Words & Photo: KTM Motorcycles SA
The Castrol Winterberg Enduro, the penultimate round of the South African National Enduro Championship, took place in Patensie, just outside Hankey, in the Eastern Cape. The Rover Motorcycle Club had put together a great event, consisting of a scenic, but demanding 45 km loop that competitors had to complete four times.
The first loop served as a sighting lap, whereas the second, third and fourth loop did not just consist of a regularity loop, but also included a fast and spectator friendly 6 km Endurocross special as well as an 8 km long Enduro special. Competitors were given a regularity time of 1h 55min for the first lap, 1h 40min for the second lap, 1h 35min for the third lap and the fourth and final lap was cut down to 1h30 min, cutting it tight for some of the competitors.
The Brother Broadlink KTM team welcomed back their rider Darryl Curtis, who rode his first race this year after coming back from major injuries that he had suffered after a big crash at the Dakar Rally 2013. Curtis felt comfortable straight away getting back onto his KTM 300 XC-W 2-stroke weapon and was looking forward to the event.
“I missed the racing, but I’m not up to speed yet. I’m not fit enough to race competitively yet, but I’m happy with my fourth place in the Open class and tenth place overall. The route was very demanding, I really enjoyed the race and the organisers put a lot of effort into putting this race together with fantastic special tests like the Cross test. All in all I had a lekker race.”, said Curtis.
Local PE rider and team mate Juan ‘Bollie’ van Rooyen who normally prefers the faster Offroad races made his second appearance in a National Enduro race this year after he competed in the Ashton National Enduro in the Western Cape earlier this year. After a little tumble and getting stuck in a mud hole Van Rooyen found his rhythm and started enjoying his day out onboard his KTM 300 XC-W machine. Van Rooyen was awarded with a seventh place in the Open class and is looking forward to racing the Roof of Africa event later this year.
Brother Broadlink KTM’s Louw Schmidt, who recently got crowned National OR4 (under 21) Offroad champion with one more round to go, is constantly improving his technical skills and enjoyed the demanding course of the Castrol Winterberg Enduro. The 18 year old rider from Marble Hall crossed the chequered flag in 11th place overall and finished seventh in the E2 (200cc) class. Schmidt will join his team mate Van Rooyen in competing in the Roof of Africa event in November.
The team is now looking forward to the last two rounds of the National Enduro and Offroad championship that will both take place in October.
