The Special Vehicle championship has warmed up following the 4×4 Mega World 400, round five of the Absa Off Road Championship, at Carnival City.

It was not a happy event for championship leaders Shameer Variawa and Siegfried Rousseau, in the Total Porter, who now find themselves under pressure over the remaining three events of the season. Variawa/Rousseau failed to finish the Donaldson Prologue after landing in a donga, and retired from the race with a gearbox problem.

The Total team’s woes gave other crews the opportunity to close the gap – and they did just that. Only 14 points now separate the first four teams and it is game on!

Variawa and Rousseau now lead the overall championship by just six points from 2008 champions Kallie and Quintin Sullwald in the Elegant Fuel BAT. The Sullwald’s followed up a win on the Sun City 400 with second place at Carnival City.

Seventh overall and second place in Class P kept Atlas Copco BAT crew Johan van Staden and James Rossouw firmly in the championship race. They are in third place and trail the Sullwald’s by three points.

Victory on the 4×4 Mega World 400 lifted Herman and Wichard Sullwald (Sullwald Racing SVR) to fourth place in the championship stakes. They are five points behind van Staden and Rossouw and 14 points behind the leaders.

Anomalies in the scoring for overall and class results paints a different picture in Class A where Kallie and Quintin Sullwald are the new leaders. They have a 10 point advantage over Variawa and Rousseau while Nick Harper and Herman Sullwald are tied for third among the drivers.

On the co-driver front Wichard Sullwald is alone in third place. Ryan Harper, who normally sits alongside his father, has missed the last two events through injury.

Two wins in a row have lifted Bes Bezuidenhout and daughter-in-law Lindie, in the Adenco BAT, into a commanding Class B lead. Early season leader and reigning champion Derick du Toit, who is also Cape Town based, has missed the last two events.

Van Staden and Rossouw, who early in the season made history by becoming the first Class P crew to win an event overall, still have a healthy lead in the class championship. Van Staden has a 15 point advantage over Archie Rutherford  (Regent Racing Jimco), who won at Carnival City, with Swaziland driver John Thomson (Zarco) in third place.

Among the co-drivers Rossouw (71) leads Clinton McNamara (48) who accompanies Thomson. Craig Doubtfire, who was replaced by Jacque le Roux in the Regent Racing car on the 4×4 Mega World 400, is in third place.

The next round of the championship is the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race from September 24 to 26.

With three rounds of the Absa Off Road Championship remaining the Production Vehicle championship is delicately poised and heading for a grandstand finish.

Second place on the 4×4 Mega World 400 at Carnival City has kept privateers Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst, in the RFS Toyota Hilux, seven points clear of reigning drivers’ champion Duncan Vos and Rob Howie. The win by Vos and Howie at Carnival City gave the factory Castrol Toyota team its first win of the season and provided Howie with a maiden win in the premier SP Class.

Veteran former South African champions Hannes Grobler and Hennie ter Stege kept their championship hopes alive with a maiden podium for the diesel powered RFS BMW, which was having only its third outing. Grobler and ter Stege are 11 points behind the works Castrol Toyota pair and have a 10 point advantage over Sun City 400 winners Terence Marsh and Buks Carolin (Regent Racing Nissan Navara) who were sixth overall in the SP Class at Carnival City.

A hefty time penalty on the 4×4 Mega World 400 did nothing to help Team Ford Ranger pair Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer. They are now more than 30 points behind Visser and Badenhorst and have a mountain to climb.

Despite anomalies in scoring for overall and class results the status quo remains unchanged in the SP Class championship. Here, however, Visser/Badenhorst lead Vos/Howie by only four points with Grobler and ter Stege a further eight points adrift.

There were no classified Class D finishers on the 4×4 Mega World 400. This keeps reigning champions Dewald van Breda and Johann du Toit (Northam Toyota Hilux) at the top of the championship with a 19 point lead over Deon Venter and Ian Palmer who gave the new 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux an encouraging debut at Carnival City.

The Class E championship is also starting to look interesting and has turned into a two horse race. A second win of the season at Carnival City has taken Pikkie Labuschagne and Rikus Erasmus, in the 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux, to within nine points of leaders Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable in the Team Ford Ranger.

Teenager Woolridge, in his first season of national racing, and Huxtable finished third at Carnival City behind Hein Moolman and JD Wolfaardt in a third 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux. For Woolridge the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race on September, 24, 25 and 26 later is going to be a test of character.

