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Kiwis Dominate Roof of Africa
29 Nov 2009
Chris Birch leads New Zealand compatriot Chris Mead to a Kiwi 1-2 on treacherous Roof of Africa |
New Zealander Chris Birch rode his KTM 300 to back-to-back victory on the notorious Roof of Africa over the weekend ahead of fellow Kiwi Rory Mead on a Yamaha 250 and open class winner Jade Gutzeit on a KTM 450. Only 23 riders finished the event
Birch overcame the rigorous conditions, heat and high altitude to win his second win in a row for KTM, the marque that has become synonymous for winning the event. “It was really tough, I am not as tired as yesterday, but I worked hard today," Birch admitted. "All I could do was to focus and ride my absolute best, but I am very happy to take the trophy home this year.”
“This is by far the toughest race I have ever done,” Mead added about the race on goat tracks across Lesotho's Maluti mountains over two days of ten-hour shifts int he saddle. Saturday's route was even shortened after starting at 06:00 with the first man home at 15:40.
Birch's ride was not without its drama either when he wrong-slotted at a T-junction early Saturday. Once he realised he was in the lost, the Kiwi rode out of the stage, returned to the start at Roma and re-started the race after discussing the problem with the organizers.
Birch then rode like a man possessed to outride the entire field and make it a New Zealand one-two on corrected time and beat Mead by a massive 2 hours and 14 minutes.
German rider Andreas Lettenbichler proved to be Birch's biggest threat on his BMW 450 and was leading when he was forced to retire although South African teammate Jade Gutzeit made amends in third, just 12 seconds behind Mead.
Only 23 of the 102 full event starters finished the race, with a number of riders spending Friday night out in the mountains in the care of the mountain people, while only 4 of the 117 Seniors, Masters and Silver Class riders of the 117 competitors who entered to race 75% of the route made it to the finish..
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