1510 DT final

kit & spare air filters packed on the bike,
and so much more, all this to make sure
we get the rider to the finish home and
make it as comfortable and stress free as
possible!
The Amageza:
The Rallye started and finished in
Kimberly (N.Cape), featuring a first time
ever 3 stages in Botswana, with the aim
of including Namibian Dunes in the near
future. Technical inspection, known as
scrutineering at S.A. races, was held in
Kimberly under the exact stringent rules
as Dakar. It is the aim of the organisers to
get S.A. rallye riders onto the same level
as Dakar competitors.
The first 2 stages to Van Zyls Rus and then
Kang (Botswana) was a Marathon stage.
This meant that the overnight in Van Zyls
Rus had no service crew or any assistance;
riders had to get to the end of Stage 2 in
Kang. Sadly the Special (Racing Section) in
Stage 2 was cancelled due to the chopper
being grounded, not having the required
approvals to fly into Botswana. Having
trained there myself in the Khawa Dunes
area along the Kgalagadi Transfontier
Park, this would have been the most
demanding Special of the rally! Roberts
Racing Rallye’s crew had one long night
ahead after Stage 2 in Kang to repair and
service the bikes after almost 1400km, the
last bike was completed and ready to race
at 5am with the start at 7am.
Most rallyes are more demanding on
crew than on the riders and it takes a
special and determined individual to have
3-4 hrs sleep a night, drive and average
of 600km the next day, set up the bivouac
for the team, then work until 3am the
next morning to get the bikes race ready,
and at times work straight through, for
a 6am start, for 7 days straight. This
is exactly what Stephen, Twan, Wickus
Derek and Garth had to do and have a
smile on their faces when riders arrived
at the bivouac at 11pm for a 2-3 hr prep
if there was no crash damage…. but “Erik
the Shredder” kept us busy most nights
repairing his crash damaged or Botswana
“doorings” riddled bike.
Stage 3 to Ghanzi was fast with most riders
having issues with the road book, but we
managed to navigate and get the bikes in
at a reasonable hour. Stage 4 was no better
in respect of navigation and was extremely
tricky to correlate the road book and the
tracks but again our riders managed to
get into the bivouac very late. Needless to
say the chatter in the bivouac was not too
positive, even among our own riders.
Stage 5 back to South Africa was
exceptionally fast, with the average speed
of over 105km/h which pretty much
destroyed most tyres and mousses…
however with the great support from
Pirelli, Roberts Racing Rallye riders
where well covered, and managed to lend
a hand to a few of the other riders.
Simon and Paul our most experienced
riders in navigation both in the top 15 had
incurred almost 3 hours penalties due to
questionable road book navigation errors
and timing issues, that dropped them
both down the leader board an similarly
for Pieter. Both Alex and Erik where on
survival mode to get their bikes and
bodies to the finish.
70 OCTOBER 2015
1510 DT Amageza.indd 70 2015/09/18 10:46 PM