Nicholas Pienaar (KTM) and Brian Baragwanath (Yamaha) were first home in the motorcycle and quad categories respectively on Day 1 of "The Mantshwabisi", Round 3 of the SA Off-road Motorcycle and Quad Championship, run at the weekend in the Kumakwane area of Botswana.
Pienaar and championship leader Kenny Gilbert (Yamaha) were involved in a ding-dong battle down to the line with Pienaar beating Gilbert, who last competed in Botswana nine years ago on his 18th birthday, by less than two minutes. The result moved saw Gilbert retain his lead in the standings but moved Pienaar up from ninth to fourth.
Local rider Ross Branch (KTM) started way back in the field but finished third after more than seven hours in the saddle, ahead of Ruan Roberts (Yamaha), who moved up to second behind Gilbert in the overall standings. Both the Webster brothers (each on a Yamaha) finished in the top 10 with Chris claiming fifth place and Jonathan ninth.
Altus de Wet finished sixth with Husqvarna team mates Timmy Young (he experienced mechanical issues, but made it to the finish) and Michael Pentecost winning the OR2 (250cc) and OR3 (200cc) classes respectively.
QUADS
Only 14 quad riders finished; Andre du Plessis (Yamaha) started towards the back of the field and finished second after surviving a huge crash early in the race, while schoolboy Dino do Amaral (Racing KTM) rounded off the podium in his first racing experience in Botswana - he was third in Q1 behind Baragwanath and Du Plessis - with Rorke Millar (Can-Am) fourth after also competing in this event for the first time.
Paul Chomse (Banshee) won the Senior Class and was fifth overall followed by Russell Ferreira (Honda) who claimed second in class and sixth overall - only 25 seconds ahead of Freddie Taljaard (Suzuki) after almost nine hours of racing.
Rookie Louis van den Bergh (Yamaha) won Q2 for riders older than 28 years and finished eighth in his first national race of the season. Danie Senekal (Yamaha) came home ninth after he lost valuable time getting lost while Justin Robert (Suzuki) rounded off the top 10 and finished second in Q2.
Kobus Erasmus (Suzuki) was third in the Senior Class and 11th overall, Jurie Meyer (Yamaha) had to settle for 12th after experiencing mechanical problems 80km from the finish while leading the race, Adriaan Uys (Kawasaki) was 13th and Peter Walter (Yamaha) made it to the finish in 14th as the sun set
Liezel Barnard (Can-Am) beat Adi du Plessis (Suzuki) in the Ladies Class to strengthen her lead in this challenge
DAY 2
The second day formed the fourth round of the 2013 series; championship points were calculated after each day and many riders who could not finish on the first day, started again on Friday and made it to the finish.
The day also saw two new victors as Ruan Roberts (Yamaha) claimed the overall win on two wheels (he also won OR1 / Open Class) while the defending title holder in the quad category, Jurie Meyer (Yamaha) took the honours on four wheels and won the Q1 Class.
Roberts, who also won the Dakar Challenge and a free entry to the 2014 Dakar Rally, led from early in the day and built up a comfortable lead, but behind him only 27 seconds eventually separated second-placed Altus de Wet (Husqvarna) from Kenny Gilbert (Yamaha) who banged handle bars for the final 10km to the finish. It was Gilbert's second overall podium position after the two days.
OR2
Michael Pentecost (Yamaha) won OR3 (200cc) for the second consecutive day and finished fourth with OR2 (250cc) class winner, Dillon Inggs (KTM) little more than a minute behind him. Pentecost's team mate, Tim Young - he won OR2 the previous day - finished sixth (second in OR2), JC de Bruin (Yamaha) was seventh (fourth in OR1), KTM team mates, while Bollie van Rooyen (fifth in OR1) and Jono van Wyk (third in OR2) were eighth and 10th overall respectively with Charan Moore (Honda) sandwiched between them.
Motorcycle competitors had to tackle a longer 480km loop on the second day and only 22 riders managed to complete the full race distance - all of them also completed the race the previous day making it almost 1000km in two days.
Louw Schmidt (KTM) won the OR4 (Under 21) Class, finishing 12th overall, just behind 11th placed Brandon Youell (Yamaha) who was second in OR3, Jaycee Nienaber (Yamaha) was third in OR3).
Pieter Holl (KTM) was the only Senior Class finisher (he was 14th overall) after Day 1 Senior winner Wayne Farmer (Gas Gas) picked up mechanical problems and could not finish.
Taye Perry (KTM) won the Ladies Class for the second consecutive day, while Toni Jardine (KTM), who experienced mechanical problems on Day 1 and could not finish, made up for it by finishing second.
QUADS
Meyer won a heated battle with John Aylward (Yamaha) who started fresh as he did not finish the previous day's race due to mechanical issues. Jacques Struwig (Suzuki), who won this marathon event in 2000, finished third - and won the Senior Class - after he didn't finish the previous day's racing section of almost 500km.
Baragwanath, who won the quad category and Q1 the day before, managed fourth after losing time due to flat tyres while André du Plessis (Yamaha), who started way back and fought his way to the front to finish second after the first day, again raced consistently to finish fifth. Two more riders in the top 10 finished both races: Rorke Millar (Can-Am) was eighth (he finished fourth the previous day) and Freddie Taljaard (Suzuki) added a ninth place to his seventh the day before.
SENIOR CLASS
Paul Chomse was a mere six seconds behind team mate Williams but added a second place to his Senior Class victory the previous day - in his 13th Botswana Desert Race on the Yamaha Banshee! - while Russell Ferreira, who was second in this class a day earlier, finished third (13th overall) with a broken frame on his Honda.
Dino do Amaral, who finished third the previous day, had to retire after a collision with a fellow competitor while Danie Senekal (Yamaha) who was ninth a day earlier, retired early in the race due to mechanical problems.
Jurie Meyer Sr (Yamaha) won the Masters Class on both days and was followed by the Dos Santos brothers, Tony and Roxy, each on a Suzuki.
Adi du Plessis (Suzuki) was the first lady home on four wheels (she finished second behind Can-Am rider Liezel Barnard the previous day).