The South African Traditional Enduro Championship drew to a close at the weekend as riders took part in the double-header round in the hot, dusty, and extremely challenging conditions in Heidelberg Gauteng. Back-to-back days of racing ensured riders and their machines were pushed to the limits.
William Slater put his body on the line the entire weekend falling just 9 seconds shy of the overall Enduro championship. His hard work did not go unnoticed as his 2nd and 1st place class scores proved he is a force to be reckoned with moving forward to the remaining 2023 racing season. “It was a bittersweet weekend for me coming so close to overall glory but I am determined to keep fighting in 2023 with lots still up for grabs.” Said Slater after Sunday’s race day.
Dylan Jones came into the weekend as the championship leader in the E1 class but a costly error on Saturday left him with an injured hand forcing him to DNF round 3 taking him out of the championship chase. Jones fought through the pain and discomfort on Sunday to salvage what was left of the E1 championship. Unfortunately, second on the day was not enough to make up the deficit after scoring 0 points the previous day.
“I am upset with the situation but need to be able to move on to the last round of the Hard Enduro Championship as well as the Roof of Africa” said Jones once the dust had settled on Sunday evening.
Young gun, Matthew Stevens grabbed the double-header format by the horns and put his KTM 150 XC-W onto the podium in second place in the high school class on both days. Stevens has been fighting for a podium finish all year and looks to continue with the moment as we go forward into the last round of the Hard Enduro Championship as well as the Roof Of Africa at the end of the year.
KTM group motorsport manager, Grant Frerichs added, “We did not win a championship in the Traditional Enduro series this year but all of our riders were in contention at the final round and we need to take the positives out of the challenging weekend and move forward as there is still lots to play for in 2023.”
