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VICTORY FOR JADE GUTZEIT AT LIQUORLAND KEI ENDURO

It was victory at last for the defending E1 Class champion and national enduro title holder, Jade Gutzeit (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) who won this weekend's Liquorland Kei Enduro, the fourth round of the 2011 national series that took place outside East London in the Eastern Cape. A tough route combined with cold and windy conditions contributed to the test where E1 (Open Class) and E2 (200cc Class) competitors had to complete the two special timed stages (8km and 12km) three times each with their times counting towards the final score.

The overall and E1 Class leader, Chris Birch (Comsol Alfie Cox KTM Racing), who just returned to SA after finishing ninth at the recent Erzberg Rodeo in Austria, posted the fastest times in five of the six timed stages, but he picked up a loose fence wire on the second last stage and lost time taking his rear wheel off to remove it. Gutzeit, who recently competed in Turkey in a round of the World Enduro Championship, initially struggled with the handling of his bike and had to make adjustments early in the race.

Marc Torlage (Mr Price Yamaha) won the E2 Class for the third time this season and also stepped onto the final step of the overall podium for the third time. The current E2 Class leader, Altus de Wet, finished just behind the defending champion (Torlage) after he also lost time when wire was wrapped up in the rear wheel of his Brother Broadlink KTM on the first stage.

Three more Brother Broadlink riders - they all represented SA at the 2011 Erzberg extreme enduro - finished in the top ten although they also experienced problems with loose wire on the route. Darryl Curtis was third in the E1 Class and fifth overall; Scott Scheepers finished third in the E2 Class and ninth overall while Riaan van Niekerk was tenth. Gray Dick had to succumb to the same problem.

Also in the top ten was Louwrens Mahoney (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) who finished just behind Curtis in sixth place; local East London rider, Mark Fox (Wildcoast KTM/Umso Construction/Ribco) who claimed his third top ten position of the season and Brian Capper (Full Throttle Red Bull KTM) who also lost a lot of time removing wire from the rear wheel of his bike.

KZN youngsters Scott Bouverie (Mr Price Yamaha) and Dominic Mantle (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) finished just outside the top 10 in 11th and 12th place respectively followed by Fever Criterion Yamaha team-mates, Nicholas Pienaar and Jody Engelbrecht. Wynand Badenhorst (Leo Racing Internet) rounded off the top 15.

Twenty competitors completed all six the racing stages with James Hodson (Team Liquorland Alfie Cox Racing KTM) 16th; Kargo Racing's Mark Garland (Husaberg) 17th; Tom Moolenschot (Team Rockstar Thor Honda) 18th; Justin Broadley (Habitat KTM Cape Town) 19th and CJ Blackman (cc Gallery KTM) 20th.

The names of Bradley van Aswegen (Kargo Racing Yamaha) appeared on the DNF (Did Not Finish) list after an injury and niggling mechanical problems turned his race into a nightmare. Also on this list is Timothy Young (Mitas Racing Honda); Paul Carrick (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) and regular finisher, Stefan Oosthuysen (Nomadik Tents Husaberg).

Defending Senior Class champion, William "Wild Will" Gillitt (Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM) claimed a third consecutive victory when he beat his season rival, Mike Morris (cc Gallery KTM) who was followed by local riders, Stephen Landman (Team Liquorland Gas Gas) and Peter Jung (Wildcoast KTM/Umso Construction/Ribco) who made their home crowd proud with good results. Bruce Gargan (Fever Criterion Yamaha) rounded off the top five.

There was a fourth consecutive victory for the 2010 Master Class champion, Denzil Torlage (Mr Price Yamaha) while the consistent Mark du Plessis (Habitat KTM Cape Town) strengthened his second place in the championship with another solid performance finishing second at East London. Only six riders managed to complete the tough race with Roger Clark (Gas Gas) finishing on the third step of the podium followed by Barries Barnard (Honda); Spot Martin (Team Liquorland Racing KTM) and Rob Scheepers (KTM).

Gary Sox Smith's title onslaught took a serious knock when he had to retire with rear brake failure on his Comsol Alfie Cox Racing KTM.

Silver Challenge Class leader, Dricky Morkel (Leo Racing Yamaha) won this class for the first time this season and was followed by Aiden Sansom and Tyron Miller (Brother Broadlink KTM). Toni Jardine (Yamaha) won the Ladies Club Class while Chris Landman was the Social Club Class winner.

The penultimate round of the 2011 Liquorland National Motorcycle Championship, the Castrol Winterberg Enduro, will take place on 13 August from the Loerie Ruskamp north of Jeffrey's Bay in the Eastern Cape.