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‘LIQUORLAND MATATIELE WFO NATIONAL ENDURO’ WADE YOUNG (18) WINS THE RACE, THE E1 TITLE AND NUMBER
ONE PLATE FOR 2014 Wade Young (Brother KTM) rounded the 2014 Liquorland National Enduro Championship off with yet another overall win and class victory when he won the Liquorland Matatiele WFO National Enduro that took place at Matatiele in the Eastern Cape. This was his fifth overall victory and sixth E1 Class Championship win this season resulting in him retaining the Number One plate for the second consecutive year while he has also claimed the E1 (200cc) Championship again. The Liquorland Matatiele WFO National Enduro was described by most competitors as being tough, but really enjoyable. The organisers have gone out of their way to design four Special Stages on the 48 kilometre loop and E1 and E2 (Open Class) competitors had to post their fastest times at 15 stages in total. The stages consisted of a really enjoyable sandy stage (probably the most popular under competitors); a longer Enduro Special (they raced this 8km special three times) as well as an Extreme Special that took them over a few rocky koppies and a motocross stage close to the pits where spectators could get close to the racing action. Young’s team-mate, Travis Teasdale, took the early lead in the race after winning the first Extreme Stage. A tight battle continued at the front between the two Brother KTM scholars and the defending E2 champion, Altus de Wet (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing). De Wet went into the race as the overall runner-up behind Young and leading the E2 standings while Teasdale, who claimed his first overall podium result at the Matatiele event last year, was aiming to finish the season on the podium. The pressure was on and a fast pace was set with only seconds separating the riders. While this was their last chance to earn points towards the various class championships and overall standings, many competitors had to race with special care as they will be participating in the International Six Days Enduro (ISDE) in Argentina as well as the Roof of Africa in December in Lesotho. After his crash in the first stage and breaking the rear brake pedal off later in the race, Young went on to win 13 of the 15 Special Stages with De Wet also claiming a victory. De Wet claimed his fifth E2 and fourth runner-up result and won the E2 Class Championship for the second consecutive year. Teasdale did what he aimed to – after claiming the third place at Matatiele (he was second in the E1 Class), he finished his first full season in the ‘senior’ enduro championship series in the third place overall.
Louwrens Mahoney, Young’s team-mate and the only other overall and E2 Class winner this year, rounded off the E2 podium and finished seventh overall with Paddock scholar, Kyle Flanagan (TLB Plant Hire / Alfie Cox Racing KTM) fourth in E2 (11th overall) and Nick Wade (Team Liquorland Yamaha Racing) fifth (he finished 12th overall). In E1 Dwayne Kleynhans (Leadertread KTM) posted yet another solid result with a fourth place (he was sixth overall) while James Hodson (Team Liquorland Yamaha Racing) rounded off the top five in the class and finished eighth overall. The season long battle in the Senior Class reached boiling point at Matatiele with the multiple defending champion, William Gillitt (Team Liquorland Yamaha Racing) leading the suspension guru, Hilton Hayward (Yamaha) by a mere two points going into the final round. Gillitt came out with guns blazing to claim his fourth win of the season and secured his sixth consecutive Senior Class Championship title. Hayward, who has not been competitively racing for several years, scored his fifth runner-up result this season to ensure his second place for the year. Bruce May (Yamaha) finished just behind Hayward at Matatiele. Gillitt’s team-mate, Steven Landman, finished fourth with Laurence Truter (KTM) fifth; Peter Jung (KTM) sixth and Chris Lindhorst (KTM) seventh after a testing event. The veteran enduro and off-road competitor and multiple former champion,
Alfie Cox (KTM) can now add the Master Class Championship title to his long
list of achievements. Cox has won the Master Class at all six rounds of the
2014 series after not competing in the national enduro series for many
years. Defending champion, Denzil Torlage (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) finished
as the runner-up after each race this year and after winning the Master
Class Championship title for a record of five consecutive years (he has won
