The Castrol Winterberg Enduro, which sees its 36st running on the weekend of 12 and 13 August when it forms the fifth and penultimate round of the 2011 Liquorland SA National Enduro Motorcycle Championship, is the oldest event of its kind in South Africa and will again build on its reputation as one of the most popular enduro races on the national calendar and a well-organised event too. Castrol South Africa is also celebrating its 33rd year as the official sponsor of this event.
Despite its humble beginnings, this enduro event has built a rich history and has played a huge role in the development of motorcycle enduro racing in the country. The name of the defending 2010 national enduro title holder, Jade Gutzeit, is the latest in the Castrol Winterberg Enduro history books. After winning this event in 2003 and 2005, he claimed victory last year with his Yamaha.
The “Winterberg” legacy started, however, way back in 1970 when Port Elizabeth Kawasaki dealer, Brausch Niemann, and a group of friends explored a trail in the Winterhoek Mountains north of Uitenhage in the Eastern Cape. The breathtaking terrain in this part of the country was soon adopted as a setting for one of the most spectacular enduro events on the calendar.
Although the title “Winterberg Enduro” was only used from the first event in 1976 that took place in the Longmore Forest, the name was not entirely correct as the surrounding mountains formed part of the Winterhoek range while the Winterberg Mountains are some 200km inland near Tarkastad.
These days hundreds of orange day-glo stickers and “candy tape” are used to mark the routes including the special timed stages, but for those earlier Winterberg Enduro events, handfuls of bread flour were used to mark the turns and many of the riders only finished the route after dark due to them getting lost.
Local rider Mervyn Woods wrote his name in the history books by winning the first three of these pioneering races from 1976 to 1978. He claimed victory of the first two on a Honda MR250 and a Yamaha IT400 was his weapon of choice when he won again in 1978. In 1983 he won again this time riding a Yamaha IT465.
Castrol got officially involved in 1979 with sponsorship and support and as the spiritual founder of the race, Brausch Niemann appropriately ensured that his name was recorded for prosperity by claiming victory that year on a Kawasaki KX125. The next year (1980) Dave Ogden took the honours on the mighty Yamaha TT600.
During the early 1980’s motorcycle sales boomed in SA which led to a record entry of over 100 competitors for the 1981 event. These races were held near Bridgemeade with the famous main control at the Pick ‘n Pay Hypermarket providing a great spectator point while the night race stage was a unique feature.
In 1981 the multiple motocross and Roof of Africa winner, Rob Wicks won the event on a KTM390 and when mechanical problems on his Husqvarna forced him out of the 1982 race, Greg Thomas took the victory. The KwaZulu-Natal rider, Gary Lindsay, claimed a succession of victories between 1984 and 1986.
The event was then moved to a new venue at Kirkwood during which off-road motorcycle ace and multiple motorcycling champion, Alfie Cox, came to the fore winning the 1987 enduro and a record 10 subsequent races in the ensuing 12 years.
Cox’s long-standing dominance was only briefly interrupted by Willie Ireland in 1988; Richard Manning who won in 1995 and Hilton Hayward who claimed victory in 1996. The late Elmer Symons won the race in 2001 and 2002.
Local Port Elizabeth rider and current competitor, Juan “Bollie” van Rooyen, took a hard-earned victory for Kawasaki in 2006 conquering the particularly challenging and technical route that was made even more difficult with heavy rains leading up to the race. The following year the event took place under a clear sky and Barry Kriel (KTM) added his name to the list of winners while current enduro competitor, Brett Lewis, added his name to the elite list of victors in 2008 when he conquered the 30th Castrol Winterberg Enduro.
In 2009 the race was moved to the beginning of the season with Altus de Wet, who was one of an unprecedented 313 entrants, claiming his first Castrol Winterberg Enduro victory on his KTM. Like last year the Loerie area will again play host for the Winterberg event and all the action will take place from the Loerie Ruskamp just outside the quaint little town of Loerie in the Gamtoos River Valley.
This venue will again serve as the start and finish point and the central service point where spectators can also get up close and personal with competitors that will include the three times Roof of Africa winner, Chris Birch, who has moved temporarily from New Zealand to SA from where he not only competes in the national enduro championship and other enduro events, but also in international extreme races.
The huge success of this unparalleled race is, in no small part, attributable to the Rover Motorcycle Club and its eager organising committee that includes the likes of Ian Mirk, Mike Glover, Pete Fell, the late Graham Maltby, Wayne Petit, Ross Guscott, Geoff Bland, Ian Wright and Chris and Joan Shinn.
The Castrol Winterberg Enduro, which sees its 36st running on the weekend of 12 and 13 August when it forms the fifth and penultimate round of the 2011 Liquorland SA National Enduro Motorcycle Championship.
