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All content © Bob MuIIins |
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REVIEW: LIQUORLAND WFO WHITE MOUNTAIN NATIONAL ENDURO (July 4th, 2015)
- Estcourt (KwaZulu-Natal) NEW ESCTCOURT NATIONAL ENDURO PRODUCED CLOSE RACING ACTION The Liquorland WFO White Mountain National Enduro, the penultimate race in the 2015 national series that took place in the Estcourt area in KwaZulu-Natal this past weekend (July 4th) had to be 'handled with care' and while a few championship leaders added more victories to their challenges, the race destroyed title hopes for other. The six-times South African National Enduro (Senior Class) Champion, William 'Wild Will' Gillitt (Team AgriSales Peak Yamaha) went to the race as the runner-up in the current Senior Class Championship standings, but an unfortunate incident during the first Special Stage resulted in him sustaining a serious knee injury. He could not finish the race and the chances for a seventh consecutive national title is quite slim for the defending Senior Class Championship from Howick. After four different Senior Class winners so far this season, the winner of the opening round, Jody Engelbrecht (Yamaha) became the first rider to claim a second victory this year when he beat the current class leader, Bruce May (Gillitt's team-mate) by 80 points (seconds). May, who admitted that he lost valuable time due to a mistake, now leads Engelbrecht by only one point before the final event. It was a close race for May as he beat Graham Hedgcock (KTM Cape Town) by a single point (second). Steven Carr (Roost KTM / EC Security) finished fourth with Wayne Everton (Brother Leader Tread KTM) rounding off the top five. There were more victories for the four other class championship leaders - Wade Young (Brother Leader Tread KTM) claimed his fifth consecutive E2 victory while the Master Class leader, Hilton Hayward (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) as well as the High School Class leader, Eduan Bester (KTM Centurion / Liqui Moly Racing) both also continued their clean sweep this year by scoring fifth class victories. Young's team-mate, Travis Teasdale, recovered from losing lots of valuable time due to a crash early in the race to win E1 for the fourth time this year. Young posted the fastest time in the E2 (Open Class) Championship at each of the eight Special Stages (three stages they had to complete in total eight times) and was followed by his team-mate, Scott Bouverie, who continued his consistent performance. Kenny Gilbert (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) finished third with Altus de Wet (Altus de Wet Racing Sherco) fourth and Nick Wade (Team Liquorland Husqvarna) rounding off the top five posting his best result of the season despite having just recovered from injuries sustained at the previous event. The rest of the top ten in E2 consisted of Sage McGregor (KTM) who finished sixth; Roan Lindsay (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) who was seventh; Wynand Kleynhans (Yamaha) who finished eighth followed by Riaan van der Walt (KTM) and Bronson Louw (ABE Midas Husqvarna Factory Racing). In E1 Brett Swanepoel (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) was leading the class at one stage, but Teasdale fought back with a vengeance and only beat him by 24 points. Teasdale has now retaken the lead in E1 and only two points separate Swanepoel and himself. Kyle Flanagan (KTM) posted his best result of the season when he claimed third place, only 32 points ahead of Teasdale's team-mate, Dwayne Kleynhans. Dylan Barker (Team Pa Ma Racing Yamaha) was fifth. The E1 (200cc) Class attracted the most entries for the race and the competition was tough. Brandon Warwick-Oliver (Team Liquorland Yamaha) had to settle for sixth place - he was only three points behind Barker - while Michael Pentecost (Kargo Racing Yamaha) finished seventh and former champion, Marc Torlage (Roost KTM / EC Security) making a welcome comeback to the national series by finishing eighth (he also claimed a stage victory). Henco Botha (KTM) was ninth, only nine points ahead of Jarryd Coetzee (Brother Leader Tread KTM) who is competing in his first national enduro season and also won a special stage. In the High School Class, Bester, who is also the defending champion, might have taken his fifth victory for the year, but it was not necessarily 'plain sailing' He won two of the five special stages with runner-up, Daniel van Zyl, now racing for Team Pa Ma Racing (Yamaha) also claiming two stages and finishing 72 points behind Bester. Dean Lindsay (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) rounded off the podium, but it was a close battle as William Oosthuizen (KTM) was only seven points behind him in fourth place. Bryce van Heerden (KTM) was fifth. Hayward produced another master class performance and has his eye firmly on the Master Class Championship after winning it at each event so far this season. His competition included the defending Master Class Champion and multiple former off-road and enduro champion, Alfie Cox (KTM) who competed for the first time this season. Cox settled for second place followed by another former champion and Hayward's team-mate, Denzil Torlage, who was third. Shaun Kirk (Beta Liqui Moly Racing SA) was fourth and Steve Botha (Team AgriSales / Peak Yamaha) rounded off the top five. It looks like Team Pa Ma Racing's Lloyd Kirk (Yamaha) is on his way of winning the Silver Class Challenge after posting his fifth victory. The 'prize' for the winner of the Silver Class Challenge at the end of the year is a year's entry fee in the following national season. Regardt van Nieuwenhuizen (KTM) has however not given up yet and the two scholars chased each other till the end with the Bloemfontein pupil finishing second behind the learner from Matatiele. Dirk Olivier (Yamaha) was third; Thabang Katees (Team Ikageng / Mens Clinics KTM) was fourth and Kirsten Landman (Brother Leader Tread KTM) fifth despite suffering from flu. The final round of the 2015 Liquorland National Enduro Championship, the Rover Winterberg Enduro, will take place on 22 August at Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape.
REVIEW : ‘LIQUORLAND CREIGHTON WFO NATIONAL ENDURO’ EXCITING RACING AT NATIONAL ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON OPENERS The Liquorland National Enduro Motorcycle Championship is known for gruelling racing and the competition is extremely tough. To compete in two rounds of the 2015 national season on two consecutive days with racing taking place at the beginning of the season, is not easy on competitors. This is however, exactly what competitors did when they tackled the Liquorland Creighton WFO National Enduro that formed the first two rounds of the 2015 national season this past weekend. Organised by the WFO Club, these two races took place in the Myddleton Dam area outside Creighton, a small village in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands. Riders and crews would have remembered a national enduro race at the same venue in 2012 when rain and thick mist made the racing conditions just that much harder. This time hot, sunny and dusty conditions resulted in a totally different race and a full field of competitors from all over the country gave their best to make sure they leave Creighton with a healthy amount of points in the bag. Competitors also did not have the luxury to race on the same track on both days. Only one of the three Special Stages was the same on both days with another running the opposite direction on the second day while a brand new stage was also introduced for the next day. There were full score cards for a few riders that included Brother Leader Tread KTM’s Travis Teasdale (E1/200cc) and Wade Young (E2/Open) who were the respective winners of these classes after both races. Young decided to pay a short visit to South Africa after competing in Europe since December 2014. His could not get his visa for the UK in time to compete in the ‘Tough One Extreme Enduro’ that also took place this past weekend. The competition was tough in both classes as riders have worked hard during the off-season to be prepared for 2015. Behind Teasdale in E1, Brett Swanepoel (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) claimed two runner-up results with Brandon Warwick-Oliver (Liquorland Racing Yamaha) and Kyle Flanagan (Ihobe International KTM) both claiming a third place during the weekend. Flanagan finished fourth during round one (Saturday, 7 March), but Warwick Oliver suffered from cramps resulting in him falling back to sixth place on the second day. Teasdale’s new team-mate, Dwayne Kleynhans, also scored two E1 top five
results (he was fifth at the first round and fourth at the second round)
while Tim Young (Kargo Racing Yamaha) finished one point (second) behind
Kleynhans on the second day to round off the top five (he was sixth the
previous day). The E1 Class was filled with talented young enduro
competitors with 23 riders completing each day.
