KRISTENE Smuts became the first female rider to win the national Motorcycle Economy Run in its 27-year history. What made her feat so amazing was the fact that she started the Retirement Fund Solutions - sponsored 2009 event, at Loskop Dam, near Groblersdal, eight minutes late due to her BMW 650 CS having a flat battery!
Riding for the eight-bike Auto Alpina team, led by Denver Biggs, Smuts averaged 3.2l /100km for the 950km event, also coming out top in Class A for motorcycles up to 700cc capacity. Kristene is an IT specialist .
She rides her own BMW F800S and is very active in the Think Bike motorcycle safety initiative.
Belinda Barnard, on a Kawasaki ER- 6F, placed fourth overall and was the second-highest-placed female rider, with Ursula Reimer third among the female riders and an excellent sixth overall on a BMW F800 ST. Reimer also won the Rookie award .
Second overall, and also competing in Class A, was last year’s winner, Reg Gurnell on a KTM 690 SMC with a fuel consumption figure of 3.4l /100km.
The remainder of the top 10 was made up of Belinda Barnard; last year’s Rookie of the Year Roelof ter Stege, son of off- road racing co-driver Hennie (fifth overall on another class A Kawasaki ER-6F); Ursula Reimer; Mike Kuit on a BMW F650 GS (seventh overall and first in class G for dual-purpose motorcycles from 701cc to 1000cc); former overall winner Graham Mephius (eighth overall on a class A Suzuki GSX 650 F); Gerhard Schutte on a Triumph ST 1050 (ninth overall and first in class C for motorcycles from 1011cc to 1200cc) and Hennie ter Stege (10th overall on a class G BMW F800 GS).
Other class winners
Class D (over 1200cc): Mike Peel, Harley Davidson Sportster, 15th overall, 4.40l /100km.
Class E (touring motorcycles with panniers attached): Roger Faulkner- Smith, BMW RT, 19th overall, 4.57l /100km.
Class F (dual-purpose motorcycles up to 700cc): Denver Biggs, BMW 650 X Country, 11th overall, 4.04l /100km.
Class H (dual-purpose motorcycles over 1000cc): Brian Stobbart, Buell Ulysses, 18th overall, 4.52l /100km.
Class I (cruisers): Doug Moss, Triumph Speedmaster, 20th overall, 4.62l /100km.
Class J (pillion passenger up to 1200cc): Andre Schoeman and Angelique Schoeman, BMW 1200 RT, 22nd overall, 4.70l /100km.
Class M (modified): Tinus Janse van Rensburg, Suzuki GSX 1300 R, 12th overall, 4.14l /100km.
Auto Alpina, with 13 awards, took the team prize, BMW the manufacturers’ trophy and the Bertus Luus memorial trophy for good sportsmanship went to Chris de Wit, a former manager of Nissan Motorsport who fell on Robbers Pass, near Pilgrim’s Rest, but still managed to reach the finish of the section in time.
Motorcycling personality Clive Strugnell, who has competed in all 27 economy runs held to date, finished 30th overall and fourth in Class D on a Suzuki B-King.
The tight economic situation, the fact that the event was held in the middle of winter and a clash with the 1000 Bikes Show had a negative effect on the entry, which amounted to 50 riders. Clerk of the course Francois Jordaan had hoped for 75 entrants. It was a keenly contested event, nevertheless.
The event, which is organised by the Pretoria Motor Club, was run over two days, using the picturesque but demanding roads of Mpumalanga, with the finish at the Numbi Hotel in Hazyview.
Chris du Plooy, CEO of the event’s sponsors, RFS, and a competitor on the event and in national off-road championship racing, announced that his company was so pleased with its support of the event that RFS would extend sponsorship to the 2015 Motorcycle Economy Run.