Table of contents
- Motorcycle tour – on the road in Lesotho (South Africa) Wayne’s World
- The adventure really starts tomorrow
- The Pirellis whimper, Wayne grins happily
- About the person: Wayne Doran
Jorg Lohse
26th pictures
Jorg Lohse
1/26
On dusty slopes through Lesotho’s breathtaking nature.
Jorg Lohse
2/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
3/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
4/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
5/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
6/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
7/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
8/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
9/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
10/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
11/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
12/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
13/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
14/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
15/26
Raise your cups: in Africa’s highest pub on the Sani Pass you can see stars particularly well.
Jorg Lohse
16/26
High spirits: As if out of nowhere, enthusiastic kids appear at every stop.
Jorg Lohse
17/26
Aim high: At the Drakensberg we cross the highest road in southern Africa.
Jorg Lohse
18/26
Ex-Grand Prix driver, ex-Ducati importer, now Mr. Pirelli in South Africa: Wayne Doran.
Jorg Lohse
19/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
20/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
21/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
Jorg Lohse
22/26
Out and about in Lesotho.
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Out and about in Lesotho.
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Out and about in Lesotho.
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Out and about in Lesotho.
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Out and about in Lesotho.
to travel
Motorcycle tour – on the road in Lesotho – South Africa
Motorcycle tour – on the road in Lesotho (South Africa)
Wayne’s World
We’re standing on a rocked racetrack in the no man’s land of South Africa. The mood is as gloomy as the weather. Until the Pirelli man says to us: “Come on, boys, let’s have fun. Let’s take the ruffians. I’ll show you my home route. ”Welcome to Wayne’s World.
Jorg Lohse
06/23/2016
Welkom has long left its prime. If it ever existed at all. Okay, sometime between 1999 and 2004 the MotoGP circus even played here on the Phakisa Freeway, three hours south of Johannesburg. And after all, Valentino has recently triumphed. In the meantime, however, there is morbid charm about the circuit. Every now and then a couple of fast guys get lost on the crumbling asphalt for race training. Or a handful of journalists, like today, can get the latest sports tires from Pirelli testing. It’s fun until a few big drops hit the visor. The view into the endless pampas gives little hope. The thick soup sticks as tough as honey over the Freestate of South Africa. Pack up and go. But where?
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Wayne Doran doesn’t want to turn off his big grin, even with this gloomy prospect. The Pirelli man “south of the Sahara” still has an arrow in his quiver: “Do you want to experience my real Africa? It’s not far from here. Let’s go! “Passing huge, highly toxic waste heaps from long-abandoned gold mines, we leave Welkom on straight country roads heading south-east. At some point the endless surface in green becomes increasingly wrinkled.
The adventure really starts tomorrow
Towards evening the sun finally wins and for the day’s finale it sculpts the angular boulders like monstrous monoliths out of the landscape of the Golden Gate National Park. We are amazed: Thank you, Wayne. But he only waves it away: “Better get a good night’s sleep, tomorrow the adventure really starts. We keep going. To Lesotho. “Somehow Wayne managed to get a couple of big-size enduros on pithy coarse-grains in front of our hotel in Clarens overnight. And his buddy Dean also joins the troupe on his 990 adventure: “The man is a doctor. Just in case …”
Dean’s first case has to be treated an hour later. At the border to Lesotho he looks in vain for his passport: “In Johannesburg it was still in the leg pocket. Must have fallen out. ”The young border woman only smiles at the excuses and waves us through without hesitation – after she has plucked a few bills from Wayne’s passport.
Jorg Lohse
High spirits: As if out of nowhere, enthusiastic kids appear at every stop.
The mountains around us are fantastic. Huge rock faces encompass the small kingdom in the middle of large South Africa. The day’s destination is the Katse Dam, a mighty reservoir in the interior of the country. But before we can give our bikes the spurs, we first feel our way through the packed border town of Butha-Buthe. Crowds in front of food stalls, barkers ready to jump in front of crooked corrugated iron huts, wildly shooting minivans with bass boosters turned up to the limit urge caution. Such a taxi driver dances into his rolling disco at the gas station. Wayne explains: “In Lesotho, change is often given in the form of grass!”
Oh, maybe it’s good that we have the doctor in our luggage? But we don’t see Dean again until the evening: “My tire is losing air, I have to look for a compressor!” And he’s gone. Fortunately, a few kilometers later the hustle and bustle has also disappeared. We enjoy breathtaking nature on almost empty streets. Again and again high plateaus are cut through by deep canyons.
The Pirellis whimper, Wayne grins happily
No sooner have we reached the stage destination at Katse Dam with a sky landscape that can hardly be surpassed in drama, than a huge thunderstorm unloads over the reservoir. We are excited. And even more hooked on Wayne’s world. Tomorrow to the Sani-Pass, we beg at dinner. Dean argues against it: “To drive on the third steepest pass in the world with this change in weather is pure madness.” Wayne’s smile also freezes.
But only briefly. Already at breakfast his teeth are flashing again: “Okay boys, we dare!” In a zigzag we drive the Hochbeiner over gravel roads, through mud puddles and on natural passes eastwards. And when will it finally get hairy? Not more! In return for mining rights, the Chinese have now perfectly tarred the last 50 kilometers. The Pirellis whimper, Wayne grins happily, and we’re in seventh heaven: Yes, that’s exactly our world!
About the person: Wayne Doran
Jorg Lohse
Ex-Grand Prix driver, ex-Ducati importer, now Mr. Pirelli in South Africa: Wayne Doran.
He is the Pirelli man in southern Africa. From Johannesburg, Wayne Doran, 52, has been responsible for motorcycle tire sales for the Italian tire company on the black continent “everywhere south of the Sahara” since 2010. Weirdest business?
“A couple of super rich from Angola. Order two containers of Supercorsa racing tires and pay cash! ”Before joining Pirelli, Wayne competed in various South African championships, and in 1991 even in the 250cc motorcycle world championship.
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