{"id":20707,"date":"2014-11-26T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-11-26T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/2014\/11\/26\/race-report-dirtopia-delheim-enduro-2014-r1841\/"},"modified":"2023-02-08T11:26:31","modified_gmt":"2023-02-08T11:26:31","slug":"race-report-dirtopia-delheim-enduro-2014-r1841","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/race-report-dirtopia-delheim-enduro-2014-r1841\/","title":{"rendered":"Race report: Dirtopia Delheim Enduro 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was back to Delheim, just outside Stellenbosch for the annual Dirtopia Delheim Enduro this weekend. As per usual, the race consisted of 5 fun stages, some with freshly built, loose and slippery single track. The tree tunnels and hard packed gravel\/clay surfaces on stages 2 and 3 meant full aero tucks and seriously impressive speeds, naturally favouring the DH riders. With any event this time of year in the Western Cape, the relentless heat plays a role, but luckily we were blessed with a cool and cloudy day, perfect for racing.<\/p>\n

With the top 5 separated by only 10 seconds over 5 stages, racing was super tight all the way. Last year’s winner Matt Lombardi could only reach third this year, edged out by pro downhiller Stefan Garlicki by just 1 second! Top spot however belonged to another pro downhiller, the one and only Andrew Neethling, with a combined racing time of 11:35, only 3 seconds ahead of Stefan. Younger brother Jonty, came in 5th overall, following Darryn Stow in 4th.<\/p>\n

Race director \/ trail builder Meurant Botha and his team did a stellar job of putting together a smooth and successful event. And a big thank you goes out to our prize sponsors: Ion, Delheim wines, Dirt Apparel, Giant, Falke, Brunox, drinks by Powerade\/Coke & Red Bull, and of course the landowners & Greater Simonsberg Conservancy.<\/p>\n

As a tribute to Mark Hopkins getting married soon, a special bachelors class was introduced for him and the #onelastfreeride crew. Sporting an uncomfortably tight blue power ranger suit and some adult toys, Mark escorted Lola safely through the 5 stages, albeit slightly less inflated. An invite only, impromptu, post race, beer induced, dual slalom was held in an open field shortly after, with Mark and his zero drag skin suit, ‘easily beating the field’.<\/p>\n

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The usual admin and final adjustments before race time.<\/p>\n

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Will Matt Lombardi be on the top step again this year?<\/p>\n

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Mark ‘the power ranger’ Hopkins.<\/p>\n

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Gary Barnard’s serious face. Always a serious contender for the victory, but a massive OTB on SS3 ruined his chances of a podium.<\/p>\n

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Lining up for race briefing.<\/p>\n

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The start arch at Delheim with a world of single track in the background.<\/p>\n

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No need for a caption.<\/p>\n

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Race director \/ Trail builder Meurant Botha briefing the riders.<\/p>\n

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Maybe that’s the secret. A beer before the race and you’ll end up on the top spot?<\/p>\n

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Julien Louw on SS1.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-74887700-1416987412.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Dale Barnard on SS1.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-04200500-1416987405.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Hopkins aka the blue power ranger with Lola about to take it in the face. #onelastfreeride #isthatadildo.<\/p>\n

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Devon Katzen charging.<\/p>\n

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Rika Olivier on SS1. Top lady as usual.<\/p>\n

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Adi van der Merwe on liaison 2.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-11877100-1416987453.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Stefan Garlicki on SS2 on his way to 2nd overall.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-75254600-1416987469.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Myles Kelsey pinned as always, on SS2.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-44478000-1416987473.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-92562700-1416987489.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Andrew Haylett and Andrew Savage on liaison 4.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-69152200-1416987495.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Riders taking a short break at the ION water station.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-85306700-1416987515.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Martin Zietsman flying on SS4.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-64984100-1416987524.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Matt Lombardi racing hard and taking the inside line to finish 3rd.<\/p>\n

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Needles keeping it tidy through the loose stuff to finish in top spot.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-95192200-1416987579.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Sebastian Petersen charging on SS4.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-24133200-1416987590.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nick Muzik swapping his camera for a bike today.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-67914700-1416987602.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

From left, Darryn Stow (4th), Stefan Garlicki (2nd), Andrew Neethling (1st), Meurant Botha (race director), Matt Lombardi (3rd), Jonty Neethling (5th).<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-57088500-1416987607.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-27029400-1416987612.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Nothing beats an impromptu, post race, beer induced, dual slalom.<\/p>\n

\"ccs-62657-0-35886400-1416987615.jpg\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\nMore photos from the event can be viewed and purchased here: http:\/\/www.esphotography.co.za\/race_gallery.php?id=enduro-delheim<\/a>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It was back to Delheim, just outside Stellenbosch for the annual Dirtopia Delheim Enduro this weekend. As per usual, the race consisted of 5 fun stages, some with freshly built, loose and slippery single track. The tree tunnels and hard packed gravel\/clay surfaces on stages 2 and 3 meant full aero tucks and seriously impressive […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[2084,4592,220,4593,416,1401],"featured_location":[],"class_list":["post-20707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","tag-delheim","tag-dirtopia-delheim-enduro","tag-enduro","tag-es-photography","tag-ewald-sadie","tag-stellenbosch"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20707"},{"taxonomy":"featured_location","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bikehub.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/featured_location?post=20707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}