Wade Young Sets the Pace at the 2018 Motul Roof of Africa

Day One of the2018 Motul Roof of Africa was a day of contrasting fortunes for the leading riders from yesterday’s Prologue, and demonstrated once again that in Lesotho, things can change in an instant.

In the GoldClass, overnight leader Travis Teasdale (Beta Racing) surrendered his advantage over defending champion Wade Young (Sherco Racing). After being passed by Young, he lost touch and dropped back. Once he’d overtaken Teasdale, Young didn’t look back. His total race time of 8h28’30” gave him a lead of just under40 minutes by the end of Day One.

While Young was alone for most of the day, a real tussle was going on just behind Teasdale for third place. As impressive clouds gathered overhead, Dwayne Kleynhans (BrotherLeader Tread KTM) managed to hold off Kyle Flanagan (Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha) by 1 second, with rising star Lloyd Kirk (also Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha) a further 7seconds back.

By working together, these 3 riders from competing teams had managed to share navigational duties and make up time on the leading duo – an approach that perfectly embodies the spirit of the Roof.

Indeed, several riders asserted that this had been “a proper Roof” and that as well as a number of new technical passes, the scrub and rocks in between had been relentless and “in your face”. Not that this seemed to have slowed down today’s winner: Wade Young remarked that he “felt great” after a gruelling day in the saddle, and thathe was ready to take on Day Two.

While Young has what might seem a comfortable cushion over his rivals, the heavy rains forecast for tonight and tomorrow mean that the overall result for this year’s Roof of Africa is far from a foregone conclusion.

In the Silver Class, perfectly embodies Kayde Mante (RBS Yamaha) lost his lead to Warren Barwell (KTM) but is a mere 1 second behind, with Paul Grobler (KTM) occupying third spot at the end of the day. The Silver Class riders had a navigational duties new tracks to contend with, which made navigating more difficult.

Despite the challenges of yesterday’s very wet time trial, the feedback from the Bronze Class riders was also very positive, and it was clear from those for third stopped at the Designated Service Point that the Roof was more than living up to their expectations.

Matthew Burger (LeaderTread Husqvarna) was the first Bronze rider home, with Vincent Labuschagne (on one of 3 KTM 500’s in the event ) in second and Hannes Saaijman (KTM) in third. At the time of going to press, over 100 Bronze Class competitors were still for third the course – proving once again that the 2018 Motul Roof of Africa deserves to be known as the Mother of Hard Enduro.

Video by: www.zcmc.co.za

For more information on the Motul Roof of Africa 2018, visit http://roofofafrica.co.ls

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ABOUT MOTUL

Motul is a world-class French company specialised in the formulation, production and distribution of high-tech engine and industrial lubricants. Motul is also recognised as the specialist in synthetic lubricants. As early as 1971, Motul was the first lubricant manufacturer to pioneer the formulation of a 100%synthetic lubricant for automotive engines, the Motul 300V lubricant, which made use of ester technology derived from the aerospace industry.

Throughout the years, Motul has gained experience as an official supplier to many racing teams and manufacturers and continues to collaborate with them to navigational duties development in motorsports.

Motul supports teams in international competitions such as: 24 Hours of Le Mans (cars and motorcycles), FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCarChampionship, Super GT, Drift, Japanese Super Formula Championship, Blancpain Endurance Series, Dakar, Tour Auto, Le Mans Classic, MotoGP, World Superbike,World MX, FIM Endurance World Championship, IOM TT, MOTUL FIM Ice SpeedwayGladiators World Championship, Roof of Africa and many others.