Verkeerdevlei 393km, R & R and Thone claimed the race win, and also leads both the Follow Up Ranking and the Velocity News Fancier of the Race. Marais Brothers & Lellyett takes Pigeon of the Week to round out the week.

Race 3 Verkeerdevlei 393km

Race 3 of the Dinokeng Lofts 2026 season was flown from Verkeerdevlei, a 393km liberation point in the Free State. A total of 462 pigeons were basketed by 109 fanciers.

Birds were released into a cold Free State morning of 9-11°C under clear skies, lifting into a north-northwest wind of 15-20km/h as an approaching Cut-Off Low prompted regional wind warnings across the province. By mid-race, over the Kroonstad/Parys region, temperatures had climbed to 16-18°C as the wind swung northwest and gusted to 25-30km/h, with skies turning from fine to scattered cloud. The flock crossed into Gauteng under a lighter 15-18km/h breeze, arriving at the Dinokeng Nature Reserve in cool, clear conditions of 21-23°C.

Top 10 Arrivals

R & R and Thone claimed the win at 1285.28 m/min, leading Les Windle home in 2nd. Harry Willson's 'Addendorff Tool' claimed 3rd, with Marais Brothers & Lellyett's 'Lady Jane' close behind in 4th. Die Vrystaters' 'Sollie' took 5th, with Loft Einkamerer's 'Black Bird 211-436' following in 6th. Andre & Juan's 'Witpen 3/26' came home in 7th, with R & R and Thone in 8th. AJ Nel & La's 'Diamond's TK' claimed 9th, and Exclusive Pigeon Paradise's 'EPP Blake' completed the top 10 — the entire top 10 arriving within 11 seconds of the winner.

Top 25 Arrivals Race 3 Verkeerdevlei 393km

Velocity News Fancier of the Race

In Dinokeng Lofts' Verkeerdevlei 393km, 57 out of 109 competing fanciers qualified for this ranking by meeting the minimum requirement of basketing at least 4 pigeons.

Rankings are based on the percentage of a fancier's basketed pigeons placing within the top 5% of the race (the top 23 out of 462 total entries), with ties broken by the highest average velocity of those positions.

R & R and Thone is named Velocity News Fancier of the Race, topping the ranking with 33.33% of their participating pigeons inside the Top 5%.

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R & R and Thone and Die Vrystaters placed the most pigeons inside the cutoff by raw count, each landing two birds inside the top 5%.

Fancier of the Race

Verkeerdevlei · Dinokeng Lofts · Liberation: Verkeerdevlei · 393 km · 09.08.2026

Ranking is based on Efficiency Rate: the percentage of each fancier's own basketed pigeons that finished inside the top 5% of the race — position 23 of the 462 pigeons basketed in this race. Fanciers with fewer than 4 pigeons basketed are excluded. Ties are broken by average velocity across that fancier's top 5% finishes.

Ranking	Team Name	Pigeons Participated	Positions	Efficiency Rate	Avg Speed
1	R & R and Thone 🇿🇦	6	1, 8	33.33%	1285.0592 m/min
2	Gary Sales 🇿🇦	4	22	25.00%	1257.0657 m/min
3	Exclusive Pigeon Paradise 🇿🇦	5	10	20.00%	1284.5250 m/min
4	Jan & Peet 🇿🇦	5	12	20.00%	1273.7883 m/min
5	Die Vrystaters 🇿🇦	10	5, 20	20.00%	1271.1064 m/min
6	Limpopo Flyers 🇿🇦	5	16	20.00%	1262.8278 m/min
7	Alwyn Bester 🇿🇦	6	13	16.67%	1270.6076 m/min
8	De Beer Hokke 🇿🇦	6	15	16.67%	1262.8467 m/min
9	Willie Munnik 🇿🇦	6	18	16.67%	1261.1352 m/min
10	Harry Willson 🇿🇦	7	3	14.29%	1285.2188 m/min

Velocity News Fancier of the Race — official ranking — velocitypigeonnews.com

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Positions 3 through 6 finished level on 20.00% efficiency, and positions 7 through 9 level on 16.67%; both groups are separated by average velocity across their qualifying finishes.

The Follow Up Ranking

The Top 10% Follow Up Ranking measures fanciers with the highest percentage of their basketed birds finishing in the top 10% of the race, which means the leading 46 out of 462 pigeons. In Dinokeng Lofts Verkeerdevlei 393km, 57 of 109 participating fanciers qualified by basketing at least 4 pigeons. Ties are resolved using highest average velocity across their arrivals.

Positions 1 through 3 finished level on 50.00%, and positions 6 through 10 level on 25.00%; both groups are separated by average velocity across their qualifying arrivals.

