Summarize

It’s been a full year for the Pepson Plastics Husqvarna Motorcycles Racing team, but there is still a major sting in the tail and the team is all set for — the mother of hard enduros. Yes, the Roof of Africa happens in Lesotho’s Maluti Mountains 15-18 November, where two of the world’s leading riders will join the local Pepson Plastics Husqvarna Motorcycles Racing line-up for the Maseru-based epic.

Big news is that British Rockstar Energy Husqvarna Factoty Racing rider and four-time Roof winner Graham Jarvis will be back and looking to add a hat trick of Roof of Africa wins to his trio of Red Bull Erzberg Rodeo wins, five Sea to Sky and Hells Gate and six Red Bull Romaniacs titles fresh off his 2017 Hixpania Hard Enduro success in Spain last weekend. 

“I’m looking forward to another international showdown on the Roof,” Graham admitted. “Last year I beat my arch rival, Spaniard Alfredo Gomez by just nine seconds and I am sure he wants revenge and will be taking on Lesotho’s heat and high elevations with vengeance, never mind a top quality South African field headed by the likes of my Husqvarna teammate Brett Swanepoel. “But I am Roof ready — let’s do this!”

Jarvis won’t be the only international star in the Pepson Plastics Husqvarna Racing Roof of Africa team, with Spanish lady rider Sandra Gomez lining up alongside her brother Alfredo in Lesotho. The 2016 FIM Women’s World Cup and 2015 AMA EnduroCross Cup winner, 2014 Spanish Trials champion and multiple X Games medallist returns to Lesotho after a trail run in the recent double-header enduro there. “We are chasing a women’s category victory to become the second woman to ever finish the Gold class of the Roof of Africa,” Gomez explained.

Newly crowned South African OR2 Cross Country champion Brett Swanepoel heads Pepson Plastics Husqvarna Racing’s South African Roof of Africa charge. Swanepoel was second in the 2014 Roof and third in 2015 and he will be looking to climb on to the top step of the podium this year. “I am better prepared than ever,” Brett admitted. “We had a good run at the Romaniacs and my enduro pace has picked up through the year — I can’t wait for the Roof!”

Matthew Green joins Pepson Plastics Husqvarna Racing as its fourth rider at the Roof of Africa. The promising youngster has taken the local enduro scene by storm, scoring a whitewash in the South African National High School Enduro Championship this year. “I can’t wait to step up for Husqvarna at the Roof of Africa,” Matthew admitted. “I hope to make the team proud in Lesotho.”

“Pepson Plastics Husqvarna Racing has enjoyed a strong 2017 season and we now look forward to closing it off in style at the Roof of Africa,” Husqvarna Motorcycles South Africa brand manager Fred Fensham concluded. “If ever we had a world class team, this is it — British hard enduro hero Graham Jarvis, Spain’s top lady Sandra Gomez, our own superstar in Brett Swanepoel and a most exciting young gun in Matthew Green makes for a formidable line-up. “Best of luck to all of you — let’s do this!”