Mud, heat and intense competition is what the competitors to the 2009 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa will have to overcome during the three day event from the 26th to the 28th of this month. According to the long term weather forecast rain is expected for the two days prior to the event which should leave most tracks quite muddy and keep dust to a minimum. However, for the Friday and Saturday clear skies with maximum temperatures of 32 and 33 degree Celsius are forecast by AccuWeather.

With a mere 3 weeks to go before the start of the 42nd Roof of Africa event in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho, entries are flooding in and competitors are gearing themselves for the Mother of All Enduros. The 2009 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa race will not be held along the same route as last year’s race, in fact, it should be even more difficult and testing going through the Black Maluti Mountains in mid-Lesotho. This year the race will again live up to its famous reputation.

In a month’s time the 42nd Roof of Africa event will be held in the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. The first Roof of Africa took place in 1967, and with the exception of 1998 when the race was cancelled due to unrest in the country, Lesotho played host to this extremely grueling event, considered one of the five most extreme endurance motorcycle races on the globe.
After the announcement that the Roof will be included in a five part series from 2011, competitors from around the world have now started entering for the 2009 Baboons Lesotho Sun Roof of Africa race. Of the 124 entries received to date 100 competitors are from South Africa, the remaining 20% are from around the world. No less than 7 German riders and 5 Australians have already entered. With only one New Zealand rider appearing on the list, whilst last year’s winner, Chris Birch’s name is not on the list yet, although it is a known fact that he will be defending his title.

It was a historical meeting which took place on August 25th inside conference room K24 at Munich Airport’s Municon Center. For the first time, the world’s top five Extreme Enduro  race promotors gathered together for a relaxed discussion about the present and future of the Hard-enduro race scene.