WHEN MEN WERE MEN. Guy Tumner finished the 1973 Roof of Africa Rally in this homebuilt buggy. Safety standards have since changed.
The Motul Retro Roof of Africa will awaken the past in many ways when it takes place for the first time on September 21 this year, presented by Live Lesotho.
“The Motul Retro Roof of Africa will be a 250km one-day dash around the Maluti Mountain foothills to evoke memories of the race around the mountains first run in 1967,” event organiser Charan Moore said.
“Open to cars, bikes, quads and side-by-sides, the Retro Roof will take competitors back to the roots of the classic car and bike Roof of Africa across the rugged Maluti lowlands.”
The Roof of Africa Rally was dreamed up by Bob Phillips, the road engineer who had just completed “the worst road in the world” in Lesotho. Phillips urged the Johannesburg Sports Car Club to organise a car race over the tortuous route and the Roof of Africa was born, sponsored by The Star newspaper in 1967. Bikes joined the party in 1969 and the Roof soon became a legend, running annually for 30 years in mid-September, which is a volatile weather period in the Maluti.
Starting with the mad Round the Houses dash on the streets of Maseru, the route ran over the Malutis through the border up to Matatiele in the early years, before heading back around the mountains to the finish in Maseru. In later years, the Roof became two treacherous laps around Lesotho, when the bikes would divert to legendary mountain challenges like Rampai and Letele, Slide Your Ass and Baboons Pass.
The Roof legend grew over the years and attracted top riders and drivers from around the world. They included rally champions like Ove Anderson, bikers like world champion Elio Adreoletti and US wizard Malcolm Smith. Tales of competitors caught in blizzards, sleeping in mountain schoolhouses and flooded river crossings were regular fare, let alone the legends of the men who beat all the odds to finish and win.
The Roof became a bikes-only event early in the new millennium and has now evolved into the standalone extreme challenge. Lately interest has grown in seeing the return of a “real” Roof of Africa, and now the Motul Retro Roof will deliver just that.
On two wheels, the Motul Retro Roof will cater for all current Cross-Country Auto and Moto classes, plus unique additional categories for over and under 1 000cc Adventure Motorcycle classes and a pre-99 Vintage Motorcycle class. On four wheels, the Retro C1 class will cater for Class A Special Vehicles, FIA and Class T Production machines, while Retro C2 caters for Class P Specials and Class S Production vehicles.
The Retro C3 class will be open to old school off-road cars. There will also be a non-competitive category for 4×4 owners who just want to drive over the historic route. Run over a single 250km loop with outlying refuelling points where teams can send crews to refuel the competitors, or riders can send fuel to each point with an organiser’s truck and refuel themselves like back in the day.
Find out more about the Motul Retro Roof of Africa at roofofafrica.co.ls/retro-roof/
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