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2011 LIQUORLAND SA NATIONAL ENDURO MOTORCYCLE CHAMPIONSHIP

All eyes might be on the Kiwi, Chris Birch (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) at the Liquorland Rover Enduro, the third round of the Liquorland SA National Enduro Motorcycle Championship that will take place on 14 May in the Humansdorp area in the Eastern Cape, but the attention will also be on some of SA's top enduro riders who will give the double race winner this season a run for his money.

A mere two points (seconds) separated Birch from the defending title holder and winner of this event last year, Jade Gutzeit (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) at the Montagu event and after two runner-up results so far this season, six points now separate him from Birch on the overall standings as well as in the E1 (Open) Class championship. The battle on the podium is fierce with Gutzeit's team-mate, Louwrens Mahoney, another six points behind him (Gutzeit) in third place and this battle will boil over onto the race track in the Eastern Cape.

Bad luck and no points at the previous event resulted in Marc Torlage (Mr Price Yamaha) dropping out of the overall top ten, but he has won his class at this event last year and can cause an upset between those on the podium. The bulk of the top ten is made up of KTM riders with Brother Broadlink KTM's Darryl Curtis currently in fourth place on the overall standings while his team-mate, Altus de Wet, who fiinished second at this event last year, is sixth and leading the E2 (200cc) Class championship. Another team-mate, the Swiss, Lionel Seydoux, is seventh and also in line for another good result.

A podium position is within reach for Full Throttle Red Bull KTM's Brian Capper who finished fourth at Montagu. This result has lifted him to the fifth place overall, only one point behind the experienced Curtis. Consistent results saw privateer rider, Mark Fox (WildCoast KTM Umso Construction Rib-co KTM) filling the eighth place with only nine points separating all these KTM riders. Riaan van Niekerk (Brother Broadlink KTM) could not finish this event last year and would hope to see out the full race distance and better his ninth place on the overall standings by bagging valuable points.

Van Niekerk is sharing ninth place with youngster, Scott Bouverie (Mr Price Yamaha) who will tackle the Humansdorp event for the first time. They are a point ahead of Torlage who shares eleventh position with Kargo Racing Yamaha's Bradley van Aswegen who could also not finish this event last year. Behind Van Aswegen Gray Dick and Scott Scheepers (Brother Broadlink KTM) are filling 13th and 15th places respectively with Scheepers sharing his position with another scholar, Dominic Mantle (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM).

Also in the overall top 20 is Wynand Badenhorst (Leo Racing Yamaha); Rory Gower (Rockgarden Gas Gas); Mark Garland (Kargo Racing Husaberg) and Paul Carrick (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) who shares his position with Stefan Oosthuizen (Nomadik Tents Husaberg)

In the E1 Class championship, Birch (50); Gutzeit (44) and Mahoney (40) have opened up a little gap to the rest and Curtis (34); Capper (33); Seydoux (29); Fox (28); Van Niekerk (26) and Dick (25) would like to get closer to them. Badenhorst (19) is also in the E1 top ten.

De Wet has a nine point lead ahead of Van Aswegen and Bouverie who are sharing second place in the E2 Class championship with Torlage and Scheepers another point behind them. Dominic Mantle (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) is also in the top ten in the E2 Class championship as well as Jodie Engelbrecht (FeverX Criterion Yamaha); local Port Elizabeth riders, Timothy Young (Honda) and Tom Moolenschot (Rockstar Thor Honda) and Mantle's team-mate, Matthew Hanbury.

There is nothing between Mike Morris (cc Gallery KTM) and defending Senior Class champion, William Gillit (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) and after both riders scored a victory and a second place this season, they are now sharing the lead in the Senior Class championship. Gillit won this class at the Rover event last year and would like to do so again while Morris will also aim for another victory this season.

Behind them Stephen Landman (Team Liquorland Gas Gas) has been performing consistently and is six points ahead of Peter Jung (WildCoast KTM Umso Construction Rib-co KTM) with Bruce Gargan (FeverX Criterion Yamaha) a single point behind Jung.

Denzil Torlage (Mr Price Yamaha) has won every race he competed in last year and kicked the 2011 season off with two more victories. He is however, not running away from Mark du Plessis (Habitat KTM Cape Town) who, like last year, is chasing hard and with two runner-up positions, he is only six points behind the defending Master Class champion. Only one point separates the three riders behind them - Graydon Ilderton (Nomadik Tents KTM) and Barries Barnard (Honda) share the third spot while Gary Sox Smith (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) is a single point behind them. Both Ilderton and Smith have been on the podium this season and will aim to do so again.

The Liquorland Rover Enduro is organised by the Rover Enduro and Off-road Club and will also form a round of the regional Eastern Province Enduro Championship. The racing action will start at 08h00 on Saturday morning (14 May) at Twisters outside Humansdorp and the mx-track will again provide lots of action for spectators.

Photo: Brian Capper (Full Throttle Red Bull KTM) is a podium contender and would like to do so at the Liquorland Rover Enduro.
Photographer: Elza Thiart