this class several times before 2010, but the class did not have national
championship status) Cox will now be crowned as the new champion. Riders in the Master Class (for riders older than 46 years of age) compete mostly for the enjoyment of technical enduro racing and while they cannot always win, they did not give up. Richard Cunniffe (Yamaha) claimed his first podium result this season by finishing third at Matatiele with Shaun Kirk (Beta Liqui Moly Racing SA) finishing in the fourth place for the sixth time this year. The battle for the final overall Master Class podium position for 2014 was between Kirk and Garth Prost (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing) and the way the cookie crumbled, it was Kirk who claimed the third podium spot for the year. Prost finished fifth at Matatiele, but a 10th place in class at the season opener, resulted in him having to settle for the fourth place overall for the season despite finishing on the podium four times during the season. Carl Rohrbeck (KTM) was sixth at Matatiele and was followed by Dino Santoro (Beta); Gary Franks (Husqvarna) and Eric Alcaraz (KTM). The new High School Class Championship had the nerves all tangled up at the final race. Three victories for Eduan Bester (NUTS Racing / Century Civils KTM) resulted in him leading Chayse Orsmond (TLB Plant Hire / Alfie Cox Racing KTM), who has also won twice this season and finished on the podium three more times, by a mere two points. Orsmond won the battle with a class victory at Matatiele, but Bester (he finished second) ended up winning the war by claiming the first High School Class Championship title. The two youngsters finished the season with the same amount of points AND the same amount of wins, but Bester scored more second places than Orsmond. Carl-Reinhardt Cronje (KTM) rounded off the podium at Matatiele with the two Castling-Bolt brothers, Jordan and Daniel (TLB Plant Hire), racing their KTM’s to the fourth and fifth places respectively. In the Silver Class Challenge, the scholar Dylan Barker from the neighbouring town, Kokstad, rounded off a perfect season with his sixth victory after six rounds. His Pa Ma Racing Yamaha team-mate, Lloyd Kirk, from Matatiele finished second in front of his home crowd. They were followed by three Bloemfontein youngsters – Behan Boshoff (KTM), Jaco Kruger (KTM) and Christiaan Greeff (KTM) with Greeff claiming the third place for the season behind Sage McGregor (KTM) whose sixth place was enough to ensure him the second place behind Barker for the year. The Liquorland Matatiele WFO National Enduro event received many compliments from competitors, support crews and spectators. Many enduro riders are now entering the final phase of training and preparation for the 2015 Roof of Africa that will take place in December in Lesotho. The Liquorland National Enduro Championship will resume early in 2015 and more exciting enduro motorcycle racing can be expected. Visit www.dirtracing.co.za / Dirt Racing (Facebook) for more information
REVIEW : 'ASHTON NATIONAL ENDURO' DOUBLE VICTORY FOR WADE YOUNG AT SCORCHING HOT ASHTON The defending national title holder of the Liquorland National Enduro Championship, Wade Young (Brother KTM) scored a double victory at the 'Ashton National Enduro' that was held in scorching hot conditions this past weekend outside Ashton in Western Cape when he won both the second and third rounds of the national series overall. It was the first time in the modern history of the national enduro championship that competitors had to tackle two races back-to-back and the fittest riders with the most determination and least mechanical problems bagged a lot of valuable points after a boiling hot weekend where the temperatures reached more than 35°C each day. Young (17) won all the special stages on Friday (21 March) - there was a
short "grass test" and a 10km Enduro Special they had to race
three times each - and posted the fastest times after five of the six stages
(three riders posted the same time on the last grass test) on Saturday (21
March) to claim his third overall victory and E1 (200cc Class) win this
