Nissan Trailseeker Lionman
By Gawie Combrinck
Coached by Hunter Allen
This weekend I raced the second leg of the Gauteng Nissan
Trailseeker Series, The Lionman, at
Mabelingwe game reserve in Limpopo.
The ever-popular series reached it entry cap in record time
again with over 6000 participants pitching up to do the various distances on
the day. We raced the marathon that covered 70km of rocky climbs followed by
super fast twisty sandy roads lined with thousands of thorny bushes waiting to
catch you when you got it wrong in the corners.
The pace was fast and furious from the gun as Pieter
Seyffert (Althech Autopage) strung the bunch out racing for the Dunlop Hotspot
at 12km. With the bunch in tatters, HB Kruger (Team Abantu) sprinted clear to
win the Dunlop hotspot. This was followed with a technical rocky climb up to
the Vodacom tower where HB extended his lead. I managed to keep the gap to HB
and opened up a gap on the rest of the field as well. Down the rocky descent on
the other side of the mountain I put my Conti’s to the test and managed to
close down the gap to 10 seconds to HB.
On the fast flat roads that followed HB proved to have more
power in his legs and opened up the gap on me again. The rest of the day I was
pretty lonely chasing HB and keeping the charging Pieter Seyffert at bay that
was chasing me. The fast flat twisty roads delivered plenty of thrills while
dodging the occasional buck.
On the day HB proved to be the strongest rider taking the
win. I finished second and also took the lead in the series and Pieter Seyffert
rounded of the podium.
It was another great event put on by the Advendurance team
and I’m looking forward to the next race in the series at Hazeldean.
Results
Men:
1. HB Kruger
2. Gawie Combrinck
3. Pieter Seyffert
Next race for me will be the Jock tour in Nelspruit where
I’ll be swapping the MTB for a road bike.
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