Lars Enöckl - Roof of Africa -12.Platz

Graham Jarvis and Husqvarna win the “Mother of Extreme off road races”, the 2013 Roof of Africa
Maseru, Lesotho, Sat 16th November

Englishman Graham Jarvis, ranked the top off-road racing motorcyclist in the World, beat off a stirring challenge from New Zealander Chris Birch to win this World famous off road race. Riding an Italian made Husqvarna 250 four stroke machine, Jarvis and Birch raced handlebar to handlebar for the first two days of this grueling race, only pulling out a lead of almost an hour on the last day. Birch pulled into the third fuel stop this morning some 16 minutes behind Jarvis, and when asked if he had experienced any problems caustically exclaimed ”Yes, getting up a hill problem”. At the finished he revealed that he had lost the coolong fan on his KTM, which allowed it to overhead badly and lose power. He was probably lucky to survive to the end.

Almost another hour behind them a royal battle raged between a bunch of South Africa’s top riders which included Altus de Wet, Kenny Gilbert, Scott Bouverie , Travis Teasdale, Blade Gudzeit,Wade Young, and visiting English riders Ben and Dan Hemmingway . On the second day Wade Young, last year’s winner retired when his bike suffered an engine problem, whilst Blake Gudzeit was disqualified from the race for leaving the marked route and riding across a local farmers’ cultivated field (expressly forbidden in the racing rules) A subsequent protest and follow up by his team to the organizers saw him being allowed to start the last day of the race, pending this appeal being heard by the SA Motorsport authorities at a later date) Travis Teasdale, an up and coming youngster crashed out during the last morning, injuring his back and falling back.

During day two of the race, said to be the toughest in the World, many riders failed to finish the course, and ended up spending the night out in the mountains. One of these was Yamaha factory test rider Yuki Nishimori, who had his team frantically searching for him in the dark. In the meantime he was safely tucked up warmly in a local Lesotho household. Asked about this experience he exclaimed, through an interpreter, “Wonderful people, wonderful country”

The fastest competitors contest the event in the Gold class, followed by the Silver and Bronze classes. All are extremely tough, and challenge all entrants. The Silver class was won by Stefan Pletzen, with the Bronze class being taken by Danie van Tonder, both riding Austrian KTMs’.
The competition amongst the riders is fierce, they are athletes of the highest caliber. However the completion amongst the manufacturers of the bikes they ride is no less intense, with the prestige of winning these type of events often translating directly into success on the showroom floor. The old adage “Win on Sunday, sell on Monday” is so true in this highly specialised industry.

Extreme off road motorcycle racing is the playground of specialised European brands at the moment. The Japanese manufacturers and their distributors, with the exception of Yamaha, have turned their attention away from this form of racing at the moment. With off road racing enjoying increasing popularity all round the globe. KTM from Austria have dominated the results for some time, and continue to do so. Recently though several other brands have been challenging them in South Africa, with names like Beta, Husqvarna, Husaberg and lately Sherco joining in the fray.
Jarvis winning on the 250 Husqvarna is a huge boost for this brand, and is their first in an Extreme Enduro event. Blade Gudzeit, on an Sherco imported by his brother Jade, gave the bike an wonderful South African debut by finishing fourth, even though this position is still subject to confirmation. In fact after 3 days of racing he and Scott Bouverie on a Yamaha raced the last twenty minutes to the finish side by side.
The weather played a big part in the outcome of this race, with scorching heat on Friday changing to often torrential downpour and howling winds for the final two days giving riders added challenges over the tough route. Asked what he though of the race just after crossing the finishing line, Jarvis exclaimed “The toughest in the world!”