SA’s international GS Trophy team announced
Recently Dullstroom, located in Mpumalanga, was overrun with BMW motorcycles to attend or participate in the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy.
More than 650 riders, pillions and spectators made their way to the small town located in Mpumalanga on all manners of BMW motorcycles ranging from the G 310 GS to the range-topping 1250 GS Adventure. Routes included some tar stretches and more gruelling red and black routes for the brave. Testing the national qualifiers, the competition also doubled as the proving ground for the team selected to represent South Africa in the international GS Trophy taking place in New Zealand, next year.
The local event saw members from the various regional teams including for the first time, two national female teams and a media team take on the challenges over the three, cold and wet days. Activities included GPS and navigation challenges, fitness tests and technical and riding challenges for both team and individual participation. The event concluded with the Western Cape team taking the top spot with members Cobus Theron and BJ Vosloo also racking up the highest overall points. Theron and Vosloo will team up with Bandon Grimsted from the Free State and former international GS Trophy winner Byron Coetsee to represent South Africa at the international edition of the competition February of next year.
Participating under the Eastern Cape team banner, Chantel Blake-Visser and Christelle van der Meulen took the top spot in the hotly-contested ladies qualifier and advance to the international ladies team qualifier taking place in Spain in October this year. “This year’s BMW GS Trophy gathering once again shows the calibre of riders we have here in ‘GS country’. The fact that the average age of the winning South African team that will represent us at the international GS Trophy event in New Zealand is the lowest in our many years of competing in this event, shows that the BMW Motorrad brand is in good hands with opportunities to only prosper from here and into the future. A huge thank you to all who continue to make the BMW Motorrad GS Trophy a roaring success. We now send Christelle and Chantel to Spain with our best wishes and hope to see SA’s winning ways replicated in New Zealand in February 2020,” Edgar Kleinbergen, Head of BMW Motorrad, South Africa.
