KwaZulu-Natal’s Keira Duncan and Limpopo’s Lilian Baber put together six snappy stages to claim the overall men and women’s titles at the inaugural Summerplace Game Reserve Enduro, which was Round 2 of the 2022 Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki at the weekend.
Photos: Dominic Barnardt and Justin Barlow
Duncan (pictured above) has been the dominant male Enduro racer in the country this year, winning Rounds 1 and 2 of the South African Enduro Series at Buffelsdrift, Gauteng and Karkloof, KwaZulu-Natal, as well as most of the provincial events. But his victory in the Waterberg region at the weekend was his narrowest so far. Duncan clocked an overall time of 14min 35.985sec only one-second quicker than Gauteng’s top Enduro racer, Sam Bull (14:36.675), who conceded he wasn’t at his best after a long racing layoff.
Third overall in 14:41.675 went to Inus Du Preez of Gauteng, a XCO racer competing in his second Enduro event, with Frank Meyer of Gauteng taking fourth in 14:59.434 and Wade Prinsloo of North West rounding out the top five men overall in 15:05.721.
Unfortunately, a timing system issue on Stage 2 meant that stage had to be removed from the results, leaving five stages from which to determine the best performers. Du Preez, who works at Summerplace Game Reserve, made the most of home-ground advantage and won Stages 1 and 6. Bull won Stage 2 and Duncan won Stage 5, while Western Cape ace, Jason Boulle was fastest on Stage 4.
“The trials were really fun. Not one section lacked flow or seemed awkward. I certainly enjoyed finding a rhythm through all the rock gardens. I had pretty good runs with no major issues. I’m happy with how it went,” said Duncan. “Visiting Summerplace was a load of fun and is definitely one of my highlights of 2022.”
Duncan will compete at Round 3 of the South African Enduro Series in George, Western Cape in August before tackling the National Enduro Champs in Nelspruit, Mpumalanga in September.
In the Women’s division, Limpopo Junior, Lilian Baber, won four of the stages and claimed the overall victory in a time of 16:39.915. Second was Limpopo Youth, Carla Jansen van Vuuren in 16:56.428. Both Baber and Jansen van Vuuren are multiple South African XCO champions who are adapting well to Enduro.
Third overall in 17:05.933 and Stage 1 winner was Gauteng’s leading Enduro racer, Julia Kotze, who is returning from a layoff due to a fractured wrist. Fourth went to another Limpopo racer, Tashane Ehlers in 18:21.416 with Gauteng’s Victoria Rose rounding out the top five in 18:36.510.
“Most of my stages went smoothly. I messed up a little on Stage 1 but managed to get that lost time back in the other stages. Stage 4 was definitely my favourite. It was one of my smoothest runs and I love the tight turns and drops the line has,” said Baber, who confirmed she will contest the SA Enduro Champs in Nelspruit in September.
The weather was warm and dry and with 8mm of rain falling two days earlier, the trail conditions were ideal. Almost 100 riders entered the event a good showing of newcomers and young riders in the Lite event, which covered three stages. The event also doubled as Round 1 of the 2022 Limpopo Enduro Series and the 2022 North West Enduro Series in an effort by Cycling South Africa to help promote the discipline.
Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki #2 / Limpopo Enduro Series #1 / North West Enduro Series #1
Leading results
Enduro (five stages)
Overall men
1 Keira Duncan (KwaZulu-Natal) 14:35.985
2 Sam Bull (Gauteng) 14:36.675
3 Inus du Preez (Gauteng) 14:41.484
4 Frank Meyer (Gauteng) 14:59.434
5 Wade Prinsloo (North West) 15:05.721
6 Ruan Jansen van Vuuren (Limpopo) 15:05.981
7 Jason Boulle (Western Cape) 15:06.478
8 Tyrone Anders (Limpopo) 15:19.260
9 Udo Juterbock (Gauteng) 15:29.872
