Wade Prinsloo and Arielle Behr were crowned the men and women’s champions of Round 3 of the Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki, held at new venue, B’Sorah on Sunday 4 August.
Photography: Dominic Barnardt and Justin Barlow
Prinsloo (introduction image) won five of the seven stages to clock an overall winning time of 14 minutes 36.138 seconds. Joel Hieber won the other two stages and finished second overall in 14:43.926, with Bryce Munro securing third overall and first Sub-Veteran in 15:01.762. Youth Men, Justin Deyzel and Jandre Bester rounded out the top five males overall.
In the women’s division it was a tight contest between Behr and Julia Kotze. Kotze, racing in the Elite women’s sub-division, won four of the stages, while Behr, a Junior racer, won the other three. But Behr’s overall time of 16:46.380 was just over three seconds quicker than the 16:52.228 of Kotze’s, giving the younger racer the overall win.
Third overall was Veteran racer, Mattie Viviers, who clocked 19:13.975 with Kelly Marnewick and Samantha Derham finishing fourth and fifth overall respectively.
With a range of both natural and man-made features, B’Sorah delivered a superb Enduro racing venue. A solid blend of large rock, stones and hardpack in dry conditions challenged skill and confidence levels and there were enough pedalling sections to ensure fit racers were rewarded.
“We’re very pleased with B’Sorah as an Enduro venue and look forward to returning with more Enduro events in the future. The location is just on the edge of Gauteng, close for many of the North West racers and not too far for riders that live in Pretoria and Johannesburg,” said Paola Damilano, Gauteng Enduro Series organiser.
With the first two rounds of the Gauteng Enduro Series, presented by Suzuki doubling as rounds of the national series several non-Gauteng racers feature high up on the Gauteng Series standings after three rounds.
Prinsloo, who is a North West province racer, leads the Elite men’s division of the series followed the Western Cape pairing of Jason Boulle and Matt Lombardi. Hieber is fourth overall and the leading Gauteng racer. In the Elite women, Western Cape’s Frankie du Toit leads ahead of Gauteng’s Julia Kotze.
In the Junior division, Gauteng racers, Tristan Vorster and Arielle Behr lead the male and female points standings respectively.
Round 4 of the Gauteng Enduro Series will also be the 2024 Gauteng Enduro Championships. It will take place at Grootfontein Bike Park, Pretoria on Saturday 7 September.
Below are the full results of the Gauteng Enduro Series #3 at B’Sorah
