Dirtopia Enduro 2014, Stellenbosch, South Africa

May 20, 2014
by Ewald Sadie  
Paperwork
  Paperwork

Pre-race chit chat
  Pre-race chit chat

Race organiser Meurant Botha briefing the riders
  Race organizer Meurant Botha briefing the riders

Delvera Wine Estate is a great resource to Capetonians, located just 45min outside of Cape Town. They have all manner of exciting trails, obstacle courses and jump tracks to hone your skills on, before enjoying a tasty beverage and satisfying meal. Dirtopia has setup their home here and over the last ten years have built up the wine farm and surrounding areas into an ideal playground for kids young and old.

This past weekend saw the Dirtopia decade derby go down at Delvera and among the events on offer, was the 5 stage Enduro, with more than 100 riders taking part. The fledgling discipline is starting to gain momentum and this weekend's course showed that this is not only a sport for downhillers with an on-fire Matt Lombardi taking the win.

Matt Lombardi showing us that Enduro isn t just for ex downhillers
  Matt Lombardi, showing us that winning an Enduro isn't just for ex downhillers

Liason 1
  Liason 1

Liason 1
  Liason 1

Another tough day in Cape Town
  Another tough day in Cape Town

Surprisingly, many of the entrants have never progressed beyond the jump / 4x track into the hills behind. Meurant Botha did a great job laying out 5 stages that combined the best of what their trails had to offer. The courses included a mix of smooth flowing, loose and rocky, off-piste, wide-open and tight and techy trails. The route rewarded riders with the ability to lay down the horsepower with explosive bursts out of tight turns. There were some steep liaisons but everyone enjoyed it in the end, and the suffering was long forgotten after the first drifty turns.

Thanks to Meurant and Arina for a great event and now that we know what lies in those hills I'm sure many will be back for more. Meurant worked miracles with a relatively small hill and created 5 fun stages, catering for broad smiles all round.

Riders q for the start of SS1
  Riders q for the start of SS1

Gina Nixon coming home in 2nd position for the ladies
  Gina Nixon coming home in 2nd position for the ladies

The king of the day Matt Lombardi bombing down SS1
  The king of the day, Matt Lombardi, bombing down SS1

Martin Hattingh on SS1
  Martin Hattingh on SS1

Suns out guns out for Henlu coming down SS1
  Suns out guns out for Henlu, coming down SS1

"I was super excited to be racing another Enduro race. I was a bit off my best with a head-cold but thoroughly enjoyed the day and riding some more blind trails. I was happy with 3rd and will definitely be putting more short-intervals into the training plan in an effort to close the gap on Matt and Jonty" ~ Gary Barnad - 3rd

Bennet Nel descending on SS2
  Bennet Nel descending on SS2

Rika Olivier on SS2 the fastest lady of the day
  Rika Olivier on SS2, the fastest lady of the day

Reto Mani successfully navigating around the corner that caught out 80 of the field
  Reto Mani successfully navigating around the corner that caught out 80% of the field

Jonty Neethling on the power down SS2 coming home in 2nd
  Jonty Neethling on the power down SS2, coming home in 2nd

Calvin Reck on SS2
  Calvin Reck on SS2

Liason 3
  Liason 3

Gys Malan foot out on his first Enduro
  Gys Malan, foot out on his first Enduro

Gary Barnard on SS3 coming home in 3rd despite being a bit under the weather
  Gary Barnard on SS3, coming home in 3rd despite being a bit under the weather

Hanri Dalton on SS3 coming in 3rd for the ladies
  Hanri Dalton on SS3, coming in 3rd for the ladies

Ivo Kittel and Rena Grubert on Liason 4
  Ivo Kittel and Rena Grubert on Liason 4

Matthieu Hamel absolutely pinned on the last stretch of SS4
  Matthieu Hamel absolutely pinned on the last stretch of SS4

Riders making their way through the autumn vines on Liason 5
  Riders making their way through the autumn vines on Liason 5

Daniel Myburgh on SS5
  Daniel Myburgh on SS5

Martin Prest on SS5
  Martin Prest on SS5

Darryn Stow on SS5 through the forest
  Darryn Stow on SS5 through the forest

Dirtopia Enduro 2014
  Dirtopia Enduro 2014

Dirtopia Enduro 2014 womens podium
  Dirtopia Enduro 2014 women's podium

Top 3 women:
Rika Olivier
Gina Nixon
Hanri Dalton

Dirtopia Enduro 2014 mens podium
  Dirtopia Enduro 2014 men's podium

Top 3 men:
Matt Lombardi
Jonty Neethling
Gary Barnard

Words by Gary Barnard & Ewald Sadie
Photos by Ewald Sadie


Author Info:
esphotography avatar

Member since Dec 20, 2011
61 articles

22 Comments
  • 7 1
 I was born here, thirty years ago, and still live here, but because my skin is white I am not a African? Darn, fail on my side! I will have to chat about that to my ancestors I guess.... But seriously, these races are open to everyone and anyone, so if you want to come and ride, bring your bike and join the fun.
  • 3 1
 CASTLE LAGER!!!
  • 2 1
 Castle lager rules
must be enduro :-)
  • 2 1
 Eagerly waiting for a Enduro event in JoBurg
  • 2 1
 Blurred shot through the grass is very nice.
  • 2 1
 Is Jonty doing his best Staying Alive imprersination
  • 2 1
 Nicely said!
  • 2 2
 Not many comments here. Wonder why?
  • 1 1
 I blame mackster23...
  • 2 3
 Awesome event as usual!!! Thanks Meurant!!!
  • 3 5
 That was pretty enduro!
  • 3 1
 So Enduro
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