WPDH 2015 Round 1 - Helderberg, South Africa
Western Province DH for 2015 kicked off in hot and dusty fashion this weekend at the Helderberg Trails, just outside Somerset West. The track had undergone a few changes in the form of an updated rock garden, a couple of loose and washed out switchbacks and a new finish line approach. The rock garden is situaded right at the top of the track, giving riders very little time to settle into their run, leading to a number of ejections. Just before half way down, the ever changing, loose and dusty switchbacks lead riders into the 'snake pit', from which the track stays mostly unchanged.
The 67 strong field braving the February heat was less than expected, but plenty of new faces joined the usual suspects, among which was the newly signed, UR Polygon team rider, Andrew Neethling. The only other pro on the day, saw Solid-Reverse Factory Racing rider Stefan Garlicki put everything on the line to catch Needles, but would have to settle for second spot, only 1.7 seconds behind. As usual, the other Neethling brought his A-game to take the 3rd step on the podium, just 2.2 seconds behind his brother.
"The track here at Helderberg Trails is only getting better. It was super dry and got chewed up. It was a good test to try go quick as was easy to make mistakes." ~ Andrew Neethling
Top 10 overall:
1. Andrew Neethling - 02:08.908 36.3
2. Stefan Garlicki - 02:10.611 (+00:01.703)
3. Jonty Neethling - 02:11.134 (+00:02.226)
4. Adi van der Merwe - 02:11.804 (+00:02.896)
5. Duran van Eeden - 02:15.723 (+00:06.815)
6. Theo Erlangsen - 02:16.946 (+00:08.038 )
7. Myles Kelsey - 02:22.695 (+00:13.787)
8. Dane Olsen - 02:26.049 (+00:17.141)
9. Roman Kumpers - 02:28.490 (+00:19.582)
10. Francois du Toit - 02:28.680 (+00:19.772)
Full results can be viewed here.
A big thank you to these guys for making round 1 of WPDH 2015 happen:
Duane Bosch - Shuttles organizing and trailer
County Ford - Ford Rangers for shuttles
Jan van Schalkwyk - Building and preparing the track, generator, trailer
Karl Ebal - Shuttles organizing,
XFusion - Michael and Jaco for noise,
Mobii- assistance with timming
The 67 strong field braving the February heat was less than expected, but plenty of new faces joined the usual suspects, among which was the newly signed, UR Polygon team rider, Andrew Neethling. The only other pro on the day, saw Solid-Reverse Factory Racing rider Stefan Garlicki put everything on the line to catch Needles, but would have to settle for second spot, only 1.7 seconds behind. As usual, the other Neethling brought his A-game to take the 3rd step on the podium, just 2.2 seconds behind his brother.
"The track here at Helderberg Trails is only getting better. It was super dry and got chewed up. It was a good test to try go quick as was easy to make mistakes." ~ Andrew Neethling
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 Shuttling up the old fashioned way. |
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| Not a bad view from the parking area at the bottom of the track. |
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| With an updated rock garden, the first hour of practice looked like a World Cup track walk. Jens Rubow giving it a shot, with the gallery watching on. |
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| This is wine country. |
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| Theo Erlangsen sending the rock garden... |
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| ... and checking out the results with Thomas. |
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| Francois du Toit dialing in the rock line during morning practice. |
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| Mark Hopkins doing some in-race product testing on the new PYGA enduro rig. |
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| Jacques Prins exiting the rock garden into some loose, off camber sketchyness. |
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| Ike Klaassen - 11 years old - like a boss. |
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| Rupert von Tutschek. |
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| The newly added switchback dust fest. |
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| Jason Gorman. |
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| Duran van Eeden - 5th. |
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| Pieter van der Merwe getting it wrong in the loose stuff and somehow slicing his front sidewall - as shown by the white puff of Stans. |
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| Stefan Garlicki showing us how its done right. 2nd overall. |
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| Adi van der Merwe - 4th. |
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| Tiaan van der Merwe. |
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| Andrew Neethling pinned on his way to the top spot. |
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| Rika Olivier - top lady as usual. |
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| Jens Rubow pinned into the snake pit. |
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| Roman Kumpers exiting the snake pit. |
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| Dane Olsen. |
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| Andrew Neethling's number one fan - kitted out and ready to rock. |
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| Sub Junior, Zachariah Wolfson, taking a fall but getting up and completing the track like a champion. |
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| Needles in his natural habitat. |
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| Jonty Neethling on his way to 3rd. |
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| Photo credit: Jenny Nel. |
Top 10 overall:
1. Andrew Neethling - 02:08.908 36.3
2. Stefan Garlicki - 02:10.611 (+00:01.703)
3. Jonty Neethling - 02:11.134 (+00:02.226)
4. Adi van der Merwe - 02:11.804 (+00:02.896)
5. Duran van Eeden - 02:15.723 (+00:06.815)
6. Theo Erlangsen - 02:16.946 (+00:08.038 )
7. Myles Kelsey - 02:22.695 (+00:13.787)
8. Dane Olsen - 02:26.049 (+00:17.141)
9. Roman Kumpers - 02:28.490 (+00:19.582)
10. Francois du Toit - 02:28.680 (+00:19.772)
Full results can be viewed here.
A big thank you to these guys for making round 1 of WPDH 2015 happen:
Duane Bosch - Shuttles organizing and trailer
County Ford - Ford Rangers for shuttles
Jan van Schalkwyk - Building and preparing the track, generator, trailer
Karl Ebal - Shuttles organizing,
XFusion - Michael and Jaco for noise,
Mobii- assistance with timming
Author Info:
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On a side note, will Polygon ook Jonty up with a race kit?