Port Elizabeth's Juan van Rooyen had the biggest win of his career when he outfoxed a record field of nearly 250 riders to take the 31st Castrol Winterberg Enduro through the Hankey region of the Eastern Cape on Saturday.
He and his Kawasaki set a fast and consistent pace to beat KTM rider Louwrens Mahoney who won the event in 2004.
Louwrens set a blistering pace but paid the price when penalty points were added whereas van Rooyen was more consistent.
Recent heavy rain in the area resulted in a challenging and technical route with some deep muddy sections in some areas and exposed rocks and boulders in others but "lekker!" was how Van Rooyen described the gruelling 240km route.
"It was quite a hard event - much more technical than other Castrol Winterbergs I've done," he said.
His task was made easier early in the event when a number of top riders, including KTM team mates Darryl Curtis and Riaan van Niekerk, took a wrong turn and dropped out of the running. The extra distance saw Curtis run out of fuel and, after borrowing a few litres from another competitor, then twisting a knee badly, he eventually retired with a slipping clutch.
"I was going to win it," he joked.
Jade Gutzeit (Yamaha), race winner in 2003 and 2005, took the 200cc class with a hard ride that saw him third overall, despite not riding much this season due to commitments in the WesBank V8 Supercar championship.
"It was hard going and I could feel the effects of not being fully 'bike' fit but the Castrol Winterberg is always a brilliant ride."
Fourth overall and runner-up in the 200cc class after a trouble-free ride was Kenneth Gilbert (Yamaha). Alex Vowles only arrived in Hankey less than two hours before the start after riding through the night after being delayed in Gauteng and a superhuman effort netted the veteran rider fifth overall and third in the 200cc class.
Young Shannon Frost (KTM) rode superbly to take fourth in the 200cc class and sixth overall to remind everyone that he's one of the sport's future stars.
Geoffrey Wolhuter (Kawasaki) was third in the Open class, coming home seventh in the overall results.
Despite the difficult conditions and record number of entries, medical services pointed out that there were fewer injuries than in previous events.
Provisional results (by penalty points):
1 Juan van Rooyen (Kawasaki) - 5440
2 Louwrens Mahoney (KTM) - 5595
3 Jade Gutzeit (Yamaha) - 6675
4 Kenneth Gilbert (Yamaha) - 7850
5 Alex Vowles (KTM) - 8195
6 Shannon Frost (KTM) - 9063