season. Local Montagu rider, Altus de Wet (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing) also scored a hat trick when he won E2 (Open Class) for the third time this year. He finished as the runner-up after both days despite crashing on the second day. Kenny Gilbert (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) had to settle for a sixth place overall (fourth in E2) on the second day after finishing third overall (second in E2) on the first day. Scott Bouverie (Brother KTM) made up for missing the overall podium on Friday by a mere two points (seconds) and finished third on Saturday. It was a close call however as his team-mate, Louwrens Mahoney, was only one point behind him on the second day. Mahoney was not comfortable with his suspension set-up on Friday and finished sixth overall (fourth in E2). Travis Teasdale (Brother KTM) scored a fifth and seventh place overall (second and third in E1); Brett Swanepoel (ccGallery KTM Gateway / JOAT) bettered his seventh place (third in E1) on Friday with a fifth on Saturday (second in E1) while Blake Gutzeit (Sherco Racing), who also struggled with his suspension set-up, finished eight overall on both days (he was fifth in E2 each time). Kargo Racing Yamaha's Charan Moore finished sixth in E2 on both days and stepped up from his 11th place overall on Friday to the ninth place the next day. There was also two top 10 results for Capetonian Brett Lewis (Eddy2Race Husqvarna) who claimed a ninth (Friday) and 10th place. James Hodson (Liquorland Yamaha) was 10th on Friday, but lost time with electrical problems the next day and had to settle for 14th place. Also claiming top 15 places at Ashton was Timmy Young (Kargo Racing Yamaha) who finished 12th on Friday despite suspension issues (he could not finish on Saturday due to a clutch failure); David Thomas (Eddy2Race Husqvarna) was 13th after the first day (24th on day two); Louw Schmidt (Brother KTM) followed his 14th place up with an 11th place on Saturday and Brandon Warwick-Oliver (Honda) was 15th on Friday, but dropped to 20th on Saturday. Mauritz Meiring (VANS Racing Division KTM) followed his 20th place up with a 12th place overall on Saturday while Kyle Erasmus (Yamaha), who started way back due to him not finishing the season opener, improved his 22nd place with a 13th overall on the seconed day. Ross Blackwell (Kargo Racing KTM) was much happier on Saturday and rounded off the top 15 - he was 24th on Friday. Henco Botha (Husaberg) claimed a 16th and 17th place while Nick Wade (Liquorland Yamaha) finished 18th and 19th overall. Kyle Flanagan (TLB Plant Hire / Alfie Cox KTM) was 17th on Friday, but could only manage a 25th place on Saturday with Mark Garland (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing) moving into the top 20 on Saturday with a 16th place after finishing 28th on Friday. Roan Lindsay (Yamaha) was happy to finish 19th after his 21st place on Friday. Some of the unfortunate riders who could not finish both events include Damien Scott (Manhand Ridgeway Yamaha) who was 18th on Friday after a few mechanical glithces, but he crashed on Saturday and injured his shoulder again while Travis Warwick-Oliver (Honda) also suffered from a previous knee injury and had to withdraw the next day (he was 23rd on Friday). It was also not a good weekend for Dwayne Kleynhans (Leadertread KTM) who injured his hand on Friday and could not post any results. There were some mixed results in the Senior Class where the defending champion, William Gillitt (Liquorland Yamaha) experienced mechanical problems on both days, but he managed to clinch the victory on Friday. On Saturday he had to succumb to Bruce May (Yamaha) who took the victory after a disappointing fourth place on Friday (he lost time due to a crash). Hilton Hayward (Yamaha) was the most consistent and claimed two runner-up positions - he was also second at the season opener - while Jody Engelbrecht (TLB Plant Hire / Alfie Cox KTM) dropped back from his third place on Friday to a fifth on Saturday. Gillitt's team-mate, Steve Landman, was fifth (Friday) and fourth (Saturday). The top five results in the Master Class were the same on both days. At the front the expected battle between the season's first winner, Alfie Cox (KTM), and the defending champion, Denzil Torlage (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) continued. Cox claimed two more victories at Ashton - only 21 points separated him on Friday from Torlage who had to settle for two runner-up positions. There was some close racing with not too many points separating the riders. Garth Prost (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing) claimed the final podium position on both days with Shaun Kirk (Cayenne Beta) finishing fourth twice and Stephen Botha (Yamaha) roundws off the top five on each day. Young competitors in the new High School Class had a tough race and had to complete 75% of the route. Eduan Bester (NUTS Racing / Century Civils KTM) took both victories with the winner of the season opener, Chayse Orsmond (TLB Plant Hire / Alfie Cox KTM) finishing second and third. Dean Lindsay (Manhand Ridgeway Yamaha) could not complete Friday's race due to engine problems, but made up for it by finishing second on Saturday. Carl Reinhardt-Cronje (KTM) was third on the first day, but could not finish Saturday's race. Like Young, De Wet and Cox, the young Dylan Barker (Pa Ma Racing Yamaha) also claimed his hat trick when he added two more Silver Class Challenge victories to his win earlier this year. Reghardt van Nieuwenhuizen (KTM) was eight on Friday, but finished second the next day while the consistent Sage McGregor (KTM) finished third on both days. Angus Coetzee (Yamaha Support) was second on Friday, but had to call it a day after mechanical problems on Saturday while Behan Boshoff (KTM) was sixth and fourth respectively with Christiaan Greeff (KTM) fourth and fifth after the two days. Toni Jardine (KTM) was the only female finisher - she finished seventh in the Silver Class Challenge on both days. Kirsten Landman (Brother KTM) fell on Friday and broke her wrist. The Liquorland National Enduro Championship has now reached its halfway mark and competitors have a break of four months to prepare for the second half of the season that will continue on 23 July at Lydenburg in Mpumalanga. Complete results are available on www.racecontrol.co.za and www.dirtracing.co.za
The current national enduro title holder, 17-year old Wade Young (Brother KTM) took the first step in defending his title by winning the opening race of the Liquorland National Enduro Motorcycle Championship this past weekend at Four Rivers Adventures in KwaZulu-Natal. The 'Liquorland Champagne Valley Enduro' will not only be remembered as a tough season opener, but also for the high level of competition that predicts an extremely competitive season.
Young's team-mate and a scholar like himself, Travis Teasdale, started the 2014 season the way he finished the previous one - on the podium. Teasdale was 29 points behind De Wet and won two Special Stages to finish second in E1 (200cc Class) after a trouble-free race. He was again only 21 points ahead of yet another of his team-mates, Scott Bouverie, who clinched the second place behind De Wet in E2. The 2013 national off-road winner, Kenny Gilbert (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) rounded off the overall top five and the E2 podium and finished 23 points behind Bouverie albeit struggling with a bent front brake disk. Another Brother KTM rider, the former multiple enduro champion, Louwrens Mahoney, is back in action after breaking his ankle last year. He finished sixth overall (fourth in E2) and also won a Special Stage while he shared a stage victory with Young. There was only one point (a single second) between Mahoney and youngster Brett Swanepoel (ccGallery Gateway KTM / JOAT) - he finished the 2013 season as the runner-up in the 200cc championship - who also rounded off the E1 podium. Blake Gutzeit (Sherco) lost some time behind slower riders, but still managed an eighth place overall (fifth in E2) while Brandon Warwick-Oliver (Honda) made a successful comeback to the enduro championship by finishing ninth (fourth in E1). He was a mere two points behind Gutzeit and only 11 points ahead of the 2013 Silver Class Challenge winner, Damien Scott (Manhand Ridgeway Yamaha) who rounded off the E1 top five and the overall top ten. The 'Liquorland Champagne Valley Enduro' received almost 60 entries in E1 and E2 with 41 competitors finishing the race (E1 and E2 competitors have to complete the full race distance an all 11 Special Stages). Dwayne Kleynhans (KTM) was 11th with James Hodson (Team Liquorland Yamaha) 12th overall. Hodson competed with a loan bike after his race machine developed a mysterious mechanical problem the night before the race. Charan Moore was Team Kargo Racing Yamaha's best performer and was 13th overall (his team-mates, Timmy Young and KTM rider, Ross Blackwell, were 16th and 27th respectively) while Marc Torlage (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) had to settle for 14th place after his bike fell on him early during the extreme test aggravating a collarbone injury. Brett Lewis (Eddy2Race Husqvarna) finished 15th, one point behind Torlage. Also in the top 20 were Nicholas Pienaar (KTM) who finished 17th; Kyle Flannagan (TLB Plant Hire Alfie Cox KTM) who, like Teasdale and Scott, still competed in the Junior National Championship last year - he was 18th; Brandon's twin brother, Travis Warwick-Oliver (Honda) who finished 19th and scholar Henco Botha (Husaberg) who was also a junior competitor till last season. Both the Senior and Master Classes received many entries and a few new