R & R and Thone led the Velocity News Follow Up ranking with 50.00% of their pigeons placing inside the top 10% arrivals.

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Loft Einkamerer placed the most pigeons inside the cutoff by raw count, landing three birds inside the top 10%.

Top 10% Follow Up Ranking

Verkeerdevlei · Dinokeng Lofts · Liberation: Verkeerdevlei · 393 km · 09.08.2026

This ranking identifies which fanciers had the highest concentration of their basketed pigeons landing inside the top 10% of the race — position 46 of the 462 pigeons basketed in this race — relative to how many pigeons they had participating. This metric is the Follow Up Rate, a measure of how many pigeons a fancier brought home in succession relative to their total pigeons in the race. Fanciers with fewer than 4 pigeons basketed are excluded, and ties are broken by average velocity. This ranking does not decide Velocity News Fancier of the Race.

Ranking	Team Name	Pigeons Participated	Positions	Follow Up Rate	Avg Speed
1	R & R and Thone 🇿🇦	6	1, 8, 28	50.00%	1275.6822 m/min
2	Willie Munnik 🇿🇦	6	18, 25, 42	50.00%	1257.4668 m/min
3	Wynand Steenkamp 🇿🇦	4	24, 33	50.00%	1255.9475 m/min
4	Harry Willson 🇿🇦	7	3, 39, 46	42.86%	1263.6565 m/min
5	AJ Nel & La 🇿🇦	7	9, 29	28.57%	1270.8356 m/min
6	Loft Einkamerer 🇿🇦	12	6, 41, 43	25.00%	1264.1566 m/min
7	Gary Sales 🇿🇦	4	22	25.00%	1257.0657 m/min
8	Jacques Parsons 🇿🇦	4	30	25.00%	1256.8345 m/min
9	Dewald & Stefan 🇿🇦	4	32	25.00%	1254.9783 m/min
10	Protea Hokke & McDermot Lofts 🇿🇦	4	38	25.00%	1254.5122 m/min

Velocity News Top 10% Follow Up Ranking — velocitypigeonnews.com

Pigeon of the Week

Velocity News introduced Pigeon of the Week to identify the best pigeons week by week. It is awarded to the pigeon with the smallest average margin behind the winner across two consecutive races.

Comparing Race 2 Winburg against Race 3 Verkeerdevlei, MARAIS BROTHERS & LELLYETT's GRPF 25-2713 earns Pigeon of the Week, averaging 1.870 seconds behind the winner with a 2nd-place finish at Race 2 and 4th at Race 3. R & R AND THONE's OERF 25-10000 follows closely at 1 minute and 59.955 seconds (124th at Race 2, 1st at Race 3), while DIE VRYSTATERS' 25-210771 completes the podium at 2 minutes and 5.775 seconds (139th at Race 2, 5th at Race 3).

Pigeon of the Week · Dinokeng Lofts

Two Race Comparison · Race 2 Winburg 351km (02/08/2026) & Race 3 Verkeerdevlei 393km (09/08/2026)

Ranking date: 12/08/2026

Ranking is based on Average Margin: the mean of a pigeon's time behind the race winner across two races. Smallest average margin ranks highest.

1 Marais Brothers & Lellyett South Africa

Avg 1.870s

GRPF 25-2713

Race 2 Winburg 351km · Pos 2 / 460

+00:00:01.940

1525.5464 m/min

Race 3 Verkeerdevlei 393km · Pos 4 / 462

+00:00:01.800

1285.1572 m/min

2 R & R and Thone South Africa

Avg 119.955s

OERF 25-10000 (DN)

Race 2 Winburg 351km · Pos 124 / 460

+00:03:59.910

1499.6945 m/min

Race 3 Verkeerdevlei 393km · Pos 1 / 462

+00:00:00.000

1285.2833 m/min

3 Die Vrystaters South Africa

Avg 125.775s

ZA 25-210771 (A-DN)

Race 2 Winburg 351km · Pos 139 / 460

+00:04:09.290

1498.6934 m/min

Race 3 Verkeerdevlei 393km · Pos 5 / 462

+00:00:02.260

1285.1250 m/min

Velocity News Pigeon of the Week — velocitypigeonnews.com

R & R and Thone sets the tone for Race 3 Verkeerdevlei, and the fancier leaves the strongest mark on the week well beyond the finish line, topping the Follow Up Ranking too. R & R and Thone's Velocity News Fancier of the Race performance stood out just as clearly, sweeping both rankings outright. Marais Brothers & Lellyett takes Pigeon of the Week honours for GRPF 25-2713's consistency across Race 2 Winburg and Race 3 Verkeerdevlei. Whether R & R and Thone can carry that momentum into the next race remains to be seen.