Fifty-five quad and motorbike riders between the ages of 10 and 51 years took part in round five of the Bank Windhoek Namibia National Enduro Series, which took place on Saturday at Farm Abbabis, near Karibib.
The event was co-sponsored by Lifestyle Pharmacy and Multitrusses.
The riders competed through sandy river beds and a rocky landscape. The perfectly laid out track was a tough test of skills and endurance on a warm and dusty day.
Ingo Waldschmidt (KTM) secured victory against a pack of young riders, including Kai-Uwe Brettschneider (KTM), who clocked the fastest lap time in this class. Pascal Henle came in second ahead of his younger brother Marcel (both KTM). With this victory, Ingo Waldschmidt (KTM) managed to extend his overall championship points to 91, ahead of Pascal Henle with 71 points.
Henner Rusch (KTM) continued his unbeaten run in this year’s national championship Class 2, securing the fastest race time of all motorbikes competing, with 3:46:05 for four laps.
Martin Kruger did not finish the race, but managed the fastest lap of all competitors in the national class in an astonishing 43 minutes and 47 seconds. Kai Hennes (KTM) proved his consistency by once again finishing second, while Dirkie Baard was third. Henner Rusch now leads Class 2 comfortably with 100 points, ahead of Kai Hennes with 79 points.
In the senior men quad category, Uwe Brockmann (Honda) managed to close the gap between him and overall championship leader, Dimo Eloff (Honda) by securing victory at Abbabis. Dimo Eloff finished second, clocking the fastest quad lap of 45 minutes 37 seconds.
Franco Routh (Yamaha) and Gary Rowland (Honda) both had to park their quads after two laps. Dimo Eloff still comfortably leads the overall championship with 97 points, ahead of Uwe Brockmann with 67 points.
In the ladies quad class, Maike Bochert (Honda) raced her quad to victory, and clocked the third fastest lap by a quad at Abbabis this year, in an excellent time of 48 minutes and 24 seconds.
An exciting race evolved with Shannan Rowland (Yamaha) finishing second, followed closely by Claire Brendel (Honda) in third. In the overall championship, Maike Bochert remains in control with 97 points with Shannan Rowland still within striking distance with 86 points.
Eight starters entered in the senior motorbike rider’s class where Sven Schneidenberger (KTM) retained his unbeaten status this year by finishing first in a gruesome 4 hours and 18 minutes. He was followed by Frank Ahlreip (KTM) who remains the major challenger to Sven Schneidenberger in the overall championship.
The Clubman’s motorbike class had the largest number of competitors with 12 riders at the starting line, of which nine made it to the finish. Gunnar Grasrainer (KTM) secured his second victory of this year’s championship in Class 7, ahead of Nickle Visser (Husaberg) and Juergen Gladis (KTM).
The top three riders finished within two minutes of each other in a very close and thrilling race. The overall championship remains a close matter in Class 7, with Grasrainer holding onto the lead (74 points), followed by Visser (69 points) and Gladis (65 points).
The Clubman’s quad Class saw Juan Tyren (Honda) secure victory and extend his lead in the overall championship to 13 points as his closest competitor Klossie Fourie (Honda) could not continue after the first lap.
Kurt Hartung (KTM) accomplished his first victory of the season in the off road bike Class 10, slightly closing the gap on overall championship leader Peter Weber (KTM), who finished second. Heiko Brettschneider (KTM) finished third and moved up in the overall championship to third position.
In the Development Class, riders under the age of 14 took to the track to complete another 2-lap race in the championship series. Ten year old Lenny Bagwitz (Yamaha) continued his unbeaten run, finishing first in 1:25:05 and extended his overall championship lead to 60 points. Keanu Weber-Trianus (KTM) came second and moved into second place overall with 41 points. Noah Bagwitz (KTM) finished third and is now third overall with 40 points.
Once again, the Abbabis Enduro event proved to be an exciting event for all participants of the sport and spectators alike. The Namibian Enduro Club offers quad and off road motorbike enthusiasts the possibility to enjoy the endurance sport and encourages newcomers to join. For more information, interested riders can visit the website at www.namibianenduro.com.
The Enduro Series will continue on 15 August 2015 at Gallina, close to Windhoek.
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