Race Nation Honda Claims Championship and Titles At Koue Bokkeveld 400 on their Houser Racing & Elka Suspension & HMF powered machines
Race Nation Honda’s Dirkie Baard is the 2009 Pro 450 Class champion and has won the overall quad category of the SA National Off-road Quad Championship after winning the Koue Bokkeveld 400, the final round of the championship held in the Ceres area in the Western Cape this past weekend (16 and 17 October).
This is the second race Baard has won this season and he has added this victory to his historical win of the Quad Roof of Africa earlier this year in Lesotho when he became the first foreign off-road quad racer to win this traditional event. Except for the double victories, Baard has also added three more overall runner-up results to his tally and has the SA National Quad MX championship to add to his 2009 accolades.
The 21 year-old Namibian posted the fastest time after the qualifying time-trial of the Koue Bokkeveld 400 on Friday (16 October) and started the 380 kilometre race from pole position. A crash early into the race as well as a flat tyre could not keep him from remaining at the front for almost the whole race and he beat the 2008 overall quad winner, Brian Baragwanath, to the finnish.
There were more podium positions for Race Nation Honda with the ever consistent Juan Coetzee finishing fourth overall in the Western Cape to confirm his second place on the overall standings for 2009 putting Race Nation Honda at the top of the overall quad standings for the season.
Coetzee also claimed the third place in the Pro 450 Class championship and has added these podium positions to his third place in the Pro 450 Class of the SA national Quad MX Championship and the runner-up place in the Northern Regions Quad MX Championship.
A very successful racing season was rounded off by Race Nation Quad Revolution’s Paulo Costa who brought his Honda TRX700XX home in sixth place in the Open Class at the Koue Bokkeveld 400. This result, however, put him third in the Open Class Championship for the 2009 season and added another championship podium position to Race Nation Honda’s quad racing list.
Dirkie Baard: 2009 Pro 450 Class Champion and overall winner of the off-road quad category:
“This is like a dream come true. It was not easy to win some of South Africa’s toughest off-road races and to compete against the country’s best racers and for that I have to thank my sponsors, Race Nation Honda and Pupkewitz Honda in Namibia as well as Quad Revolution for their support. It was difficult to leave Namibia to race in South Africa and I would like to thank my family who travelled all the way from Namibia to my races in South Africa,and the great products on my quad like my new Houser Pro series a-arms together with my Elka Factory shocks made it all easier for me to win”
Juan Coetzee: Runner-up in the overall off-road quad category & third in Pro 450 classs:
“It was a privilege to compete for Honda Race Nation on my HMF powered TRX450R that brought me home race after race. It tackled the toughest of terrains, which was made easier to traverse across with the combination of my Elka factory and Houser Pro series suspension. My thanks go to my sponsors Race Nation Honda, Quad Revolution and HDM Productions for believing in me and my parents who sacrificed their time to support me at the races.”
Quote from André Strauss, Manager Team Race Nation Honda:
“We are delighted to win another national championship with Dirkie. Juan Coetzee and Paulo Costa also made us proud and both finished an extremely competitive 2009 season on the podium. They have claimed championships titles by combining their talents and commitment with the Honda’s reliability, toughness and capabilities. I would like to thank Honda South Africa, Castrol, Streamline,Elka suspension & HMF Performance for their support this season”