Provincial Series titles will be decided this weekend at the final round of the 2022 Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki. The fourth round of the increasingly popular series will take place at a new Enduro venue, Thaba Trails, south of Johannesburg.
While Series titles will be contested in 18 categories, the event will also be a useful warm-up ahead of the 2022 South African Enduro Championships in Nelspruit on Saturday 17 September.
Currently, the Gauteng Series leaders (with points margin lead) in each category after three rounds are:
Elite men: Wade Prinsloo – pictured above – (110 points lead)
Elite women: Julia Kotze (430 points lead)
Under-23 men: Matteo Damilano (50 points lead)
Under-23 women: Kathleen Baker (170 points lead)
Junior men: Eugene Kriek (5 points lead)
Junior women: Lilian Baber (200 points lead)
Youth men: Cade Badenhorst (25 points lead)
Youth women: Danika Botha (50 points lead)
Sub-junior boys: Hanro Ehlers (245 points lead)
Sub-junior girls: Dana Strijdom (30 points lead)
Sprog boys: Luke Stafford (15 points lead)
Sprog girls: Lohane Ehlers (260 points lead)
Nipper boys: Wihan van Niekerk (70 points lead)
Sub-veteran men: Frank Meyer (170 points lead)
Sub-veteran women: Licarmi Smith (205 points lead)
Veteran men: Justin Joubert (35 points lead)
Veteran women: Mattie Viviers (190 points lead)
Master men: Barry Crouse (30 points lead)
Master women: Christelle le Roux (20 points lead)
Grandmaster men: Mike Behr (200 points lead)
Most category leaders have a narrow lead after what have been three highly competitive rounds and Sunday’s event could see lead changes in what promises to be an exciting day of racing. Positional points are allocated as follows: 1st 200, 2nd 170, 3rd 150, 4th 135, 5th 125, 6th 120, 7th 115, 8th 110, 9th 105, 10th 100, 11th 96, 12th 92, 13th 88, 14th 84, 15th 80, 16th 76, 17th 72, 18th 68, 19th 64, 20th 60, 21st 57, 22nd 54, 23rd 51, 24th 48.
There will be seven stages in the Full Enduro with Stages 2 and 5 being blind stages, only revealed on the morning of the event. The Lite Enduro, which will also be contested by Sprogs and Nippers, will include four stages: 3, 4, 6 and 7.
“We are excited to take Enduro racing to a new venue. Thaba Trails has successfully hosted a number of national level XCO races in the past and once also hosted a round the Downhill SA Cup. There’s decent enough gradient and rugged terrain to promise a challenging, yet rewarding Enduro event,” said Paola Damilano, Gauteng Enduro Series organiser.
All the usual CSA categories will be contested as will an eBike category for 19 years and older racers in both the Full Enduro and the Lite Enduro.
Entry is online only and closes on Friday 9 September 2022. Racing starts at 08h30 on Sunday. Entry is via the Cycling South Africa portal here or via the CSA app.
For more information, join the Gauteng Cycling Gravity Group on Telegram, here; or contact Paola Damilano on 0832523752 or paola.damilano@me.com
Suzuki is the presenting sponsor the 2022 Gauteng Enduro Series. Other brands that have invested in the sponsoring the Gauteng Enduro Series are EcoLogic (bike wash products), 100% (eyewear products), 32 GI (performance supplements), Med Guys (medical support) and SHRED (media partner). Timing will once again be done by Send It, which times down to 1000th of a second
As with all Gauteng Enduro Series events, there will be an official skills coaching session the day before. This will be done by qualified coaches to help riders understand and improve control over various tricky sections or obstacles. The cost is R185 per person and booking can be done here.
