Works KTM rider Louwrens Mahoney rounded off his 2012 SA Off-Road campaign with a sixth victory in the motorcycle category at the Ventersdorp 400 at the weekend while Brian Baragwanath (Yamaha) claimed his second victory of the season in the quad category.
Both Mahoney, who has already claimed the overall title for 2012 as well as the OR1 (Open Class) championship, and Baragwanath started the tough but enjoyable race from the front after posting the fastest times in Friday's 60km time-trial that determined the starting order.
But things changed quickly in the motorcycle category things changed quickly when Mahoney's team-mate, Riaan van Niekerk, who started second, picked up a mechanical gremlin and the battle for the No.2 plate between another KTM team mate, Altus de Wet (who'd started fourth) and Chris Webster (Yamaha) who started just ahead of De Wet, continued.
Extreme heat, a tough route, some close racing and fitness levels all played a role in the outcome with De Wet winning the battle by finishing second behind Mahoney and winning the OR2 (250cc Class), but losing the war against Webster whose fourth place was enough to clinch the No.2 spot overall for the season.
WRONG SLOT
Kenny Gilbert (Yamaha) lost time when he started out on the wrong loop, but still managed to claim his third podium position. Nicholas Pienaar (KTM) posted his best result yet, finishing fifth (fourth behind Gilbert in OR1) while Jonathan Webster (Yamaha), who lost a position to Pienaar on the last of the six laps when he got wire in the rear wheel of his bike, was sixth.
Webster was only three seconds ahead of Marc Torlage (Yamaha) in seventh with Michael Pentecost (Yamaha) winning OR3 (200cc Class) and finishing eighth overall. Yamaha riders Mark Garland and Wade Blaauw rounded out the top 10, with Blaauw second in OR2.
Defending Senior Class champion Wayne Farmer (KTM) won the battle with his fourth win of the season, but lost the war to Guy Henley (Kawasaki) whose second-place finish at Ventersdorp was enough to give him the 2012 title. KTM riders Ian Venter and Robert Streak finished third and fourth respectively.
Johan Gray (Honda) made a comeback to win the Master Class ahead of 2012 champion Neil Gailey (KTM) with Jan Berning (KTM) rounding off the podium. Anthony Page was fourth.
QUADS
Baragwanath led all the way, twice coming across closed gates on the route, which allowed the chasing pack to close in on him. He opened up a comfortable lead in the final loops, however, coming in well ahead of John Aylward (Yamaha) who scored his first podium position in his debut year in the national championship.
Many quad competitors, including Aylward and Jurie Meyer (Yamaha) got stuck in mud holes, but a third-place finish was enough to clinch the 2012 title for Meyer, ahead of his closest rival, André du Plessis (Suzuki) who had to settle for fourth place at Ventersdorp and the No.2 plate for 2013.
Du Plessis' team mate Danie Erasmus was fifth with Stefan Swanepoel (Yamaha) sixth. Freddie Taljaard (Kawasaki) finished seventh, Danie Senekal (Yamaha) eighth and Leonard dos Santos (Suzuki) ninth, the last quad rider to complete the full 420km.
SENIOR CLASS
Russel Ferreira (Honda) won the Senior Quad Class comfortably, but a strategic second place was to seal the title Amanda Eardley (Can-Am) ahead of Peter Schenk (Honda) who was leading the championship by a tenuous three points before the Ventersdorp finale.
Schenk finished fourth, behind the Yamaha of Willie Roos, and had to settle for second in the championship.
Vicus Breedt (Suzuki) won the Master Quad Class ahead of Tony dos Santos (Suzuki) while a third place for Kobus Visser (Can-Am) ensured him the title for 2012. His closest rival, Milton Thesen (Thesen's Generators Yamaha) was fifth (just behind Roger Barnes' Polaris) after he got lost.
Eardley won the Ladies Quad Class again (she had already wrapped up the title) with Chantelle Darlow (Yamaha) second and Liezel Barnard (Can-Am) third at Ventersdorp. Eardley also won the Q3 Utility Class ahead of Visser and DJ Nabal (Can-Am) but Visser bagged the title for the season.
Only nine quad and 22 motorcycle riders managed to complete the full race distance of 420 kilometres.