Dirt and Trail July 2018 issue 2

were in progress all over the world. This year
it was the turns of Mark Dickinson, Eugene
Fourie and Chris Meyer as well as two SA
ladies Linda Steyn Boddington and Ezelda
Van Jaarsveld. (You’d have seen all of this in
previous issues). In November 2017 the two
SA ladies had to compete against 23 other
International ladies to get a spot of 6 to go to
Mongolia. And so they did.
This event was also my dream come true. I
was contacted a few weeks before by Tomm
Wolf, the father of GS Trophy to ask if I would
be available for a month as a Marshal in the
GS Trophy. Of course it was a YES!!!!!
BMW Management had to make the final
selection of 18 Marshals worldwide. Few
weeks later I got the Invitation letter. It was
a go but still so unreal. A few months later, I
received the bag with all the kit, rally suite etc
etc – Game ON!.
14 May was the departure date. I joined Jan
du Toit, Gert Becker and Marchant Maasdorp
as the 4 South African Marshals on the GS
Trophy. Nerves were at a peak as I soon
would be joining so many respected men and
woman in the business. After a long journey to
Ulaanbaatar, we met the rest of the crew - and
it was clear that it was not about individuals,
but a team effort to get a job done.
We left the Hotel and swopped our
rooms for the traditional ‘Gers’ or yurts
at the Chingisiin Khuree camp, near
Ulaanbaatar. Some paperwork, medicals
and presentations. I must say BMW is very,
very professional in this matter. We then got
our personalized bikes with our names on
and this feeling is indescribable. It was quite
the moment. Prepping on bikes done and
time to drink a local beer and discuss the
next days agenda…
The marshals are responsible to lead
groups from 2 countries from the start to
finish on each day. Every day the teams are
swapped.
They also set the pace. With the
continuous changing terrain of every
day’s route it is not an easy job. With the
participants on a mission to go flat out, safety
is the biggest concern for BMW. For that
reason there is a sticker on the handlebar
#itsnotarace just to remind them about this.
The real race starts when they arrive at
the different special stages. Normally there
are 2 or 3 stages per day. The special stages
consist of different exercises to test each
participant’s skill on the bike as well as some
exercises like Navigation by GPS. This was
the job for Gert and I. We were two of four
marshals responsible to set up and score
the special stages. Every morning we would
leave an hour or so before the participants
to build the stages. The other two marshals
then proceed to the next stages and build
there, they were both from Germany.
Days were long with 10-12 hours out
riding. But so worth it.
A team of 23 people, marshals, film crew
and photographer embarked on a 12 day
scouting of the route to set up and plan the
special stages that would determine the
scoring of the teams and just to get familiar
with the Mongolian terrain.
A total of 2800 km covered in 12 days.
This is what it was like – and I break it into
two sections – the scouting and setting up –
and then the participation.
Day 1 (Scouting)
(470 km) started slowly with a 100 km tar
section. It’s like riding in Lesotho, you have to
look for all kinds of livestock, cars overtaking
and potholes. But we were looking forward
to hitting the gravel. And what a surprise it
was. You start straight into some loose sand.
We could not deflate the tyres as the terrain
changes all the time from gravel to sand to
rocky areas. Momentum and positive throttle
is key. Stand up, Look up and open up! So
1.8 BAR front and rear was the limit.
All 120 BMW R 1200 GS Rallye Bikes
with the Sport Suspension are fitted with the
Metzeler Karoo 3 tyres. I have never been a
fan of the Karoo but man was I impressed.
2800km x 23 bikes and no punctures. Ok
except for a nail on one of the ladies bikes.
During trophy with participants:
Special stages for the day were firstly trail
riding over and between rocks. 160 km
further, they arrived, to do a Navigation test.
Each team gets a GPS. We give them the first
Coordinate point and from there they have to
find 4 more. Each one leads to the next. Also
on each post for the next coordinates there
would be letters - like “IKE”, 3 or 4 letters per
post. At the end it would form a sentence.
At the end they had 20 minutes to
complete the task. Get all 4 the points with a
proof of a picture as well give the sentence
“Make life a Ride” and they would get a time
credit bonus.
Team Korea was killing it with a time of
16 min and all the bonus points. This was a
good start for them leading the GS Trophy
early.
DIRT & TRAIL MAGAZINE JULY 2018 75