Paddock rider Wade Young conquers Roof of Africa

PADDOCK enduro star Wade Young conquered Lesotho’s snowy Maluti Mountains last week to win the fast-paced 50th Motul Roof of Africa.

His big win is the latest in an impressive list of achievements. At the tender age of 16, Wade (Sherco Liqui Moly Racing) won the Mother of Hard Enduro in 2012 and repeated this feat in 2014.

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Having led from the start of this year’s Motul Roof of Africa, the young South Coast rider put on a solid charge in the final climb to pull away from fellow South African Travis Teasdale (Brother Leadertread KTM) who came in just over 10 minutes behind him.

“We’ve had a good few days and I’m happy with the strategy we chose for this race which was to set a strong pace early on and manage the gaps from the front,” Wade said.

Travis, who came second, said he had pushed hard and had enjoyed riding with Wade, but in the end he’d had a time disadvantage when he’d been battling up Soldiers’ Way. The bike had dropped off a ledge and he’d had to pick it up, letting Wade get away from him.

The first rider home from the large international contingent who had entered this year’s event was Graham Jarvis (Rockstar Husqvarna) who said the fast, flowing pace of the race hadn’t worked in his favour this year.

Graham made up good time on the technical passes to catch up to the leaders but had to settle for third place. On Soldiers Pass Graham managed to pull away from Blake Gutzeit (Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha), another local rider, who was hot on his heels for most of the day.

After just missing the podium in fourth place, Blake said he was still happy with his result as he’d had a chance to ride with Graham, the so-called ‘Silent Assassin’ and had learned a lot.

In fifth place was Alfredo Gomez (Red Bull KTM) who said a sore wrist had made it difficult for him to hold onto the handlebars. He’d also been caught out by the fast pace of this year’s event.

His sister, Sandra Gomez (Pepson Plastics Husqvarna), finished in 30th place overall and tasted victory in the unofficial ladies’ battle between her and Kirsten Landman, who placed 39th. Kirsten was satisfied with the final day of riding but had battled with mechanical issues on the first two days.

The route, according to route director Darryl Curtis, offered great riding for the Silver and Bronze riders who had less time in the saddle but were still challenged.

“For the Gold riders the pace was possibly a little fast for some of the international competitors as they prefer the tight and technical routes. This could have favoured the South African riders this year.” He promised that next year the route, especially for the Gold riders, would be a lot harder and more technical.”

The final overall top 10 results for the Gold Class 2017 Motul Roof of Africa was as follows: Wade Young (Sherco) 10:41:28; Travis Teasdale (KTM) 10:52:34; Graham Jarvis (Husqvarna) 11:04:06; Blake Gutzeit (Yamaha) 11:06:36; Alfredo Gomez (KTM) 11:13:15; Manuel Lettenbichler (KTM) 11:19:25; Scott Bouverie (KTM) 11:19:35; Mario Roman (Sherco) 11:23:05; Andreas Lettenbichler (KTM) 11:30:58; David Cyprian (KTM) 11:57:10.

Mercia Jansen, area manager of Motul, eastern and southern Africa, said despite some challenges with the unexpected snow on day one, this year’s Motul Roof had been a successful event.

“We worked with a committed and passionate team and we’re very proud of what we delivered. We brought out some international guests and received really positive feedback. They loved the scenery and the hospitality offered by the local Lesotho communities.”

Next year she’d like to see more riders and spectators showing their support. She said Motul had plans in place for an even bigger and better Motul Roof of Africa 2018.

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