The Battlefields Race, round two of the SA Cross Country Championship (SACC) for Motorcycles and Quads took place over two days (6 and 7 May) at Dundee in KwaZulu-Natal and produced some new winners, a few class leaders added another victory to their names and interesting battles are on the cards for the remainder of the season.
The 50km time-trial on Friday followed by the 355 kilometre race on Saturday proved to be a tough, but an enjoyable test for national competitors who had to enduro icy cold weather conditions on Saturday. SACC national competitors were joined by KZN Regional and Club riders on Saturday who competed in the second round of their championship.
In the motorcycle category, there were more victories for Michael Pentecost (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) leading the OR1 (Open) championship and his team-mate, Brett Swanepoel in OR3 (200cc) as well as for the Master Class leader, Wayne Farmer (Doorzone Bikers Warehouse Racing Husqvarna) and High School Class leader, Adriano Catalano (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha).
Brother Leader Tread KTM’s Louw Schmidt (OR2 – 250cc) and Juan ‘Bollie’ van Rooyen (Senior Class) made up for a disappointing start at Vryburg to claim their first victories for the season while Ryan Pelser (KTM) won the new 125cc class for the first time.
In OR1 Pentecost was again chased by defending champion, Kenny Gilbert (Kargo Racing Husqvarna) who was second, only two minutes 27 seconds behind Pentecost. Ross Branch (Brother Leader Tread KTM) rounded off the podium. Altus de Wet (BCR Arrow Yamaha) fell during the race, but recovered to finish fourth with Charan Moore (Super Moose Yamaha) making up the top five. Ruan Smith (Sherco Racing SA) started the race from third place, but also crashed and had to settle for sixth place.
In OR3 Schmidt was closely followed by Kyle Flanagan (Super Moose Sherco) with Gareth Cole (KTM), who was the fastest in the time-trial, third. Cameron Becker (KTM Centurion Liqui Moly Racing) finished fourth and Brendon Fourie (Sherco Racing SA) fifth. The class leader after the opening round, Jaycee Nienaber (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) could not start the race on Saturday due to mechanical problems during the time-trial.
The on-going battle between the defending OR3 champion (Swanepoel) and Jarryd Coetzee (Brother Leader Tread KTM) continued with Coetzee finishing just two minutes 43 seconds behind Swanepoel in second place after racing for more than six hours in total. Wilhelm Schönfeld (BCR Arrow Yamaha), started first in this class, finished third and was closely followed by Calvin Wiltshire (Droomers Yamaha) who had a little gap to Taki Bogiages (KTM) in fifth place. Darren McLeod (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) started the race in third place, but fell and broke his leg.
There was bad luck for the Senior Class winner of the opening round, Warrick van Schalkwyk (Yamaha) and second-placed Bruce May (Agrisales Peak Yamaha Racing) who could not finish the Dundee race. Wynand Kleynhans (Yamaha) took second place behind the defending champion (Van Rooyen) with Faan van Deventer (Alfie Cox Junior KTM Racing) third; Lodewyk Jansen van Vuuren (KTM Liqui Moly Racing) was fourth and Bruce Viljoen (Doorzone Bikers Warehouse Husqvarna) fifth.
Farmer did not have it all his own way in the Master Class as a mere 13 seconds separated him from second-placed Justin Broughton (Sherco Racing SA). The rest of the field were a bit further behind with Martin Lourens (Droomers Yamaha) claiming the final podium spot. Pieter Holl (Bert Smith Racing KTM) was on pole after qualifying, but had mechanical problems while Johan Gray (KTM) who started second, retired with a flat tyre.
Catalano claimed his second consecutive win in the High School Class where riders had to complete the full race distance. He was followed by Senior Class rider, Faan’s son, Stefan (Alfie Cox Junior KTM Racing) with André Basson (KTM) third; Juan-Pierre de Villiers (KTM Centurion Liqui Moly Racing) fourth and Maarten van Jaarsveld (Doorzone Bikers Warehouse Husqvarna) fifth. Nine of the 10 starters completed the race.
Janco Pienaar (KTM) finished second behind Pelser in the 125cc Class with Michael Glöckle (D&H Engineering Works Yamaha) rounding off the podium. Droomers Yamaha’s Alison Droomer beat her team-mate, Riki Mans, by only 53 seconds in the Ladies Class with Karen Jansen van Vuren (KTM) finishing third.
Riaan Prinsloo (Yamaha) won the Silver Inter Provincial Challenge.
In the quad category, John Aylward (Yamaha) came from the back of the field after not being able to complete time-trial to win the Open Quad Class ahead of Dewald Theron with Hannes Saaijman rounding off the all Yamaha podium. Only five quads managed to complete the race in this class with Rick van Tonder (Honda) fourth and Juan-Pierre van Wyk (Suzuki) fifth. André Park (Yamaha) was the fastest after the time-trial, but had to call it a day when he fell and injured his wrist.
The defending Master Class champion, George Twigge (Yamaha) started fifth in his class, but managed to win when he beat second-placed LJ Erasmus (Yamaha), who led the class on Saturday morning, by two and a half minutes. Stef Bester (VANS Racing Division Yamaha) was third; Pierre van Heerden (Honda) finished fourth and Roxy dos Santos (Yamaha) rounded off the top five.
Keenan Hammon (Yamaha) posted the fastest time for the day and won the High School Class (they also completed the full race distance) ahead of Morné Jansen van Vuren (Yamaha).
“We are very happy with how the Battlefields Race evolved,” commented Route Director, Louwrens Mahoney, after the race. “The type of terrain as well as the cooler weather played into our hands and the competitors enjoyed the variety of the somewhat shorter and longer loops,” Mahoney said. “We would like to thank the land owners who made their land available for the race and a big thank you to all the competitors who travelled from all the corners of the country to attend the Battlefields Race,” he concluded.
The third round of the SACC takes place on 24, 25 and 26 June in the Jwaneng area in Botswana.