The new Race Touareg 3 with which Volkswagen aims to score a remarkable hat-trick of Dakar Rally victories in January 2011 faces its first real challenge under competitive conditions when it takes on the Silk Way Rally in Russia on September 11 to 18.

All four of Volkswagen’s Dakar rally crews, will be in action in the 4 579km marathon, which starts from the historic Palace Square of the St Petersburg Winter Palace on September 11 and ends in Sochi on September 18.
Spain’s Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz (2010 Dakar winners) will team up in the new Race Touareg 3, while team-mates Giniel de Villiers of South Africa and German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz (2009 Dakar winners), Mark Miller (USA)/Ralph Pitchford (South Africa) and Nasser Al-Attiyah (Qatar)/Timo Gottschalk (Germany) will compete in the Race Touareg 2 before receiving the third generation car for the Dakar Rally in January 2011.
De Villiers, a former national circuit and off road champion, became the first South African to win the Dakar Rally in 2009 when he and Von Zitzewitz scored the TDI diesel Touareg 2 car’s first win in the world’s toughest off road race. Pitchford, a former national off road motorcycle and reigning production car co-driver champion, navigated Miller to second place overall.

The route, which includes 2 100 km of special stages, will take competitors from St Petersburg, the world’s northernmost metropolis, to Staraya Russa and from there via Vyazma, Lipetsk and Volgograd to Sochi, the rally’s final destination and venue of the 2014 Winter Olympics. With eight special stages across North Russia featuring the sandy massifs of Kalmykia and the rough foothills of the Caucasus, it will be ideal preparation for the Dakar Rally in Argentina and Chile.

The new four-wheel drive Race Touareg 3, which has already successfully completed some 10 000 km of testing in Spain and Morocco, develops 310 horsepower and sports the attractive design language of the latest production model.

“The Silk Way Rally is a task of enormous importance to us,” says Volkswagen Motorsport Director Kris Nissen, “because it is the only competition we’re tackling before the 2011 Dakar Rally and our aim of achieving the hat-trick there. We want to use the opportunity to not only test the material at this tough rally and to sharpen the senses of our drivers and co-drivers after an eight-month break in rally racing – but very clearly get our whole team to work together smoothly. After all, this is the Dakar dress rehearsal for the engineers and technicians as well.”

“Last year’s Silk Way was my first time in the car after the back operation I had following the 2009 Dakar,” said De Villiers. “It was tough. After driving the bulk of the testing in Morocco, I feel I’m a lot better prepared this time. It will be good to get back into competitive mode after such a long break.”

Pitchford comments: “We have quite a different route this year, with the entire event taking place in Russia, and the wide variety of terrain we expect will be excellent training under competitive conditions for the Dakar.”
Volkswagen finished 1-2-3 in the 2009 Silk Way Rally with the diesel-powered Race Touareg 2, with Sainz/Cruz taking the overall honours from Miller/Pitchford and De Villiers/Von Zitzewitz.
The daily highlights of the rally will be shown on Supersport from 11 to 18 September 2010.

The Richmond WFO National Enduro, the penultimate round of the 2010 Liquorland National Enduro Motorcycle Championship that takes place on 11 September in the Richmond area in KwaZulu-Natal, will be a make or brake for the title chasers and they will be out to stop the winner of all four previous events, Jade Gutzeit, in his tracks.

Gutzeit (Full Throttle Racing Yamaha) is leading the overall standings as well as the Open Class championship, but there are a few riders who have been on the podium and who would like to chase him down. Brother KTM’s Altus de Wet, who is behind Gutzeit on the overall standings as well as in the class championship, had to play second fiddle to him for the last two events and would be chasing hard to score his first victory of the season.

Marc Torlage (Red Yamaha) is leading the 200cc Class and is third overall with a single point separating him from De Wet and therefore also putting him in line for the title chase.

Other podium finishers include Riaan van Niekerk and Darryl Curtis (Brother KTM), who are fifth and sixth respectively, as well as Louwrens Mahoney (DCM Yamaha) who has dropped to ninth place, but is still in the running for the 200cc Class title. They can all move in for the kill while Gutzeit’s team-mate, Brian Capper (KTM) has showed that he is moving closer to a podium finish at every race and will also be a threat. He is 10^th overall.

Two-times winner of the Baboons Roof of Africa as well as 2010 winner of the Red Bull Romaniacs race, Chris Birch, is visiting South Africa and will also be competing in this event. It will be interesting to see how this enduro specialist will do in a South African enduro event.

