SOUTH AFRICAN ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP, ROUND 4

Former multiple national enduro champion, Louwrens Mahoney (Brother KTM) was victorious at this weekend’s Liquorland National Enduro AY Lydenburg, the fourth round of the Liquorland National Enduro Championship that was held in the Lydenburg area in Mpumalanga. 

E1 and E2 competitors had to post their fastest times on 11 dry and dusty Special Stages that varied from a short, grassy stage to an Extreme Special that was quite rocky as well as a longer Enduro Special that took riders into the surrounding hills and mountains.

Mahoney did not compete for the best part of the previous season as he was recovering from a broken ankle. He claimed his first overall and E2 (Open Class) victories this season with his 500cc-powered KTM and won two of the eleven Special Stages. Mahoney was followed by his team-mate, Wade Young, who won the E1 (200cc Class) for the fourth consecutive time this season. Young returned from clinching third place at the Red Bull Romaniacs in Romania with a serious bout of flu. He crashed in the penultimate stage and lost valuable time, but was happy with scoring good points to keep his overall and E1 championship lead.

Altus de Wet (Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing), who also finished the extreme enduro event in Romania, finished a mere nine seconds behind Young and rounded off the overall podium. His second place in E2 ensured he keeps his lead in this class championship. Seven seconds separated Travis Teasdale (Brother KTM), who finished second in E1 and fourth overall, from Blake Gutzeit, who participated for the first time in the 2014 Liquorland National Enduro championship with his new team, Cargo-Tac Husqvarna Factory Racing. Each of the top five riders claimed at least one Special Stage victory with Young posting the fastest times after four stages.

Brett Swanepoel was happy to bring home some silverware for his new team, Proudly Bidvest Yamaha. He rounded off the E1 podium and finished sixth overall. It was, however, a close call as Dwayne Kleynhans (Leadertread Racing KTM), who also competed in the gruelling Red Bull Romaniacs, finished a five seconds behind him. Kleynhans was fourth in E2. Swanepoel’s teammate, Marc Torlage, was back in action after recovering from injuries that have prevented him from competing since early March this year. He finished fourth in E1 (eighth overall) with his teammate, Kenny Gilbert, rounding off the overall top 10 (he was sixth in E2) after losing time when his Yamaha’s chain came off in the final Extreme Special. Brother KTM’s Scott Bouverie, who is still recovering from an injury after competing in the Erzberg Rodeo in Austria in June, was sandwiched between the two Proudly Bidvest Yamaha team-mates and was happy to bag some valuable points.

The fifth and penultimate round of the 2014 Liquorland National Enduro Championship will take place on September 6th in the  Patensie area in the Eastern Cape.