CURRENT LEADERS, CHAMPIONS AND FORMER CHAMPS IN ACTION AT MAFIKENG 400
May 3, 2010 by ProMotor
Current leaders of the 2010 SA National Off-road Motorcycle and Quad Championships as well as defending and former champions and even past race winners, who have not been in action for a while, will be in action at the Mafikeng 400, the third round of the national championships that takes place on 7 and 8 May in the North-West Province.
DCM Yamaha’s Jade Gutzeit and Louwrens Mahoney has been dominating the season so far and while Mahoney would like to repeat his 2009 result by winning at Mafikeng again, a national victory in this area has evaded Gutzeit and he would like to add a victory in the North-West Province to his list.
They can expect competition from the 2008 Mafikeng race winner, Clayton Enslin, who will team up with the rest of the Brother KTM team including the current 250cc class champ and 2009 overall winner of the motorcycle category, Riaan van Niekerk and the enduro ace, Altus de Wet.
The KTM contingent will be out in full force with another former champion, Spencer Kriel (ORD/Insurance Zone/Pro Action KTM) aiming for a repetition of his recent Kalahari 400 podium position and Marius Venter (JCP Steel KTM) who finished in the top ten at the season opener.
In the quad category, Mafikeng winners from as far back as 2003 will be in action. Last year’s winner, Brian Baragwanath (EMD Racing Lonestar Pep Yamaha) would not only like to add another race victory to his earlier win this year, but would like to keep his lead in the overall standings. Brother KTM’s Brendan Badenhorst has won here in 2006 and 2008 and will provide stiff competition while the winner of the recent Kalahari 400, Leander Pienaar (Connix Internet Can-Am) would aim to win again.
It will only be the second Mafikeng outing for the 2009 overall quad category winner and 450cc class champ, Dirkie Baard (Honda Windhoek) who has just returned from the USA after finishing eighth in the Pro ATV Class at a WORCS race while another former champion, Shaun Gunther – the 2003 Mafikeng winner and 2008 overall quad winner – is back from England and he might cause an upset competing on a Can-Am DS450 in the Pro 450 (Q1) Class.
The competition at the front of the quad category is fierce with riders like Quad Revolution/Race Nation Honda’s Juan Coetzee and Kyle-James Holburn (Suzuki); FD Racing’s Danie Coetzer (KTM) and Boesman Racing’s Jacques Struwig (Hybrid) all leading a race at some stage this year.
On two wheels there are also a few dark horses who have shown intent of scoring good results this season. These include the Webster brothers Christopher and Jonathan (Mick’s Motorcycles Yamaha) as well as Theo Potgieter and Laurence Murton (Ramco Cayenne Honda) while Wynand Delport (BMW) will also be back in action after an injury.
Kawasaki racers Bollie van Rooyen (The Roost/Out of Africa Dev) and Gavin Louw (The Roost) have yet to get onto the podium this year while Wade Blaauw (Connix Internet/Salley’s Yamaha) is getting back into the swing of racing after recovering from a serious injury last year.
The class championships are now in full swing – Gutzeit and Mahoney are tied in the OR1 Open Class while Van Niekerk is fighting off Venter and the experienced racer, Alex Vowles (FDBR Racing Yamaha) in the OR2 250cc Class. In the OR3 200cc Class Ruan Roberts (Brother KTM) leads Bradley van Aswegen (DCM Yamaha) and youngster Jarryd Coetzee (Miller Moore Honda Sandton) while Dominic Mantle (Yamaha Support) leads Charan Moore (Connix Internet/Salley’s Yamaha) and local racer, Kent Plecia (Mafikeng Dirt Riders Honda) in the OR4 125cc Class.
The current Senior Class title holder, Wayne Farmer (World of Accessories Gas Gas) is playing second fiddle to Errol Dalton (Connix Internet/Salley’s Yamaha) – Guy Henley (The Roost/Out of Africa Dev Kawasaki) is currently third with Brian Bader (The Roost Kawasaki) having to make up points to get onto the championship podium.
Henk Leenstra (ECS/Alfie Cox KTM) is leading the Master Class championship while Timothy Young (Xtreme Yamaha) is the Silver Challenge leader.
In the Senior Quad Class the 2009 champion, Paul Chomse, has entered his Laeger’s Banshee again after not competing in the first two events this season. This might be a cause of concern for the class leader, Colin Joubert (JAG Quad Racing Suzuki) who finished the 2009 season as the runner-up behind Chomse. Jam Burger (Can-Am) and CJ Smith (EMD Racing Lonestar Pep Suzuki) will also have to fight to keep their current podium positions.
The Master Class (quad) championship has seen some serious competition with Clive Crouse (JAG Quad Racing Yamaha) leading Kobus Visser (Eco 4×4 Powersport Can-Am) and Jurie Meyer (Yamaha) and more than 15 riders will again tackle this event.
The Mafikeng 400 will also form the third round of the Southern Off-road Championship (SORC) as well as the AMU Championship with various racers from Kenya, Zambia and Namibia. The race will start with a time-trial on Friday (7 May) that will determine the starting order for the 400km main race on Saturday (8 May) where the first riders will be off at 07h30.
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