SA OCR Champ, Van Tonder, Claims an Impressive 11TH Warrior OCR Win:
Thomas van Tonder win’s his 11th Warrior Race Photo: ZC Marketing Consulting
PIETERMARITZBURG, KZN, 3 May 2017 – Sunday, 23 April 2017, saw Jeep Team OCR Athletes, Thomas van Tonder, Carina Marx, and Jay Jay Deysel take on Race #3 of the Toyota Warrior Series, powered by Reebok, at Van Gaalen Cheese Farm in the North West.
Over the weekend of the 22 and 23 April, South Africa’s largest obstacle course race series attracted almost 2000 competitors eager to face the challenge of the world-class Toyota Warrior obstacle courses have become famous for.
For Jeep Team’s athletes, the racing started with the Black Ops Elite race, the toughest of them all, featuring some 30 obstacles over a 17km trail, designed to challenge endurance, strength and agility.
2016’s SA OCR Men’s Champion, Thomas “BeastMode” van Tonder, claimed his 11th Warrior win in a super-fast time of 01:26:29. Second place went to Greg Avierinos in 01:27:12, and rounding off the podium was Louis Smit, who finished in 01:29:03. Fellow Jeep Team athlete, Jay Jay Deysel, crossed the line in 8th place in a time of 01:41:42.
Says van Tonder, “I am so blessed to be taking home my 11th Warrior Race win. Well done to everyone as this was one tough race.”
Van Tonder‘s winning performance earned him R10 000 prize money and a Warrior-branded Toyota RAV4 to drive around until the next warrior race.
Jeep Team OCR athlete and 2016 SA OCR top 3 female champion, Carina Marx, finished 3rd overall in the Women’s Black Ops Elite race in 2:23:22. Sabrina Daolio took the win in 1:53:15, with Trish Bahlmann in second place in 1:59:03.
The Jeep Team SA teammates then took on the Reebok Team Sprint race – a short, high-intensive course spanning 400m with 10 obstacles. Marx, Van Tonder and Deysel finished in second place behind race-winners Team Nevarest. Third place in the sprint race went to the team from #BeSnapped.
Results – Black Ops Elite
Men
1. Thomas van Tonder 01:26:29
2. Greg Avierinos 01:27:12
3. Louis Smit 01:29:03
Women
1. Sabrina Daolio 01:53:15
2. Trish Bahlmann 01:59:03
3. Carina Marx 02:23:22
Other Jeep News
JEEP TEAM MTB – Old Mutual joBerg2c
Jeep Team all-rounder athlete, Hlubi Mboya Arnold, is currently riding the 9-day MTB race, the Old Mutual joBerg2c. JoBerg2c is the longest paired mountain biking stage race in South Africa. The 9-day, 900km adventure began in Heidelberg, south of Johannesburg, on 21 April 2017 and finishes nine days later in Scottburgh on the KwaZulu-Natal coast.
Mboya and Letshego Zulu have teamed up riding for ‘Ride4Gugu’ in memory of Gugu Zulu, a talented race car driver and 2014 Cape Epic MTB partner to Hlubi Mboya. Gugu proposed to his wife, Letshego, on the 2014 Cape Epic final stage finish line. Gugu Zulu tragically passed away in July 2016 whilst on the Trek4Mandela summit to Mt Kilimanjaro.
Results (Day 1 – 4):
Day 1 (21/4) saw the riders cycle 116km from Karan Beef (Heidelberg) to Frankfort Sports Grounds in the Free State. Mboya and Zulu finished the stage in 04:41:43.
Day 2 (22/4) travelled 93km between Frankfort Sports Grounds and the Reitz Showgrounds. Mboya and Zulu crossed the finish in 06:48:16
Day 3 (23/4), the riders trekked from Reitz to Sterkfontein Dam, just outside Harrismith. The Ride4Gugu duo finished the 122km stage in 09:04:57.
Day 4 (24/4) the riders start at Sterkfontein Dam in the Free State and end in KwaZulu-Natal’s Emseni, a 94km ride saw the Ride4Gugu Female Team finish in 05:58:30.
Day 5 (25/4), considered the hardest of the nine days, covered 123km from Emseni to Clifton School in Nottingham Road. Mboya and Zulu completed the journey in 09:10:49.
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