Roof of Africa - Extreme Enduro

swazi_matt

Active member
WITH THIS RACE JUST A FEW DAYS AWAY, I THOUGHT I WOULD RELAY THE RESULTS AS THEY UNFOLD, OR YOU CAN FOLLOW IT YOURSELF ON WWW.ROOF-OF-AFRICA.COM OR WWW.E-DIRT.CO.ZA ANYWAY THIS IS THE LATEST PRESS RELEASE:

After months of planning and hard work, the time has come for the 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa, one of the world's toughest extreme enduro motorbike races, to kick into action on 25 November in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho.

Under the watchful eyes of the organisers, Adventure Lesotho; the German company Baboons Innovative Offroad Solutions and sponsors spearheaded by Lesotho Sun, the routes have now been marked; the local communities are informed and are excited about the race; the border posts are expecting the influx of visitors and the winning trophy is polished!

With only three days to go, competitors, sponsors and enthusiasts are keeping up to date with the weather forecast as this can play a big role in the outcome of the race. According to predictions some rain is expected over the weekend especially on Thursday and Friday nights (about 6mm rain is expected) while heavier rain can be expected on Saturday night (21mm).

It is expected that the maximum temperatures will reach about 23˚C during the weekend. This will be welcome after the heat experienced during the race last year. It has been raining in the area and according to the Race Director, Seamus McCarthy, the routes have changed character and will definitely prove to be very challenging.

?Route marking during the last week has illustrated that the trails, tracks and paths have been affected by the rains, effectively redefining the characteristics of the route and this will be very exciting,? McCarthy said. ?If, however, we do receive more heavy rains, we have all the necessary precautions in place and decisions will be made accordingly,? he stated.

Various international competitors are already in South Africa to acclimatise to the summer conditions. The five time and current New Zealand enduro champion and double winner of the Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa, Chris Birch (Brother Broadlink KTM) explained in an interview by his sponsors (Red Bull) that this event is really tough and that the trails are brutal.

?For the first day?s racing last year, they had us riding over rocks for 10 and a half hours straight. You can?t help but feel beaten up at the end of that. Again, though the whole thing is pure adventure and Lesotho is such an amazing country and you see so much wild stuff during the race,? he commented.

Birch visited South Africa some two months ago when he competed in a round of the national enduro championship ? and won. He also presented lessons in training and riding and attended the annual KTM Festival at Sun City.

It will be a first attempt for the UK?s Paul Bolton who will be Birch?s team-mate for this event. The UK is currently in its winter season with temperatures reaching highs of about 10˚C on average and Bolton will definitely leave Africa with a tan after visiting South Africa and Lesotho. The same will go for the European visitors who can get rid of their thermal clothing and start using sunscreen!

The South African racers cannot be left out of the picture and riders like former winners Jade Gutzeit (Full Throttle Yamaha) and Darryl Curtis (Brother Broadlink KTM) would hope to put their years of racing experience in the Lesotho mountains to good use in an attempt to keep the trophy in Africa.

The 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa will start with the Round the Houses street race on 25th November at 09h00 in Maseruwhere after competitors will ride their motorcycles through town to the outskirts where they will tackle Racing Section 1 (114km). Racing Sections 2 and 3 will start on Friday (26th November) and Saturday (27th November) at 06h00 outside Roma.
 
Wednesday, 24 November 2010 ? Maseru (Lesotho) ? With the 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa race, one of the toughest dirt-bike enduro events in the world that kicks off tomorrow, race organisers have introduced the use of a satellite tracking system that will allow them to follow the front runners while enthusiasts at home will be able to follow the leaders on-line.

The Pretoria based company, Fluxcon, a mobile satellite tracking service provider with vast experience in providing satellite communication solutions throughout Africa, has made a limited number of tracking units on a trial basis available to the organisers that will be secured to the bikes of ten of the top competitors. Chris Birch (NZ); Andreas Lettenbichler (Germany); Simo Kirssi (Fin); Paul Bolton (UK); Lionel Seydoux (Swiss) and Gerhard Forster (Germany) are the international riders who will carry these trial units while South Africans Jade Gutzeit, Darryl Curtis, Kenneth Gilbert and Shannon Frost (SA) have been selected to form part of the trial. It will be the first time that units like these will be tested under these extreme racing conditions in Lesotho.

Due to the mountainous terrain, tracking riders competing in Lesotho has been problematic in the past, but the use of Fluxcon devices might be the solution. This ground-breaking technology will not only increase the safety of the competitors, as the organisers will know where they are on the route, but will allow enthusiasts at home to see how they are moving on the route.

There will be a link to the live tracking on the website www.roof-of-africa.com

However, it?s not only the top ten riders who will be looked after. This year all competitors will be wearing an arm band and by swiping these at certain points on the route, the electronic system will tell the organisers who has been through these checkpoints. All information will be relayed back to Race Control where the organisers can keep an eye on competitors.

Various marshals will also be in action for the race. This year the experienced Off-road Marshal Unit, who have served as marshals at various major off-road races, including the Toyota Kalahari 1000 Desert Race in Botswana, will have 11 teams on the routes. They will be in constant contact with the Race Control Office via their radio systems.

The Off-road Marshal Unit will be supported by more than 80 local LORA (Lesotho Off-road Association) marshals who have been involved with racing in Lesotho for years and know the areas well. The marshals will again be supported by about 70 ?community marshals? who will keep an eye on the enthusiastic local supporters and children living in the rural areas in the Roma, Ramabanta and Bushmans Pass areas. The community marshals are respected individuals in their communities and will fulfil their duties for the race with authority.

The organisers have also acquired the services of two helicopters for this international event. The Lesotho Defence Force helicopter will be used in the case of medical emergencies while local business tycoon, Mr Sam Matekane, has made the services of his helicopter available to the various television crews that will cover the race.

Organising a respected and well-known international race like the Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa, that will take place for the 42nd time this year, will be impossible without the support of companies like Yamaha SA and KTM SA. KTM bikes have been used to mark the route while Yamaha is offering a free support service to Yamaha competitors.

The 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa will start tomorrow (25 November) with the traditional Round the Houses race in the streets of Maseru, after which they will tackle Racing Section 1, a 140km route in the mountains on the outskirts of Maseru. Racing Sections 2 and 3 will follow on Friday and Saturday with the starting point at Roma.

http://tracking.roof-of-africa.com/
 
Day 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r28CEQfzavY

ab bit of info:
the riders had to complete days 1 and 2 within time bar. Then depending on how far they got on day 3 they would get either a bronze, silver or gold medal, with gold medals being for those who finished the whole of day 3 before cutoff at 6pm (11hours in the saddle!)
 
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