Staff Reporter
WINDHOEK – The third round of the Namibian Enduro championship will take place this coming Saturday at the small town of Uis, at the foot of the Brandberg Mountain.
This race is always a favourite among riders and fans, as it offers a wide variety of terrain and has excellent viewpoints for spectators. Starting at the old tin mine outside Uis, the racecourse consists of boulder fields, high dunes and fast riverbeds.
The mix of terrain always allows for close racing as some competitors excel in more technical terrain and others fare better in the faster parts of the track. It will once more be a game of seconds. The open class was again a close affair between Henner Rusch and Marcel Henle in 2017.
Henle ended the victor beating out Rusch by a slender margin of 20 seconds, with Pascal Henle 23 minutes behind the leading duo. 2018 is set for another close affair between Rusch and Henle, with the race for third this year being between Nickel Visser, Heiko Stranghohner, Kai Hennes and possibly Pascal Henle.
The race for the master class will pit leader Werner Wiese against second placed Joern Greiter. The faster nature of the track should suit Wiese. The winner of the first race of the season, Ingo Waldschmitt, is set to line up as well.
Waldschmitt won the first race of the season, but crashed out of the second race while leading. Third place at round 2, Ronald Geiger, will be hoping for a strong performance to close the championship gap to Martin Kruger.
Clubman class will be a tight race between Oliver Rohrmuller, Jaco Husselman and rookie to the class, Quinton van Rooyen. Van Rooyen showed impressive pace at round 2, finishing in a fine second place to Jaco Husselman. Rohrmuller managed a third place finish at round 2, after a penalty robbed him of first place.
The large field competing in the Rookie class will be facing fast, flowing tracks and are sure to enjoy the track. Championship leader JL Opperman and second in points, Rhys Cragg, will do battle once again. Axel Foerster will also look for a good finish to strengthen his grip on third place in the championship.
Class 11, the class for competitors under 14 years of age, will be equally exciting. Trading wins in the first two rounds sees Dylan Hilfiker and Zoey Waldschmitt equal on points coming into round 3.
Currently in third place in the championship, Andre Barnard will hope for a better finish this time around after he did not finish in round 2. The action is set to get under way at 09h00 on Saturday. For more info visit www.namibianenduro.com