuit in Europe. It’s an all consuming profession. Moodley took online classes to complete school last year, and is reliant on his father, who is both a technical and mental coach. 

“He taught me everything I needed to know about racing. It’s a tough sport mentally. You train almost every day and when you don’t achieve your goals it can be frustrating. Some weekends don’t go as planned and you need someone who understands what you’re going through,” said Ruché.

Even time away from the track is spent on preparing and thinking about racing and over the course of a nine-month season, his father’s counsel will be critical. “There is no expectation. He needs to try not to get lapped,” Arushen quipped. 

“This is a completely different level to what I was racing. This is a big step for myself also. He has to be grounded, it is going to be a process to learn and improve. This is the world championship, the level is high. If you think you’re just going to smoke everyone, then you have the wrong attitude.”

Racing on the junior circuit allowed Ruché to be around the MotoGP paddock, so that aspect won’t overwhelm him when he lines up in Thailand today. There are two new races in the Czech Republic and Hungary this year that he needs to learn, and he admits the endurance aspect will be one of the biggest challenges. “These races are high intensity and in very hot conditions,” he said. 

He’s added bulk ahead of the season, gaining 5kg to get to the 60kg weight limit for the Moto3 class.

Having a few other South Africans around has helped. Ruché has known Brad and Darren Binder since he was 10 years old, and in fact a tip from Binder last year helped the teen earn a first podium when racing at Le Mans. “They have been an inspiration, they have given good advice. Whenever we see each other, we will talk, but it’s not like we talk every day. He’s really busy now.”

As Ruché will be. From starting out on “peewee50” and riding around the garden when he was five, to racing at Le Mans, Silverstone and the one he is most looking forward to — the Circuit of the Americas in Texas — his journey has been quick. 

“On the bike you don’t think about how fast you’re going. You get an adrenaline rush obviously, but you don’t feel the speed, because you’re focused on going as fast as you can.”