RUNNING LATE

THE GXCC’S PUSH THE SEASON TO THE LIMIT IN 2020

- Matt Smith

All bets have truly been taken off the table this year due to the ‘C’ word. This thoroughly boring subject has been spoken about far too much over the last 10 months and as this is the first magazine of the post-apocalyptic era there will be nothing but happy healthy racing reported.

One blemish on this rosy article though must be noted is that the Roof of Africa would normally be taking center stage at this time of year but, with a full postponement announced late in November, we must now look forward to November 2021 to once again get out to the clean air and magic of the Maluti Mountains.

What has been fun though these past few months is trying like mad to squeeze any and all racing into what was left of the year. The Nationals Cross-Country, Enduro, and Superbike Championships managed to get enough events in by way of double-headers, and riders and teams alike tore around the country frantically to get those last desperate points to claim Championship glory.

It was the same on the Regional tours also and in particular, the GXCC Club and Regional Championship that was only two events deep before the big handbrake got yanked. Since resumption and with months and rounds lost the idea was to make sure the Championship could be called and with the help of MSA (Motorsport South Africa) enough rounds were agreed to make it happen. Five rounds from an original eight and with now no dropped rounds meant that this would be a tighter series than ever before. Normally over eight rounds you can have one or two bad days at the office and always throw away your worst result but five to count meant no mistakes and a lot of tense faces as the Championship drew to a close.