New Zealander Chris Birch powers KTM to victory in Roof of Africa

From KTM

After three days of torturous Enduro riding in the race that is called the Mother of all Hard Enduro races, Chris Birch, riding a KTM 300 EXC was not only winner of the notorious Roof of Africa - he also did it by a huge margin of 48.5 minutes.

The New Zealander rode his own race from start to finish over three days and 450 tortuous kilometers in the tiny kingdom of Lesotho in the heart of southern Africa. The 2008 race was the most technically demanding in the event's 41-year history, but despite that there has rarely been so many finishers, a tribute perhaps to the increasingly popularity of Hard Enduro as an attractive offroad sport.

"Today I am exhausted," Birch told reporters after the finish. "Over three days the difficulty factor stepped up drastically every day…. I am tired now but I would like to come back next year to defend my title." Birch was on his KTM for a total of 15 hours 53 minutes and 36 seconds and said the race compares well with any of the top events he had competed in all around the world. Two South African riders, Jade Gutzeit (Yamaha) and Darryl Curtis (KTM) took the minor overall places and seven of the top 10 riders in the overall results were onboard KTM machines. KTM riders took all three places in the open class.

Only the toughest survive After the traditional "Round the Houses" in Lesotho's capital Maseru on the opening day, the almost 100km long "Time Trial" already eliminated many of the field. This was followed by an exhausting 180km of extreme terrain on day two that cut the remaining field in half. It was only the toughest of the original 300 starters that were still in the saddle for the final race day of 180 km with just 43 riders completing the entire program.

Overall results
1. Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM
2. Jade Gutzeit, South Africa, Yamaha
3. Darryl Curtis, South Africa, KTM
4. Bartosz Oblucki, Poland, Husqvarna
5. Craig Stone, KTM

Result Open Class
1. Chris Birch, New Zealand, KTM
2. Louwrens Mahony, South Africa, KTM
3. Mark Fox, South Africa, KTM