'That's Brad Binder!' - dreams really do come true as SA teen rider Ora Phiri meets his MotoGP hero

Imagine being 14 years old, and not only are you filming an advertisement for Checkers' Sixty60, but you look over your shoulder while sitting on a racetrack, and a masked rider is approaching you. But it's not just some guy on a bike being escorted by the Checkers boys in turquoise - it's South Africa's MotoGP legend, Brad Binder.

Oratilwe Phiri is an up-and-coming superbike racer, with a mammoth 62 podiums in his short career. As he is fondly called, Ora has been riding bikes since he was just four years old. Following in the footsteps of his father, Thabiso, he has just been crazy about bikes ever since watching his dad ride on the track.

Thabiso said: "I would bring my family to the racetrack to watch me ride, and when a child is passionate about something, you just know to follow throw with it. He was about two or three years old and just crazy about bikes. We then got him a little pocket bike, he started riding when he was four, and it just took off from there."

After Thabiso had bought Ora a pocket bike, he realised the absence of other black children involved in motorcycles. He then bought 10 more pocket bikes and eventually started his own riding academy to train more children and make it more accessible for them.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they're a remarkable actor, a teacher, a nurse, an athlete, or even your mother or father. Sometimes it's even your own child. We all have dreams and aspirations, and allowing dreams to come true in a young person's life can only push them to reach even higher for the stars.

Ora says he was only five when he began following Binder's career and looking up to him as a hero.

 Binder, 27, is one of only three South Africans ever to hold the motorcycle grand prix