riders stepped onto the podium after a challenging event. Defending Senior
Class champion, William Gillitt (Liquorland Yamaha) was however unstoppable
and claimed yet another victory despite his bike also suffering from leaking
fork seals due to the mud. Suspension guru, Hilton Hayward (Yamaha)
struggled initially as he has not competed for the past few years, but
finished second while Jody Engelbrecht (TLB Plant / Alfie Cox KTM) rounded
off the podium. Bruce May (Yamaha) had to settle for fourth place after a
few mistakes while Mike Morris (KTM) - he has also not raced for two years -
rounded off the top five. Like the 2013 season opener, Alfie Cox (KTM) claimed the victory in the Master Class when he beat the defending champion, Denzil Torlage (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) who had to settle for second place. This result predicts an exciting season between the 'Masters', all over the age of 46. Dino Santoro ensured he put a third manufacturer on the podium by finishing third with his Beta while Shaun Kirk, also on a Beta, was fourth. Richard Cunniffe (Yamaha) rounded off the top five. Youngsters between the ages of 14 and 16 years competed for the first time in the new High School Class Championship with Chayse Orsmond (TLB Plant Hire / Alfie Cox KTM) making a little history by winning the class for the first time. Bradley Coulthard (KTM) was second with Eduan Bester (NUTS Racing / Century Civils Yamaha) rounding off the podium of a race where the youngsters showed that they can stand their man under trying conditions. Three scholars also finished on the podium of the Silver Class Challenge where 17 of the 26 riders of all ages managed to finish the race. Kokstad's Dylan Barker (Pa Ma Racing Yamaha), who finished as the runner-up in the 125cc class of the 2013 Junior National Championship, won with last year's runner-up, Sage McGregor (KTM) from East London, finishing second while Ladybrand's Reghardt van Nieuwenhuizen (KTM) was third. Kirsten Landman (Brother KTM) was the only lady finisher in the national category and was 12th in this class. Mechanical problems forced Toni Jardine (KTM) to call it a day. Competitors now have less than a month to prepare for an all new
challenge - a 'double-header' event on Friday (21 March) and Saturday (22
March) at Ashton in the Western Cape. The 'Ashton National Enduro' will form
the second and third rounds of the Liquorland National Enduro Championship
and will count as two separate events. It will be a first for enduro
motorcycle competitors to compete on two consecutive days. This event will
be organised by CSMX and all the activities will again be at the La Mont
Cheese and Deli just off the R60 in the Ashton / Bonnievale area in the
Western Cape. Share |
Behind
them only seconds separated Proudly Bidvest Yamaha team-mates, Brett
Swanepoel (E1) and Kenny Gilbert (E2) at most stages. Like De Wet, Swanepoel
would also leave for the ISDE the day after the Matatiele race and a tumble
over the handle bars (De Wet also experienced one of those!) and lost time
did not form part of his plan. Swanepoel eventually rounded off the E1
podium (he also finished third in the E1 Championship for the season after
changing bikes and teams halfway through the year) and pipped Gilbert, who
finished second behind De Wet in E2, by only 29 points at Matatiele.
As the defending title holder, Young, who is also the 200cc champion,
opened the route set in the scenic Champagne Valley in the Winterton area.
There were 11 Special Stages that varied from a short grass track to an
intensive 400m stage that provided excellent spectator value while the two
longer enduro stages - one in the plantation and another further into the
mountains - that tested the riders' fitness, endurance and abilities. Young
posted the fastest times after four of the stages to beat second-placed
Altus de Wet (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing) by 78 points (seconds). De
Wet won the E2 (Open Class) and was the fastest after two stages even though
he experienced problems with leaking fork seals and a leaking radiator pipe
due to a crash. De Wet made a plan with the leaking fork seals (his
underpants had to serve as bandages around the forks) while he was forced to
repair the radiator hose in the bush.