CAPITAL: The Voice of Business Issue 2, 2016 | Page 40

Business and the art of motorcycle racing

WORDS BY Barry du Plessis
All photos supplied unless credited otherwise .

Sportspeople , it is said , tend to make good leaders . It is an argument that has been put forward by such respected organisations as Bloomberg , and Forbes and Entrepreneur magazines . The traits that many sportspeople have are often valued in business : focus , determination , teamwork , endurance , and a will to win . They ’ re the traits that bring victory in both the sports and business arenas . And they are the kinds of qualities that played no small part in the success of Pietermaritzburg business leader Hans Coertse , the Managing Director of Anderson Engineering , when he was named Grand Champion of the iconic Motorcycle Cannonball Run in the United States in 2014 . His story shows how in sport and business , we often encounter the same challenges . How we deal with them , is what defines success or failure .

1 . Many winners experience failure before they succeed
Hans Coertse ’ s Cannonball Run win did not come easily . The race itself , a 16-day , 6 400-kilometre journey from Daytona , Florida , to Tacoma , Washington , is itself a test of endurance . But as Coertse explains , his resolve was tested before the race even began . “ My first Cannonball Run in 2012 was a big disappointment ,” Coertse explains , “ but also a big learning experience .” By day six of the 2012 race he had been doing well and was in third place , but at the end of day 10 his bike ’ s frame broke . He managed to fix the frame the next day , but he had gained a lot of penalty points . The way the Cannonball Endurance race works is that competitors have to cover a required distance each day and reach the checkpoint within a specified time . For each mile not
38 | Issue 2 | Capital