Wednesday, 24 November 2010 ? Maseru (Lesotho) ? With the 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa race, one of the toughest dirt-bike enduro events in the world that kicks off tomorrow, race organisers have introduced the use of a satellite tracking system that will allow them to follow the front runners while enthusiasts at home will be able to follow the leaders on-line.
The Pretoria based company, Fluxcon, a mobile satellite tracking service provider with vast experience in providing satellite communication solutions throughout Africa, has made a limited number of tracking units on a trial basis available to the organisers that will be secured to the bikes of ten of the top competitors. Chris Birch (NZ); Andreas Lettenbichler (Germany); Simo Kirssi (Fin); Paul Bolton (UK); Lionel Seydoux (Swiss) and Gerhard Forster (Germany) are the international riders who will carry these trial units while South Africans Jade Gutzeit, Darryl Curtis, Kenneth Gilbert and Shannon Frost (SA) have been selected to form part of the trial. It will be the first time that units like these will be tested under these extreme racing conditions in Lesotho.
Due to the mountainous terrain, tracking riders competing in Lesotho has been problematic in the past, but the use of Fluxcon devices might be the solution. This ground-breaking technology will not only increase the safety of the competitors, as the organisers will know where they are on the route, but will allow enthusiasts at home to see how they are moving on the route.
There will be a link to the live tracking on the website
www.roof-of-africa.com
However, it?s not only the top ten riders who will be looked after. This year all competitors will be wearing an arm band and by swiping these at certain points on the route, the electronic system will tell the organisers who has been through these checkpoints. All information will be relayed back to Race Control where the organisers can keep an eye on competitors.
Various marshals will also be in action for the race. This year the experienced Off-road Marshal Unit, who have served as marshals at various major off-road races, including the Toyota Kalahari 1000 Desert Race in Botswana, will have 11 teams on the routes. They will be in constant contact with the Race Control Office via their radio systems.
The Off-road Marshal Unit will be supported by more than 80 local LORA (Lesotho Off-road Association) marshals who have been involved with racing in Lesotho for years and know the areas well. The marshals will again be supported by about 70 ?community marshals? who will keep an eye on the enthusiastic local supporters and children living in the rural areas in the Roma, Ramabanta and Bushmans Pass areas. The community marshals are respected individuals in their communities and will fulfil their duties for the race with authority.
The organisers have also acquired the services of two helicopters for this international event. The Lesotho Defence Force helicopter will be used in the case of medical emergencies while local business tycoon, Mr Sam Matekane, has made the services of his helicopter available to the various television crews that will cover the race.
Organising a respected and well-known international race like the Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa, that will take place for the 42nd time this year, will be impossible without the support of companies like Yamaha SA and KTM SA. KTM bikes have been used to mark the route while Yamaha is offering a free support service to Yamaha competitors.
The 2010 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa will start tomorrow (25 November) with the traditional Round the Houses race in the streets of Maseru, after which they will tackle Racing Section 1, a 140km route in the mountains on the outskirts of Maseru. Racing Sections 2 and 3 will follow on Friday and Saturday with the starting point at Roma.
http://tracking.roof-of-africa.com/