| www.motorsport.co.za | 09 February 2010 |
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“BABOONS” LESOTHO SUN ROOF OF AFRICA - 26 to 28 November 2009 With a mere 3 weeks to go before the start of the 42nd Roof of Africa event in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, entries are flooding in and competitors are gearing themselves for the Mother of All Enduros. The 2009 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa race will not be held along the same route as last year’s race, in fact, it should be even more difficult and testing going through the Black Maluti Mountains in mid-Lesotho. This year the race will again live up to its famous reputation. Similar to races such as the Dakar, the 2009 Baboons Roof of Africa will get daily television coverage on Supersport. Not only does this lift the exposure of the event amongst Southern African races, but it also puts it amongst the international events where it now belongs. At the same time the race will have daily internet coverage via the Baboons Internet Portal, together with hourly updates on the progress of competitors passing two checkpoints and the finish. Daily media releases go out to more than 2000 subscribers, electronic and print media. With the large number of international entries already received, the Southern African competitors are ready to take on the world in their territory, and after being shown the way by Chris Birch from New Zealand last year, it is expected that the heat will be on this year. Some of the top international names and the best racers from around the globe will be in action, and this promises to be one of the best Roofs in the history. “This year’s Red Bull Romaniacs hard rally in the Carpathian mountains was brilliant! After two years finishing third in this nuttiest of races I went one better this year finishing in second after five days of torture,” says Birchy on his website. After last year’s Roof, Birch’s website reflects: “Chris recently took his first win in an extreme enduro, cleaning up at the Roof of Africa Rally in Lesotho.” Chris has now discovered extreme enduro racing and has competed successfully at Red Bull Romaniacs, Red Bull Last Man Standing, Hells Gate and the Roof of Africa. Extreme racing has now become Chris's passion. Question is will he be able to repeat that performance this year? Over the past few days, the speculation and discussion on E-Dirt has been pretty interesting: “Riaan, Darryl, Jade in no particular order to be the first SA rider home. These mothers are fitter than they’ve ever been in there lives. Throw a bit of bad weather in the mix and it's all about a bit of luck as well. Check the entries are lower than last year, but the calibre is much higher”. Another contributor remarked: “My money is on a South African – Mahoney, Gutzeit, Gilbert, Curtis, Dick”. Then ‘Jamaha’ wrote: “The Roof compares more to Erzberg than Romaniacs in terms of terrain. If you have done the Lesotho Roof trails you would understand why the 4t's are considered the underdogs. On average they are lugging and extra 10 ~15 kg's and the 450 brute power cannot be used anywhere but the first km from the start line. Kenny and Louwrens have been racing on 450's all season long, yet switched to 250 machines - experience is talking not speculation”, whilst a final contributor puts his money on Louwrens Mahoney saying: “He has been water sandpapering his skills on the trials bike all winter”. At the moment Lesotho is getting good rain, ensuring lovely green terrain, however if the moist moves in for the next few weeks, rivers and mountain passes could be very tricky, making the riding conditions benefit competitors who are used to these conditions. With entries closing on Friday (6 November 2009) there are only a few days left before the final list of competitors will be known and the real nail-bite can begin. The mother of all extreme enduros will test man and machine, and only the strongest will survive. Event Sponsor: Lesotho Sun Event Promoter: Baboons GmbH Event Organizer: Lesotho Off-Road Association (LORA) COMPILED BY OFF-ROAD MARKETING ON BEHALF OF THE BABOONS LESOTHO SUN ROOF OF AFRICA ORGANIZERS AND THE LESOTHO OFF ROAD ASSOCIATION. FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: Coen van Zyl Mobile: +27-82-460-8426 E-Mail: coen.vanzyl@vodamail.co.za or coen@cnx.co.za |
