Yamaha rider completes enduro clean sweep

Published Oct 19, 2010

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Jade Gutzeit (Yamaha) claimed his third Winterberg title at the 35th running of this classic enduro - the final round of the 2010 SA Enduro championship - in the Loerie area of the Eastern Cape at the weekend.

Gutzeit has scored full points by being the first South African rider home in each round of the National series to confirm his No.1 plate for 2011, but the final outing was no walk in the park as he crashed and lost some time in one of the racing sections.

In the end he beat Louwrens Mahoney (also on a Yamaha), who won the 200cc Class, by a mere 39sec - and both riders had to visit the medics after the race to have long thorns removed - Gutzeit from his shoulder and Mahoney from his hand.

The 2009 Winterberg race winner, Altus de Wet (KTM) was only 21sec behind Mahoney and finished second behind Gutzeit in the Open Class.

The closely-contested race included six special timed stages (a 12km and 3km stage that competitors had to complete three times each); Gutzeit won three stages, Mahoney two and De Wet one.

According to riders the race was less extreme than in previous years; the area had good rains just before the race, damping down the route and providing lots of traction. Weather conditions on race day were ideal, compared to the extreme heat experienced on the 2009 race.

The "official" KTM team all finished in the top seven; Riaan van Niekerk was 62sec behind De Wet in fourth, Darryl Curtis was sixth with Scott Scheepers seventh, only two seconds behind the experienced Curtis.

Multiple trials and Supermoto champion Brian Capper (also KTM-mounted) finished fifth.

Port Elizabeth racer James Hodson (KTM) beat works BMW rider Gray Dick into eighth by a single second, while 2008 winner Brett Lewis (Gas Gas) rounded off the top ten.

Yamaha rider Wynand Badenhorst rounded off his first enduro season off with 11th overall while Dominic Mantle's bad luck turned and he finished 13th on his new KTM.v Graham Hedgcock (KTM) was 12th but his team mate Lionel Seydoux experienced rear-brake problems and a flat tyre that saw him finishing in an unusual 17th place.

East London's Rory Gower (Gas Gas) was 14th and local youngsters Timothy Young (Yamaha) and Tom Moolenschot (KTM) did their home crowd proud by finishing 15th and 16th respectively.

SENIORS AND MASTERS

William Gillit (Yamaha) crashed in the final stages but still managed to claim his fifth Senior Class victory of 2010, beating Richard Moore (KTM) by 113sec. Experienced off-road racer Wayne Farmer (Gas Gas) was third with podium contender Gary "Sox" Smith (BMW) fourth and Calvin Wright (KTM) fifth.

A fifth Master Class win for Yamaha rider Denzil Torlage made up for his son, Marc, who went out when he drowned his bike in a river. Mark du Plessis (KTM) finished second and the final points will determine who won the 2010 title. Local KTM riders Dean Lawson and Kevin Bremner finished third and fifth respectively while fourth place kept another KTM rider, Dave Estment, in the hunt for an overall podium position.

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