10 Joshua Kanis (Gauteng) 15:30.079
Elite men
1 Keira Duncan (KwaZulu-Natal) 14:35.985
2 Sam Bull (Gauteng) 14:36.675
3 Innes du Preez (Gauteng) 14:41.484
Junior men
1 Ruan Jansen van Vuuren (Limpopo) 15:05.981
2 Tyrone Anders (Limpopo) 15:19.260
3 Eugene Kriek (Gauteng) 15:40.144
Youth men
1 Joshua Kanis (Gauteng) 15:30.079
2 Cade Badenhorst (Gauteng) 16:08.745
3 Tristan Vorster (Gauteng) 16:09.793
Sub-Junior Boys
1 Henro van der Walt (Limpopo) 15:34.011
2 Hanro Ehlers (Limpopo) 16:47.851
3 Daniel Eagar (Limpopo) 17:15.236
Sub-Veteran Men
1 Frank Meyer (Gauteng) 14:59.434
2 Dana Coetzee (Gauteng) 16:13.996
3 Chris Kuun (Gauteng) 17:05.952
Veteran Men
1 Udo Juterbock (Gauteng) 15:29.872
2 Wessel Jacobsz (Gauteng) 16:35.639
3 Andre Terlouw (Gauteng) 16:46.268
Master Men
1 Barry Crouse (Gauteng) 16:03.194
2 James Morland (Gauteng) 17:20.206
3 Dirk Oelermans (Limpopo) 17:50.986
eBike Men
1 Tyrone Sterne (Gauteng) 15:53.395
2 Richard Crouse (Gauteng) 17:15.587
3 Andre Ehlers (Limpopo) 19:52.076
Stages top 3
Stage 1
1 Inus du Preez 2:43.8
2 Jason Boulle 2:44.7
3 Sam Bull 2:45.2
Stage 3
1 Sam Bull 03:02.1
2 Jason Boulle 3:03.1
3 Keira Duncan 3:03.9
Stage 4
1 Jason Boulle 3:17.0
2 Keira Duncan 3:17.6
3 Sam Bull 3:18.7
Stage 5
1 Keira Duncan 2:01.2
2 Sam Bull 2:02.8
3 Ruan Jansen van Vuuren 2:03.7
Stage 6
1 Inus du Preez 3:21.1
2 Keira Duncan 3:27.3
3 Sam Bull 3:27.9
Overall women
1 Lilian Baber (Limpopo) 16:39.915
2 Carla Jansen van Vuuren (Limpopo) 16:56.428
3 Julia Kotze (Gauteng) 17:05.933
4 Tashane Ehlers (Limpopo) 18:21.416
5 Victoria Rose (Gauteng) 18:36.510
Elite Women
1 Julia Kotze (Gauteng) 17:05.933
2 Theresa Ralph (Gauteng) 19:43.078
3 Kathleen Baker (Gauteng ) 25:12.535
Junior Women
1 Lilian Baber (Limpopo) 16:39.915
Youth Women
1 Carla Jansen van Vuuren (Limpopo) 16:56.428
2 Tashane Ehlers (Limpopo) 18:21.416
Sub-Veteran Women
1 Victoria Rose (Gauteng) 18:36.510
2 Licarmi Smith (Gauteng) 20:59.541
3 Amanda Keen (Gauteng) 21:50.241
Veteran Women
1 Elja van Urk (Gauteng) 19:07.684
2 Mattie Viviers (Gauteng) 19:52.766
3 Irma du Plooy (Gauteng) 20:38.880
Master Women
1 Tracey Reynolds (Gauteng) 23:35.948
2 Christelle le Roux (Gauteng) 25:23.574
Stages top 3
Stage 1
1 Julia Kotze 3:08.9
2 Carla Jansen van Vuuren 3:10.7
3 Lilian Baber 3:11.8
Stage 3
1 Lilian Baber 3:32.3
2 Julia Kotze 3:34.7
3 Carla Jansen van Vuuren 3:37.1
Stage 4
1 Lilian Baber 3:49.1
2 Julia Kotze 3:54.0
3 Carla Jansen van Vuuren 3:55.8
Stage 5
1 Lilian Baber 2:14.0
2 Carla Jansen van Vuuren 2:15.9
3 Julia Kotze 2:17.0
Stage 6
1 Lilian Baber 3:52.8
2 Carla Jansen van Vuuren 3:56.8
3 Julia Kotze 4:11.5
ENDURO LITE (3 stages)
Sprog Boys
1 Michael Kanis (Gauteng) 09:54.756
2 Evert Maritz (Gauteng) 10:09.137
3 Luke Stafford (Gauteng) 10:12.428
Nipper Boys
1 Ethan Duvenage (Gauteng) 10:20.338
2 Wihan van Niekerk (Gauteng) 11:26.148
3 Joshua Oosthuysen (North West) 11:44.557
Sprog Girls
1 Lohana Ehlers (Limpopo) 13:22.637
2 Olivia Marais (Gauteng) 17:31.557
Sport Men
1 Paul Venter 09:34.148
2 Andrew Duvenage (Gauteng) 10:25.546
3 Harold van Niekerk 12:29.193
Sport Women
1 Ashleigh Crouse (Gauteng)
2 Giulia Damilano (Gauteng) 12:24.424
3 Candice Stafford (Gauteng) 12:46.684
The remain rounds of the 2022 Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki:
- Round 3: Sunday 28 August – Grootfontein
- Round 4: Sunday 11 September – Thaba Trails
- Gauteng Champs: Sunday 16 October – Iron Throne.
Suzuki is the presenting sponsor the 2022 Gauteng Enduro Series. Other brands that have invested in sponsoring the Gauteng Enduro Series are EcoLogic (bike wash products), 100% (eyewear products), 32GI (performance supplements), Med Guys (medical support) and SHRED (media partner).
For a comprehensive photo gallery, visit the Gauteng Cycling Facebook page here.
