Young Wins Roof Of Africa Extreme Enduro
S
herco's Wade Young cap-
tured his eighth win at the
Roof of Africa Extreme En-
duro, November 30-December
2. Young survived the blister-
ing heat and the competition
to take the win well clear of
KTM rider Matthew Green.
Young held a 15-plus-minute
gap over the runner-up,
Green, when all was said and
done. Three minutes back
was third-place finisher Brett
Swanepoel, also on a Sherco.
KTM riders James Moore and
Tristan Tamsen completed
the top five.
American Cody Webb was
sixth overall.
The prologue, which took a
route linking the town cen
-
ter of Maseru, the capital of
Lesotho, to the surrounding
mountains determined the
starting order of the race.
The first real day of racing
took place under a scorching
sun around the Bushmans
pass. The riders faced relentless
heat and demanding terrain, put-
ting machines and riders to the
test. At the end of seven hours
and 44 minutes, three Sherco
riders reached the day's podium:
Young, Swanepoel and Webb.
The weather conditions were
just as difficult on the next and
final day, which featured nine
hours of racing through the
"Mountain Kingdom," a GPS
route that was extremely dif
-
ficult. Young extended his lead,
which ensured him the overall
victory. He admitted afterward
that this year's Roof of Africa
was one of the most tiring of
his career due to the combina-
tion of the challenging course
and extreme heat. Several riders
never made it to the finish line,
including top contenders Will
Slater (who was air-lifted off the
course due to heat exhaustion)
and Travis Teasdale.
"The race was very tough,"
Young said. "I didn't recover very
well after the first day and so I
was a little tired the second, but
I drew on my reserves and gave
everything until the end. The
team did a good job. I'm happy
to have achieved this eighth vic-
tory."
CN
OVERALL
1. Wade Young (She)
2. Matthew Green (KTM)
3. Brett Swanepoel (She)
4. James Moore (KTM)
5. Tristan Tamsen (KTM)
6. Cody Webb (She)
7. Kyle Flanagan (KTM)
8. Jaco Den Heyer (KTM)
9. Thomas Scales (KTM)
10. Dylan Jones (KTM)
WIND
IN THE
P42
Sherco's Wade Young
survived the elements
to win the Roof of Africa
for the eighth time.
