Olivier Bareaud leads Richard Dweza in the Quarter Finals. Photo Candice Bouwer
Grabow, South Africa- In a drama-filled day, Olivier Bareaud emerged as the winner at the Houwteq Downhill Challenge, with qualifiers winner Oliver Nielsen second, after Mischo Erban and Mike Zietsman crashed in the final while leading our of the bottom right-hander.
IGSA World Cup Series points leader Erban has suffered a badly-sprained ankle and will have to see how quickly it heals coming up to next weekend Hot Heels Africa season finale. Bareaud also strained his knee in the semi-finals.
The day saw some very fast racing, but the corner claimed several victims as a south-east tail-wind pushed up the speed at which riders were entering it. Terry Terreblanche suffered a concussion and Chris Lubbe a cracked elbow during a crash in a practice run in the morning.
Number four qualifier Richard Dweza took a tumble from a speed wobble as he came out of the corner towards the finish in the quarter-finals. Three of the riders in the first semi-final heat also came to grief.
Newcomers Raoul van den Berg and Paul du Plessis had excellent novice races, both making it through to the consolation final, which also saw a crash.
Andreas Johnson from Sweden leaves the start area. Photo Candice Bouwer
Current women’s IGSA World Cup Series number one Dasha Kornienko was knocked out in the quarter-finals, and her appearance at the race sparked lots of interest from potential women riders.
Glen Phillips confirmed his ability to pull off surprises as he won the street luge, which was run in GP start format, after Russell Naude had finished first in both the first two runs and the qualifiers.
