Musings on the Tankwa Cross Country Rally 2019
Driving back through the great Karoo in Lilith, our trusty Landy, with a beard caked with Tankwa dust, I had a lot of time to reflect on the Tankwa Rally, or as Cornie would say, the Real McGuru.
With me, were my father, wife and daughter, all exhausted from 4 days in the sun and dust, and me, tired, but adrenaline still coursing through my veins.
Clive says there is nothing like it out there, "Tankwa is Tankwa", and I have to concur. However, Tankwa is not JUST Tankwa, it is something special, something more...
I might be wrong on this, so correct me if I am. Tankwa is one of the only two navigational rallies in the entire Southern Africa, the other being the Kalahari Rally.
What makes the Tankwa so special is not the exceptional terrain or the tough technical course/route, it is the PEOPLE, and the EXPERIENCE.
The moment we arrived with a broken brake line, Cornie's first response was: " Welcome, and don't worry, we will sort it out", and that was the attitude for the entire weekend.
It is a race where your friends and family can join in on the adventure and camaraderie that rally riders live for. It was very special to have my wife and daughter (always by my side at a rally) joined by my father and brother and his wife (none who have ever been to a rally like this).
It is a place to meet your Facebook friends in person and share a drink or story and sit around a fire.
It is a place to meet Amageza legends , Dakar heroes and Dakar hopefuls!
Above all of that, it is a place to MAKE new friends, and MAKE new stories for future campfires!!!!
I would like to thank my wife, daughter, father, brother and sister-in-law and all the rest of my family for their amazing support!!
I would also like to thank the best support team (Juan Coetzee, Justin Taylor, Trymore Tassyman Tasara) and best brand out there, KTM Cape Town for getting me through the entire event without an single mechanical issue, my blood runs an even brighter ORANGE (if that is possible) after the Tankwa.
Thank you Enduristan South Africa for providing me with your great products! Rally is a TEAM sport, it would not be possible without you!
I would also like to say a massive thank you to Clive and the entire team. An event like this is a HUGE undertaking! All the marshals, medics, caterers, land owners, and everyone else who helped pull this event off, we as riders all thank you for your efforts, if it were not for you, we would not be able to ride in or see the special part of the world we call the Tankwa. Now for those of you interested in the nitty gritty of the race itself, read further:
The race itself is something completely unique (in my limited rally experience). Firstly it's a challenge just to get to the venue. I have NEVER seen so many flat tires congregated in one place in my life, the legendary R355, the longest stretch of dirt road in South Africa without a single town or petrol station, is famous for destroying tires, and it lived up to its name. We did not lose any tires, but we did lose our brakes a kilometre before the venue due to a rock severing the rear brake line.
When we arrived (without brakes), we manoeuvred as best we could to get set up in the camp (we were some of the first to arrive), and then sat back and watched as fellow competitors, old friends and new friends arrived . By 16:00 we headed to Race HQ for final paperwork, number collection, tracker fitment and scrutineering. By now most teams had arrived and we were all ready to get riding the next day. Before bed time I did my customary stroll through the camp and popped into some camps listening to camp fire stories of previous events, bikes, and all the other things we talk about around camp fires in the Tankwa.
We (the rally class) set off first each day, and so at 8am on Friday morning we set off on our first stage which was a 92km time trial. It was very fast, flowy and had great navigation. (Here is a link to the the overview of the ride - https://www.relive.cc/view/vxOQAAMrZMO ) That afternoon we set out on a liaison to Halfway House Tankwa, to complete two loops. The 2 loops turned into 1 when we accidentally got set off in the wrong direction. Rally bikes scattered in ALL directions trying to make sense of the road book. I wish I could see what the tracking looked like, as I am sure it was like fireworks on new year's, bikes absolutely all over the place. After we realised we are not going to find our way we headed back to the start, and were told that we don't have to worry about lost time, we are only doing one loop and we were set off in the right direction as we arrived. This loop was quite fun, with a great mix of technical section and fast hard pack gravel to some fesh-fesh sections. We liaisoned back as the sun was setting and had a great meal of potjiekos before heading to bed to get enough sleep for the next day.
Saturday, Special 2 was the longest day with 468km total. We had one liaison and then special stage for the rest of the day. The entire day altered between technical sections, rocky roads, super fast hard pack roads, fence lines and extremely technical sections. To me this was the best day and I had the most fun, just as you got tired of the technical sections, the route would open up and you would be riding on a moon landscape where there is NOTHING, at 140km/h, and boom, its gets technical again. At the end of the day Martin Lourens and I were chatting and he said - "If you like riding a bike, today was a great day."
That night there were a lot of tired bodies and minds in the camp, and the campsite was definitely quieter than the night before as everyone dozed off to sleep with tired bodies. It was also a day that marked the spirit of rally riding as some of us came together to wait for some of the teams that came in way after dark. The day tested riders and bikes, as well as the ability of riders to just push on and finish the day no matter how tough it gets. Huge respect to every rider that decided to push on and finish that day, that is what rally is all about. Here the team from Honda Wing Tygerberg really showed us how to stick together as a team, ride together and get it done, you guys were awesome. Here is an overview of day 2 - https://www.relive.cc/view/v8qkNNBR536
Marking the roadbook on Saturday night it was clear to me that the ORGA had no intentions of making the last day easy for us. They wanted to make sure that we EARNED our finishers medals.
Lining up on Sunday morning had us staring down the barrel of a 373km day with 2 liaisons and 3 specials, with the 3rd and last special being mostly 70km of river beds mixed with what is for me hard enduro (we are talking boulders).
Day 3, was sure tough and tested our mettle and resolve and willpower! Here is a link to the route (https://www.relive.cc/view/vr63ZZzB78O), if you look closely, you will see where I took a wrong turn and actually did the river section twice (once up and once down) by mistake and had to re-do it coming back on the actual route (Ek was nie dik van die lag nie).
As day 3 drew to a close, and those of us still left at the camp congregated for the prize giving. To my surprise/shock I managed 3rd place(super chuffed). Celebration and jubilation followed as we braaied and kuiered late into the night, sharing stories of the things we loved.
Congratulation to Martin Lourens in first and Johan Van Wyk in second place in the rally class, and congratulations to ever single finisher, it was tough!
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