Part 2: 1990 - 1996
After an almost two-year Moto Cross break, it was Nicki Pajewski who finally had enough. He wanted to race again! Several conversations took place with Eckhard Waldschmidt and Waldschmidt fortunately got soft. The course was set on a new beginning.
 Nicki Pajewski
Under the leadership of the first chairman Nicki Pajewski, regular racing events resumed in 1991 on the new/old track at the van Eck power station. In 1991 an outsider appeared on the Namibian MX-scene, Bernd Kroemer. The racing profession is well known to him from his time in Germany and he came up with new ideas. The marketing of the sport in all its facets bears the hallmarks of Kroemer and his mx-reports appeared from then on in almost all daily papers, weeklies, as well as in South African and German periodicals and later on the best web-pages around. The sport was sold through media coverage and attracted potent sponsors. A new era began.
During this time the Open-Class was clearly dominated by Nicki Pajewski. At the end of 1993 Nicki handed over the chair to Eckhard Waldschmidt due to work-related reasons.
 Eckhard Waldschmidt
Since 1993 official Namibian Championships were being held. Champion in the 80cc Class was René Pajewski, overall champion in the National Class was Roual Spangenberg, and Nicki Pajewski was Namibian champion in the International Class. 1994 was a good year in terms of sports. Ingo Waldschmidt had cured his wrist injury and returned to the scene with a “bang”. UN-employee Clive Spencer from Kenya brought some international flair, he was a real “embassador” to his home-country.
On the occasion of the 3rd championship race, riders from South Africa were invited. Deon Hoffmann offered excellent Moto Cross racing, but was defeated by Ingo Waldschmidt. Other participants from South Africa were Kevin Swanson, Ralf Bochnig, Marko Diener, and a young lady, Catherine du Pont. In the same year a Namibian team successfully participated in an invitation race in Capetown. Ingo Waldschmidt won in the 250cc Open Senior Class, ahead of Deon Hoffmann (SA) and the star from Gobabis, Rainer Becker. The year ended with an award ceremony for the champions at the Thüringer-Hof hotel. The champions of 1994 in the Kings Class were 1. Ingo Waldschmidt, 2. Gino Rossi, 3. Eckhard Waldschmidt.
 Ingo Waldschmidt & Rainer Becker
In 1995 another turning point came in the turbulent history of the WMCC. An eviction notice put an end to racing at the van Eck track. Thanks to Kroemer, the WMCC had more than sufficient funds and the Waldschmidt brothers generously offered to built a permanent racing track on the grounds of the Waldschmidt farm. (This gesture which also came from Eckhard’s and Ingo’s parents should never be forgotten). What followed was a masterly achievement by a few club members. In record time a bar, beer-barn and the commentator’s tower were built. With the help of Windhoek Hire Sales & Services the water tower - which was originally sponsored by the Namibian Breweries - was transported from the Tony Rust track to the Waldschmidt farm. Some individuals deserve special mentioning here: Eckhard and Ingo Waldschmidt, as well as Andreas Brendel. For the chronicler it is important to acknowledge such persons by name, as one forgets too easily who erected the infrastructure on the track and who worked in the sweat of his brow to make it all happen.
At the same time it was important to sell advertising space, and here Kroemer made his mark, selling alone 19 advertising boards to the Namibian industry. All these little details demonstrated the fruits of this team-labour. During this time the WMCC overflowed with confidence and the cameraderie reached an unknown high. On the 25th of February 1995 the track on the Waldschmidt farm stood the test but the official inauguration took place on 13th of May of the same year and was coupled with the naming of the track “Gallina” (from Latin: the hen). No other than Helga and Mike de Kock sponsored this important day, having already done so much for the MX-sport. The president of the NMSF opened the track officially. A novelty was the participation of the first female rider in Namibian Moto Cross, namely Susanne van den Berg. The deserving overall winner was the chairman of the WMCC Eckhard Waldschmidt. Another highlight in this memorable year was the participation of eight Namibians at the international “Rollon Chain MX-Challenge” in Corobrick / South Africa. Duan Spangenberg in the 80cc Class, and Eckhard Waldschmidt in the Veterans-Class both won silver medals.
 Tony Rust Track 1987
The annual club-meeting and award ceremony was held at the Okambihi recreation centre. For Eckhard Waldschmidt the championship title in the International-Class was the personal high point of a successful year. Ronnie Adams ranked second, ahead of Jaco Maree.
The year 1996 came with another highlight: The American former Enduro-champion and star of many US-Moto Cross races Jim Tarantino took part in the first championship race on Gallina. Furthermore, a Swazi by the name of Eury Mlimi participated. And another rider found his way back to the sport, former champion Ingo Waldschmidt. During the following race Uwe Trümper and Michael Swanepoel made their reappearance, while Ingo moved to Germany in the course of the year. Spectators could witness an exciting duel between Uwe Trümper und Michael Swanepoel that year. The highlight of the season was an invitation to South African riders and the Allgemeine Zeitung printed a special supplement. In the supporting programme a 4x4 exhibition was held in which almost all of Windhoek’s car dealers took part. This racing day was a thorough success and laid the foundation of the “Inter Series”. Participants from South Africa were multi-champ Wayne Smith, Brad Burdon, Alex Lenaertz, Geoff Den, Billy Neumann, Neville Bradshaw, Harry Grobler and Kenneth Knipe. Former SA-champion and Namibia champion Michael Swanepoel got another championship title that year and Uwe Trümper and Ronnie Adams ranked 2nd and 3rd respectively.
|