Family shine at major off-road event

A local family excelled while another West Rander gave it his best shot at the first-ever national off-road race for motorcycle and quad competitors.

The event was the Soutpansberg 400 held in Limpopo in the Louis Trichardt area on Saturday 1 August.

The race was Round 5 of the 2015 Totpak National Off-road Championship.

Liezel Barnard from Carletonville who is the defending SA National Off-road women’s champion finished second in the Women’s Quad Class after losing time when she had to race with two flat tyres for the best part of a 50km loop. However, she still has a chance to win the National Women’s Championship title.

Liezel’s daughter Lindie had a great race in the Junior Quad Class in the Junior National Championship and took her second consecutive victory. She also won this class in the Northern Regions Championship and is on her way to her first national and regional titles.

It was a tough race for the juniors, but Liezel’s son Banie stood his ground in the Junior 65cc Class in the Junior National and Regional Championship to finish third.

Gerhard Pretorius, also from Carletonville finished 7th in the extremely competitive High School Class Championship in the Northern Regions Championship. He forms part of Team Barnard Vervoer Racing.

Overall, the event produced some great racing action and with round five now something of the past, the final two rounds of the series promise to be a nail-biting affair.

One would have thought that the championships already had been settled after the first four of the seven rounds of the 2015 national series, but this is hardly the case. The results of the Soutpansberg 400 probably will play an important role in the outcome of the championships at the end of the season.

The final two rounds of the Totpak National Championship, the BC 400, will take place at Brandvlei Cellars outside Worcester on 24 and 26 September.

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