Classic Enduro Prelouc 2022 - Czech Republic

Our event is mainly about meeting friends who share a passion for old off-road motorcycles. The event was initially organised by a few friends from the local enduro club, mostly riders from the ‘80s. We started eight years ago in a small area near a local factory repairing military equipment. In densely populated Europe, it is already very difficult to organise off-road races, so we never thought that in a few years our event would grow to such dimensions, and that riders from all over Europe would come to join us at our event.

We had 170 starting numbers and all those places were filled quite quickly. There were thirty brands of motorcycles on the starting list plus many more bikes on display. There were some unique pieces produced by the factory for Six Day events plus many interesting motorcycles from Czechoslovakia and East Germany such as Jawa, Tatran, UWMV, MZ and several other brands.

We also invite dealers with spare parts as finding spare parts for our bikes is always a challenge (I managed to buy several parts myself - good buying!). Among the friends participating in the races were many amateurs as well as Six Day winners and European enduro champions (the official individual world championship has only been held since 1990). From Czechoslovakia we had two world champions, being Otakar Kotrba (Husqvarna 350 - 1990) who entered our classic enduro on a Jawa 350 Rotax motorcycle (on which he was European champion in 1989!) and Roman Michalík (TM125 - 1998). As well we had European Champions Lubomír Vojkuvka and Dušan Kotrla, and , Six Day winners from 1982 - Emil Cunderlík and Jirí Císar.

The biggest star on hand was the fivetime Six Day winner from 1970, ‘71, ‘72, ‘73 and ‘74 - Josef Fojtík.

The constructors of Jawa and Tatran motorcycles were also present. We also had the legendary Manfred Liese from West Germany, who has been here several times since 1969 as a Jawa rider. In Prelouc he again pulled off an incredible performance when, at the age of 76, on a very rare 1965 Jawa ‘banana’ 175, he won the category for riders over 70 years of age, and won the category for riders on a bike up to the year of production of 1973. As well, he finished second for riders over 55 years!

In Prelouc, Polish legend Ryzsard Augustyn repeated the podiums he attained in the 1989 European Championship, when Lubomír Vojkuvka was in first place and Emil Cunderlík was second. Many riders who represented Italy in their time also appeared on the podium in other categories. Not only that but we had a rider from Australia, the ever-smiling Mike Harding, on a Cagiva RX 250. He finished in an excellent 10th place out of 45 riders in his category.

The categories of bikes and riders were split into three ‘up to year of manufacture’ groups - 1973, 1983, 1993 - but also divided into riders under 55 years of age and over 55 years of age. There is also a category of riders over 70 years old and an Expert category where there are riders over 60 years old with motorcycles up to 175cc. If you don’t have the strength for speed, there is also a regular race where the rider with the smallest time difference in the given special stage wins. In the oldest category of younger riders, the German rider Thomas

Sandig dominated again on the NSU 250 MAX with a swinging front fork.

Among the older riders, the Italian rider Luciano Venturi dominated on a

Moto Morini 165 - a very interesting four-stroke motorcycle reminiscent of a sewing machine in its operation and appearance. In the categories ‘up to year of manufacture’ 1983 - former

Czechoslovak representative Dušan

Kotrla won on a 1978 Jawa 350, and among the older riders, two-time

European champion Lubomír Vojkuvka on a 1982 Jawa 250. In the youngest categories, Czech riders participating in world competitions dominated. At this event, however, everyone appreciates that it is not about the results and the most important thing is the atmosphere of the meeting, which really got into full swing at the party at the completion of the event!

Full results can be found here: https://www.cmxhk.cz/vysledky-preloucWords and photos by Michal Griger