Chris Birch navigates his KTM through Bushman’s Pass en route to his second consecutive victory.
The Roof of Africa Rally saw a tough battle for the win with KTM rider Chris Birch snaring the victory once the overall times were adjusted. The New Zealander successfully defended his 2008 title while riding a
KTM 300. He was joined on the podium by countryman Rory Mead, second on his Yamaha, and South Africa’s Jade Gutzeit (
BMW) in third. While Birch was over two hours ahead of second place, Gutzeit was only 12 seconds behind Mead.
Birch was the lead rider and ran into trouble on Day 2, which featured a shortened route. A mislabeled intersection put him on a wrong turn that twisted him so badly that he returned to the start line and tried again. He discussed the issue with race organizers and restarted the race.
“It was really tough, I am not as tired as yesterday, but I worked hard today,” he said. “All I could do when I re-started was to focus and ride my absolute best, but I am very happy to take the trophy home this year.”
BMW’s Andreas Lettenbichler, the winner of this year’s Red Bull Romaniacs, was having an excellent rally before a technical issue with his Beemer forced a premature end with only 15 miles to go in the two-day event.
American Kyle Redmond attempts Pig’s Pass on his Yamaha.
The competitor list for the full route listed 102 starters, but only 23 were able to complete the race. Senior, Master and Silver class riders were slated to traverse 75% of the entire course. Only 4-of-117 made it to that finish line.
2009 Roof of Africa Results:
1. Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM
2. Rory Mead, New Zealand,
Yamaha
3. Jade Gutzeit, South Africa, BMW
