Cold, Tough Lesotho Off-road Spectacular Awaits Bike And Quad Racers

June 13, 2010 - PRLog -- PREVIEW: LESOTHO OFF-ROAD SPECTACULAR
4th Round of the 2010 SA National Off-Road Motorcycle & Quad Championships
18 & 19 June 2010 – Lesotho

COLD, TOUGH LESOTHO OFF-ROAD SPECTACULAR AWAITS TWO- AND FOUR WHEELERS

With all the soccer action in South Africa, the 2010 National Off-road Motorcycle and Quad Championships had to move to a cold Lesotho where the Lesotho Off-road Spectacular, the fourth round of the 2010 season, will take place on 18 and 19 June.

The 2010 Lesotho Off-road Spectacular is a unique race and differs completely from the traditional Roof of Africa. Even though the course is still demanding, the race consists of shorter distances and only some sections of the route are the same than previous years.

Some things will, however, still be the same – the 2009 Lesotho race winners (the Windhoek Honda rider, Dirkie Baard won the quad category while Brother KTM’s Riaan van Niekerk was the motorcycle winner) will aim to repeat these results. Baard has just won the Mafikeng 400 while Van Niekerk has had a spate of bad luck, but more experience at the extremely technical Erzberg Enduro race in Austria will come in handy in Lesotho.

With the off-road season now past the halfway mark, both racers have some catching up to do. Jade Gutzeit (Full Throttle Yamaha) finished seventh in Austria and with a victory and two second places in South Africa behind his name, he is leading both the overall and the Open Class standings and will be a strong contender for another good result.

Like Gutzeit, Louwrens Mahoney (DCM Yamaha) has also won in Lesotho before and would like to erase the memories of not finishing the last off-road race and strengthen his second place on the overall standings. Consistency has put Christopher Webster (Mick’s Motorcycles Yamaha) on the overall podium while his younger brother and the winner of the recent Mafikeng 400, Jonathan, is just behind him and just ahead of Van Niekerk.

In the quad category, Brian Baragwanath (EMD Racing Lonestar PEP Yamaha) is leading Baard on the overall standings as well as in the Pro 450 Class with another former Lesotho winner, Jacques Struwig (Boesman Racing Hybrid) rounding off the overall podium and leading the Open Class. Baragwanath, Baard and Struwig are all possible winners while Brendan Badenhorst (Brother KTM) and Leander Pienaar (Connix Internet Can-Am) have also won in these mountains before and would like to better their current championship standings by doing so again.

Leonard dos Santos (Suzuki) and Baard’s younger brother, Philipie, round off the overall top five. Only six points separate the next six racers on the overall standings – Juan Coetzee (Quad Revolution Race Nation Honda); Eric Williams (Windhoek Honda); Badenhorst; André du Plessis (EMD Racing Lonestar PEP Suzuki); Jurie Meyer (Yamaha) and Pienaar.

Former champion, Shaun Gunther, is a seasoned racer and can throw a spanner in the works with his return to the sport. He will compete with a Can-Am DS450. Other dark horses to keep an eye on are Danie Coetzer (FD Racing KTM) and Coetzee’s team-mate, Kyle-James Holburn (Suzuki) who has crashed and injured himself at this event last year.

Three races produced three different race winners in the motorcycle category with young Webster springing a surprise victory at Mafikeng. Experience and patience might, however, just result in more new names appearing on the scoreboard. The enduro ace, Altus de Wet (Brother KTM) has also competed in Austria and is known for his technical capabilities while Juan “Bollie” van Rooyen (The Roost/Out of Africa Dev Kawasaki) is also very experienced – both riders are a single point behind Van Niekerk with Brandon Bouwer (Ramco Cayenne Honda) just behind them. Marius Venter (JCP Steel KTM) and Mark Garland (ORD/Insurance Zone/Pro Action KTM) are rounding off the top ten.

Outsiders that can upset the applecart include Gray Dick (BMW) who has recently returned to racing after recovering from a back operation; Garland’s team-mate, Spencer Kriel, who has many Lesotho kilometres, but also some bad luck this season behind his name; Bouwer’s team-mate, Theo Potgieter, who was leading the Mafikeng event at one stage and Gavin Louw (The Roost Kawasaki) while veteran Lesotho racer, Alex Vowles (FDBR Racing Yamaha) will aim to add another good result on his long list of completed Lesotho races.

The battle for class championship titles will also continue - on two wheels Wayne Farmer (World of Accessories Gas Gas) leads Errol Dalton (Connix Internet/Salley’s Yamaha) while Colin Joubert (JAG Quad Racing Suzuki) leads CJ Smith (EMD Racing Lonestar PEP Suzuki) on four. Joubert’s team-mate, Clive Crouse (Yamaha) is the leading Master Class racer on four wheels while Henk Leenstra (ECS/Alfie Cox Adventures KTM) has the most points in this class in the motorcycle category.

The Lesotho Off-road Spectacular will start with a short time-trial on Friday (18 June) that will determine the starting positions for the main race on Saturday (19 June). Motorcycle competitors will have to complete a 115km loop twice on Saturday while quad racers will do a 95km loop twice. The race will start at 07h30 from Roma where it will finish as well.

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