Thaba Bosiu, Lesotho, 05 December 2019
The Proudly Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha team riders, Kyle Flanagan (competing in Gold), Lloyd Kirk (Competing in Gold) and Bruce May (Competing in Silver), as well as the entire bLU cRU support team attended the 2019 Motul Roof of Africa with the goal of taking podiums for the Yamaha team.
Thursday 05 December, 09:00, Round the Houses
Thursday morning saw the team take to the streets of Maseru for the traditional Roof of Africa “Round the Houses” event. Kyle Flanagan put on a spectacular show for the crowd in the Gold race as he was battling for second position but would eventually end up in fourth.
Thursday 05 December, Thaba Bosiu, 11:00, Time Trial (Silver and Bronze)
Bruce May took off into the Lesotho mountains and would qualify a solid tenth place.
Thursday 05 December, Maseru Mall, 11:00, EnduroX (Gold only)
Kyle Flanagan, put on quite a show for the crowd the whole day and eventually end up with a solid third place and a great qualifying position for the following day.
Lloyd Kirk, who led one of the EnduroX heats would eventually secure a solid ninth place and a good starting time for the following day.
Friday 06 December, Thaba Bosiu, Day one of racing
06:00 saw the start of the racing as Kyle Flanagan, Lloyd Kirk and the rest of the Gold riders took off into Lesotho Mountains for a gruelling 180 Kilometre race.
Kyle Flanagan would eventually take a solid third place for day one just behind his 2019 National Enduro rival Scott Bouverie in second and Wade Young taking first.
Lloyd Kirk would unfortunately be forced to pull out of the race due to a severe viral infection and was taken back to the pits by the medics and immediately placed on a drip.
Bruce May took off at 07:00 with the rest of the Silver competitors for a total distance of 158 Kilometres and would eventually take a solid fourth place.
Saturday 07 December, Thaba Bosiu, Day two of racing, The Final day
Once again the Gold riders would take off at 06:00 into the Lesotho Mountains for a total racing distance of 136 Kilometres.
Kyle Flanagan took off, bar-to-bar, with rival competitor Scott Bouverie as Wayde Young started ten minutes ahead of both competitors. Kyle knew he had to ride hard to try close down the time Wade had on him and he set off to do exactly that.
Kyle would eventually secure a third place for the day and a third place overall with a mere three seconds ahead of multiple extreme enduro event winner Graham Jarvis. “I knew I had to push hard today to make sure I closed down the gap and I’m really happy with my overall result. A massive thank you to the entire Proudly Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha team for making this happen” says Kyle Flanagan.
Kyle would see that the Gold podium was an all-South African podium, Wayde Young first, Scott Bouverie second and Kyle Flanagan third.
Bruce May would set off into in the Lesotho Mountains with the Silver competitors at 07:00.
Bruce knew he had to push hard this time round to close down the gap and try secure a podium finish.
“Coming into day two my plan was to try ride smoother and continue to push through to achieve a podium finish in the end “says Bruce May. Bruce did exactly that in the end and would secure a third place for the Motul Roof of Africa 2019 Silver class.
In conclusion the Proudly Bidvest bLU cRU Yamaha team did exactly what they had set out to do and once again secured podium positions with Yamaha’s dominance.
Thank-you must be expressed to the entire bLU cRU team and sponsors for their support throughout the 2019 racing year: Bidvest, AMP, Shoei, Acerbis, RK Chains, Progrip, Yamalube, GYTR, PSP Racing, Metzeler Carbontech, Hayward Suspension and Racestar Graffix.
