Tension was unbearable at the Liquorland Winterberg National Enduro, the final round of the 2015 Liquorland National Enduro motorcycle championships outside Port Elizabeth recently.

Factors like lots of rain the day before the race and battles for various national cham­pion­ship titles contributed to an exciting race and competitors, and spectators were treated to breath-taking scenery on a clear, blue-sky day in the Eastern Cape.

The race consisted of three special stages, but one had to be shortened due to swollen rivers. E1 and E2 competitors had to complete in 11 stages, while senior class and high school competitors and silver class riders were in for eight stages.

Master class riders did five stages. Anything could still happen in all the championships and it was especially the battle for the senior class title that was most nerve-wrecking. Before the race, Bruce May (Team AgriSales Peak Yamaha) was leading Jody Engelbrecht (Yamaha) by a mere two points (seconds), but May crashed on the first stage into old truck tyres and lost 45 seconds. He had to play catch-up the whole day, but it was not enough and he finished a mere eight points behind Engelbrecht, who walked away with the SA national title. Graham Hedgcock (KTM Cape Town) finished in a close third place.

In E1, the Pietermaritzburg scholar Travis Teasdale (Brother Leader Tread KTM) aimed for his first national enduro title and he went to Port Elizabeth only two points ahead of Brett Swanepoel (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha). It was not a good day for Swanepoel, who crashed twice on the first lap and had to settle for second place behind Teasdale who claimed his fifth E1 victory and the 2015 national title. Teasdale’s team-mate, Dwayne Kleynhans, finished third.

Wade Young (Brother Leader Tread KTM) and Kyle Flanagan were mugged in Umtata on their way to the race, but this did not stop Young from claiming his sixth consecutive victory and his first E2 title. Kenny Gilbert (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha) finished in a solid second place and Young’s team-mate, Scott Bouverie, finished third. Hilton Hayward (Proudly Bidvest Yamaha), also known as ‘the suspension guru’, claimed a sixth consecutive victory and the 2015 SA National Championships title in the Master Class championships.

Like Young and Hayward, there was also a sixth victory for Eduan Bester (NUTS Racing/KTM Centurion) who took the High School Class title. Bester also won this class last year after it was introduced into the championships for the first time. He had to fight for it though as he crashed during the first lap of the race and lost valuable time