| This event and race report is supported by Cape Cycle Systems, distributors of SRAM and RockShox in South Africa. |
Set against the rugged slopes of Jonkershoek in Stellenbosch, the second round of the 2026 season unfolded across a weekend of wildly shifting conditions. What began as a dry, dusty track under gusty winds transformed into a slick, technical battle as rain rolled over the valley. On raceday, in the morning, riders who had memorized fast, loose corners suddenly faced slick ruts, slippery hardpack and unpredictable grip. By the middle of the day, with racing well underway, the sun re-emerged, converting slick and sketchy conditions into pure hero dirt.
Overall, the level of competition in Western Cape Downhill racing is higher than it’s been in a very long time. At the sharp end of the race, current World Cup Series racers Theo Erlangsen and Rory Kirk were under more than a little bit of pressure to keep the likes of Johann Potgieter and Stellenbosch local Matt Lombardi off the top steps of the podium. The same can be said for Frankie du Toit and the Elite Women’s field.
Looking at the younger categories, there’s a whole lot of fire coming out of those age groups too. The standard is high and there isn’t much separation between those at the top of their categories. As an example, the Youth Men race came down to just 0.4 of a second and there were over 30 riders on the entry list in this category alone. At the younger end, we have Nipper Girls racing now too, the youngest in this class is just 8-years-old. At the bald, bearded and grey end of the field, the Vets (40-49) and Masters (50-59) have some pretty close racing too.
It’s good to see Downhill Racing in South Africa attract more entries than many XC races, some Stage Races and even Gravel events. It’s been a long time coming but the sport is now, once again, really healthy. The next stop on the calendar is Spice Route, Paarl for a three-day event over 27-29 March. The lower end of this track is very spectator friendly and the venue has restaurants, gardens and plenty of facilities to chill out in. It should be a good weekend of racing. Anyway, back to Jonkershoek – follow our recap of the action in this series of images by official race photographer, Chris Taylor.
Kicking off the photo story with Sprog Boys winner, Daniel Stone. Remember the name. This guy is not slow. He could be a star everyone will be talking about in a few years. Jordan De Goede of Flow Factory was one of the fastest riders on a single-crown bike and ended P11 in Elite Men.Pieter Venter (P5 in Elite Men) finding grip in a turn where there wasn’t much more than powder.The Namibian pinner, Anne Cramer (P1 in Junior Women) always brings her dedication and pace to the races.One of our rookies, Jacob Martin is pretty new to full-suspension bikes, cleats and racing but is loving every minute of it and always learning.Arielle Behr has recently relocated to Stellenbosch (from Pretoria) to study and that has put a lot on her plate. Still, Downhill Racing isn’t a side-dish for Arielle and she is hungrier than ever for success. Flow Factory boss man Jaco Veldsman had a solid ride in a very competive Veteran’s class to take P3.Hout Bay local Barry Futter floats the lower hip jump on his way to P4 in Master’s Men.Zania Steyn took another impressive win in the Master’s Women.Gerhard Hoepfner took the win in the Youth Men race but not before testing the limits of traction in practice. Every split second counts. In the Junior Men’s race Zak Jones came out on top with a winning margin of less than 0.4 seconds.Fastest single crown machine on the day was piloted by Alexander Combrink who finished 10th overall, 9.4seconds back.Masters Men charger Chris Nixon has his hands (and head) full of event logistics all weekend yet still found the bandwidth for a solid second placeresult.All hail the Queen of Jonkershoek. Frankie du Toit is insanely quick here (and everywhere to be honest) and had a huge 8.5 second margin over next best in the Elite Women’s Race. Johann Potgieter, the ou-man of Elite racing is not slowing. Instead, Pottie is refining his race craft and making ‘the kids’ work for their wins. A solid P3 for Pottie this weekend!Visiting from Port Elizabeth, Robbie Powell of RBC (they do suspension tuning and sell some cool bike stuff) brought the good vibes and was just a few seconds off the podium in Master’s Men. Good to see this pioneer of the sport becoming a regular at the races again.Coached by Dad, Tricia Rossouw’s technique and speed continues to improve. The wins are coming!Yours truly. Loves the intensity of a race run, innit.Eric Garbers hucking the road gap on the way to a win in Sub-Vets.P2 in Youth Men and riding with near-perfect technique (must be all the time spent on a BMX hey bru) is William Nelson. More wins are coming!Pholani Loots had a huge stack in practice after hucking into the turn just above this road gap. Great to see he dusted himself off and made Sunday’s main show.Steeze!Craig Stone has injected a whole lot of pace into the Veteran Men’s category. His clinical approach to the weekend paid off with a 7 second winning margin.One of our youngest riders, Aretha Gray is heels down and charging like she’s been doing this for decades already. Jonkershoek has plenty of ‘B Lines’ around the drops and jumps making the track safe for all age groups and skills levels.Fast on every lap, Matt Lombardi was putting in heaters all weekend and finished the weekend with fourth in Elite Men.After Theo Erlangsen stole the party in seeding with a time around 6 seconds quicker than anyone else, Rory Kirk knew he could find more speed. Shifting his strategy by raceday, Rory snuck in more pedal strokes than usual and scrubbed harder than ever. The result, just 0.89 seconds off the win for the Champ. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. Fresh from Red Bull Hardline in Tasmania, Theo took time out of Darkfest build duties for his first race on home soil in 2026. He made it count, taking two for two and leaving the field puzzling on how to catch him.
