Birch raises the Roof
By TMX Archives on 3rd Dec 10
New Zealander, Chris Birch scored a hat-trick when he won the 2010 Roof of Africa Hard Enduro after a tight battle with South African, Jade Gutzeit.
The tough event, staged in the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, not only tested the endurance of competitors, but their mental fitness too.
And only 22-riders managed to claim gold awards when they completed the full race distance within the prescribed time limits over three days.
Birch (Brother Broadlink KTM) and Gutzeit (Full Throttle Yamaha) were locked in a tight battle with only three-seconds separating them at the start of the final day.
Just after the start Birch misjudged a river-crossing and drowned his bike, losing about eight-minutes while he made repairs.
Once up-and-running again, he rode like a man possessed and caught up with Gutzeit.
On one of the last mountain passes – Please Push Me pass – Gutzeit ran out of steam and could not maintain the battle with Birch.
And although Birch admitted afterwards that he was extremely fatigued, he knew that victory was in sight and that kept him going.
Full report and images in T+MX News, dated December 3, 2010
RESULTS
BABOONS LESOTHO SUN ROOF OF AFRICA HARD ENDURO
Lesotho, AFRICA (Adventure Lesotho)
GOLD MEDALS: 1 Chris Birch (NZ - Brother Broadlink KTM) 18:24:25 total running time, 2 Jade Gutzeit (ZA - Full Throttle Yamaha) +19:09, 3 Andreas Lettenbichler (D - Team Husqvarna SA ) +41:32, 4 Paul Bolton (GB - Brother Broadlink KTM) +48:31, 5 Craig Stone (ZA - KTM) +1:05:09, 6 Wynand Badenhorst (ZA - Leo Internet Yamaha) +1:08:57, 7 Darryl Curtis (ZA - Brother Broadlink KTM) +1:17:27, 8 Lionel Seydoux (ZA - Brother Broadlink KTM) +1:53:45, 9 Altus De Wet (ZA - Brother Broadlink KTM) +2:04:40, 10 Michael Skinner (ZA - Liquorland Alfie Cox Racing KTM) +2:40:33, 11 Errol Dalton (ZA - Leo Internet Yamaha) +2:50:03, 12 Simo Kirssi (SF - Team Husqvarna SA) +3:05:02, 13 Adrian Werner (ZA - KTM) +3:29:58, 14 Scott Bouverie (ZA - Yamaha) +3:35:00, 15 Kenneth Gilbert (ZA - Yamaha) +3:39:21, 16 William Clifton Gillitt (ZA - Yamaha) +3:46:13, 17 Brian Capper (ZA - Full Throttle Red Bull KTM) +3:51:28, 18 Bruce Le Riche (ZA - Gas Gas) +4:09:18, 19 Brent Le Riche (ZA - Gas Gas) +4:09:30, 20 Dominic Finnis (ZA - KTM) +4:38:46, 21 Mark Garland (ZA - KTM) +4:52:32, 22 James Hodson (ZA - Liquorland Alfie Cox Racing KTM) +6:11:12,...