Windhoek
The curtain came down on the popular Bank Windhoek Namibian Enduro Championship, which took place at Farm Döbra over the weekend.
Marcel Henle (KTM) repeated his first class performance of the last event, winning the motorbikes up to 200 cc class and clocking the fastest lap as well as fastest overall race time of all riders.
This secured him the championship title in this class, ahead of Ingo Waldschmidt (KTM). Henner Rusch (KTM) won the more than 250 cc motorbike class race, and secured his fourth Namibian Enduro Champion title in a row.
J L Oppermann (Honda) won the Open Quads Championship, Shannon Rowland (Honda) is Ladies Quad Champion, while the Senior Motorbike Riders title went to Sven Schneidenberger (Husaberg).
The track on Farm Döbra (Otjihase) once again provided ideal conditions for the Namibian Enduro Championship. Spectators enjoyed watching the riders completing a loop close to the pit area, while the riders from all over the country, including Swakopmund and Otjiwarongo, were challenged with river bed sections, a canyon, mountains and rocky passages.
Henner Rusch (KTM) once again illustrated his dominance in the motorbikes with more than 250 cc class by clinching first place, more than 20 minutes ahead of second placed Pascal Henle (KTM).
Corne Visser (Sherco) finished third. Visser showed true sportsmanship by handing his trophy to Gernot Bahr (Husaberg), who would have finished third if not awarded a 20-minute time penalty as one transponder did not record his signal on the track.
Rusch again secured the overall Namibian Enduro Champion title, ahead of Henle and Kai Hennes (KTM). Marcel Henle (KTM) was literally flying around the track in the motorbikes up to 200 cc class, clocking the fastest lap time (00:49:33) and the fastest overall race time of all riders (03:34:24).
Ingo Waldschmidt (KTM) – who had led the championship until the last event – finished 16 minutes behind Henle, while Joern Greiter (KTM) finished third. Henle and Waldschmidt end the season tied on 128 championship points, however Henle won five events while Waldschmidt won three events.
The Namibian Championship title therefore went to Henle, after years of dominance by Waldschmidt in this class.
Greiter finishes the season third overall. In the senior motorbikes class, David Brown (KTM) enjoyed his second victory of the season. Sven Schneidenberger (Husaberg) finished second to claim the championship title while Martin Quinger (KTM) celebrated his first podium finish in third. Frank Ahlreip (KTM) – who could not join this event – stayed second in the championship overall, while Kai Hohmeier (KTM) secured the third place in the championship by finishing fifth.
The clubman’s class saw Ronnie Adams (KTM) repeating his Otjihase victory of three weeks ago, ahead of Jürgen Gladis (KTM) and Heinz Erni (KTM). Gerald Heiser (KTM), who had led the overall championship by one point ahead of the race, had an unfortunate day and could not finish the race after having completed three of the four laps.
In the ladies quad class, Shannon Rowland (Honda) secured an undisputed victory and the Namibian Ladies Quad Champion title, ahead of Maike Bochert (Honda), Julia Moths and Jolly Fouie (both tied in third).
The end of year event and crowning of Namibian champions will take place on November 5 at Elisenheim Guest Farm. The public and Enduro enthusiasts are invited to join the evening and inform themselves about the Namibian Enduro Club, and the possibility to enjoy Enduro sport.