Kenny Gilbert (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) opened his 2015 account with two solid fourth places while Husqvarna Factory Racing’s Bronson Louw was fifth (he finished only five points behind Gilbert on the second day) with Nicholas Pienaar (Husqvarna) back in action and bagging valuable points finishing sixth twice. Also in the top ten on both days were Nick Wade (Liquorland Racing Husqvarna) – he finished seventh and eighth – and Dalan Hall (cc Gallery KTM Gateway) who was ninth and seventh. Sage McGregor (KTM) finished eighth on the first day, but had to settle for 11th place on the second day while Roan Lindsay (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) bettered his 11th place (day one) to finish ninth on day two. Wynand Kleynhans (Yamaha) and Tristan Robins (KTM) also claimed a 10th place each and followed it up with a 13th (Kleynhans) and a 11th (Robins). Competitors in E1 and E2 had to complete three laps on both days and posted times for nine Special Stages. All the other classes did two loops (a total of six Specials). This meant that Master Class riders (older than 46 years), who normally complete a shorter distance than the Senior Class competitors (riders older than 38 years), had to do the same distance while riders in the High School Class (14 to 16 years) and Silver Class Challenge also did two loops. In the Senior Class championship chase, the same three riders finished on the podium – they just swopped places after two days of close racing. Jody Engelbrecht (Yamaha) celebrated his return to the national series with a victory on the first day and a second place on the second while Bruce May (AgriSales Peak Yamaha Racing) followed his runner-up result up with a victory on the second day. The defending champion, William ‘Wild Will’ Gillitt, now also racing under the AgriSales Peak Yamaha Racing banner, rounded off the podium on each day – he was only 14 points behind Engelbrecht on day two and 43 points behind his team-mate on the first day. Graham Hedgcock (KTM Cape Town) finished fourth on both days with Mark Fox (KTM), who has also taken a sabbatical from racing for a year or two, rounding off the top five (day one) and finishing eighth on the second day. There were also double top 10 results for Thomas Seather (KTM); Steven Carr (KTM) – his fifth place on the second day was his best result; Steve Landman (Liquorland Racing Yamaha); Craig van Heerden (KTM) and Stuart Harvey (Yamaha). These results – the podium finishers as well as the many ‘new’ names in the top ten and riders making a come-back to the national series – have set the scene for some exciting racing in the Senior Class championship for the rest of the season. Both the Master Class and High School Class saw double winners at the end of the weekend’s racing. Master Class newcomer, Hilton Hayward (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) scored a double victory as did the defending High School Class champion, Enduan Bester (KTM Centurion Liqui Moly Racing). Behind Hayward his team-mate, Denzil Torlage and Garth Prost (Husqvarna Factory Racing) both claimed a second and third place result. The consistent Shaun Kirk (Beta Liqui Moley Racing SA) were fourth on both days with Steve Botha (AgriSales Peak Yamaha Racing) rounding off the top five after both events. Hayward had a little breather to those behind him, but only a handful of points separated Torlage and Prost on both days with the rest not too far behind. Bester opened his defence of his title with two wins, but he will have to keep an eye on his fellow scholars as less than a minute (60 points) separated those on the podium. Daniel van Zyl (Yamaha) claimed a second and a third while Dean Lindsay (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) was the runner-up on the first day and fourth on the second day. Bryce van Heerden (KTM) also earned valuable points with a third and fourth place while Keegan Eich (KTM) and Erhardt Beukes (VANS Racing Division Yamaha) – he could not finish the first day – also scored a top five finish during the weekend. The Silver Class Challenge podium looked the same after both days with the young Matatiele scholar, Lloyd Kirk (Pa Ma Racing Yamaha) claiming two victories followed by Reghardt van Nieuwenhuizen (KTM) and Oliver Santoro (KTM). With two of the six rounds of the 2015 Liquorland National Enduro Championship now something of the past and the first valuable points in the bag, competitors will have to plan carefully for the next two rounds that will take place in the space of two weeks – the traditional KEI Enduro is back and will take place on April 18 in the East London area in the Eastern Cape while the La Mont National Enduro is happening on May 2nd at Ashton in the Western Cape.
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The
top six standings in the E2 Class Championship looked the same over the two
days. Wade Young ruled this class (he won the E1/200cc championship in 2013
and 2014) and was followed by his team-mate, Scott Bouverie, who made a
welcome comeback after being injured since the middle of the 2014 season.
Altus de Wet (Altus de Wet Racing Sherco) finished 20 points behind Bouverie
on day one and only 14 points behind him on day two.