Staff Reporter
Farm Abbabis-The quartet of Henner Rusch (KTM), Joern Greiter (KTM), JL Oppermann (Honda), Jurgen Gladis (KTM) and Shannon Rowland (Honda) were in excellent form during round five of the Bank Windhoek National Enduro Championships at Farm Abbabis last weekend.
The gathering, proudly sponsored by Monster Energy, saw riders grilling each other in their respective classes with the leaders all registering victories on a very well prepared and demanding race track, in hot weather conditions.
In the Open Motorbikes Class, Rusch (KTM) took the championship lead with his 3rd victory of the season in the absence of Marcel Henle (KTM) who could not start as a result of injury.
Corner Visser (Sherco) again proved his good finishing 2nd in the process strengthening his 3rd overall position while Guenther Gladis (KTM) tariled in 3rd place on home turf, ahead of Kai Hennes (KTM) in 4th spot.
Jorn Greiter (KTM) remains the man to beat in the Senior Motorbike Riders Class this season as he secured his 4th win of the season to extend his championship lead.
Werner Wiese (KTM) finished 2nd while the battle for 3rd place was probably the most exciting of the day as Stefan du Plessis (KTM) ended the race one second ahead of David
Brown (KTM) after more than three hours of adrenaline pumping racing. In the Clubmans Motorbike Class, championship leader Jurgen Gladis (KTM) crossed the the line in 2nd spot after the first lap, behind Duard Wiese (KTM) who enjoyed an excellent first lap.
However, early in the 2nd lap, Wiese suffered technical difficulties and had to retire leaving last year’s off-road Bike Class champion Kurt Hartung (Yamaha) to take 2nd spot to earn his first podium finish in this class, ahead of Gunter Grassreiner (KTM) in 3rd.
Keanu Weber-Trianus (KTM) took the championship lead in the Offroad Bike Class with 2nd place with Jaco Husselmann (KTM) claiming 1st place leaving Chris Snyman (KTM) to pick up the pieces for 3rd place.
In the Development Class for youngsters, Levin Quinger (KTM) continued his winning streak to finish 1st ahead of Jeandre Godfrey (Yamaha) on a demanding track.
In the Open Quads Class, J L Oppermann (Honda) impressed with an immaculate and very fast ride to finish 1st. Gary Rowland (Honda), who had won at Uis, ended 2nd ahead of Abner Abner (Honda) adrift in 3rd place.
Shannon Rowland (Honda) took victory in the Ladies Quad Class ahead of Julia Moth (Yamaha), who overcame technical difficulties to finish 2nd. The National Enduro Championship returns to Otjihase, east of Windhoek, on the 12th of next month.