Consistency is the name of the game for Spencer Kriel (ORD/Insurance Zone/Pro Action KTM) who is fourth overall and third in the Open Class championship. The terrain will probably suit most of the local KZN-riders like Gutzeit, Torlage, Kriel, Scott Scheepers (Brother KTM), who is seventh overall and his arch-rival, Bradley van Aswegen (DCM Yamaha), who is laying 11^th overall.

The Swiss racer, Lionel Seydoux (Habitat KTM Cape Town) is also in the top ten and has been slowly moving up the points’ ladder while seasoned off-road racer, Juan “Bollie” van Rooyen (The Roost/Out of Africa Dev Kawasaki) would like to enter the top ten from his 13^th place – he has the same amount of points as the young 125cc racer, Dominic Mantle (iMAS Racing Yamaha) for who this race will also be on his doorstep.

BMW racers, Gray Dick and Wynand Delport as well as Team Liquorland Racing’s Steve Landman and local KZN racer, Adrian Fourie can also upset the applecart.

The event will also be in the backyard of the Senior Class leader, William Gillit (Red Yamaha) who would like to make his home-crowd proud with a fifth class victory. Although he has a comfortable lead ahead of Richard Moore (KTM) and third-placed Gary Sox Smith (BMW), he can not afford to put a foot wrong.

The same goes for Mark du Plessis (Habitat KTM Cape Town) who is leading the Master Class championship ahead of Torlage Snr, Denzil (Red Yamaha) and Roger Clarke (Yamaha). Torlage has won the last three events and is on a mission.

The battle in the Silver Challenge will be on between class leader, Chris Strampe (KTM) and Craig McGregor (KTM) with only four points separating them.

It is, however, important to keep in mind that only five of the six events will count towards the championship and if this system is applied at this stage, things are looking a bit different. Torlage Snr has a fighting chance of winning the Master Class while Smith will be able to hunt Gillitt down in the Senior Class battle.

The gaps will also be much smaller between Mahoney and Torlage, who has won the 200cc Class on three occasions as well as between Gutzeit, De Wet and Curtis in the Open Class chase where one slip-up of the current front runners can be to the benefit of the rest.

The Liquorland WFO National Enduro will start on Saturday (11 September) at 08h00 at the Richmond Country Club. There will be two (timed) Special Stages on the 48km loop of which one will include an enduro-cross track at the Richmond Country Club that will be ideal for spectator viewing.

On the loop competitors will also come across a rocky riverbed as well as a new section on an old access road to the power lines.

For more information, visit www.wforacing.co.za

Off road racing is a cruel mistress and when the dice doesn’t roll in your favour, you have to take it like a man.  So it was for Thomas Rundle and Juan Mohr (Barden Tyre Services Racing Nissan Navara) in the 4×4 Mega World 400, round five of the Absa Off Road Car Championship, which took place over the weekend near Carnival City.

Following their fine third place overall in the recent Sun City 400, a result that resuscitated their season after two disappointing non-finishes in their first season together in the ex-factory Nissan, the Barden Tyre Services pair was confident of building on that performance.

Rundle and former national champion off road racing co-driver Juan Mohr got their weekend off to a great start in Friday’s 67-km Donaldson prologue, which determined the start order for Saturday’s 356-km race, with the third fastest time among the production vehicles behind the factory Toyota Hiluxes of Duncan Vos and Anthony Taylor.

“We had a great run in the prologue and had high hopes for the race,” said a Rundle.  “It’s all been coming together nicely and we were heartened by our third place overall in the recent Sun City 400.  But for the two punctures we would have come very close to winning the event.

“We started Saturday’s race well and were lying second in the production vehicle category after 100 km behind Duncan Vos and Rob Howie in the factory Toyota.  Then we had to stop after another 50 km to put oil in the engine when the oil pressure dropped, losing us about four places. We dropped even further back when we had to stop again as the engine was overheating and we had to add water.

“At the start of the second of the two 178 km loops that made up the race distance we realised that with continued low oil pressure and high water temperature we were running the risk of damaging the engine, so we returned to the halfway service point after 10 km.

“It was a great disappointment.  But we’ll be back for the Toyota Desert Race next month.”

The event was won by Vos and Howie from Chris Visser/Japie Badenhorst (Toyota Hilux) and Hannes Grobler/Hennie ter Stege (BMW X3).

While Barden Tyre Services is the principal sponsor, the team also enjoys a mutually beneficial relationship with other partners and suppliers like Dunlop tyres, Autozone, Hausberger and Associates, Maxwell Design and Advertising, Willard batteries and Cedar Chem.

Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen (Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux) overcame numerous obstacles to complete a tough inaugural 4×4 Mega World 400 in ninth place overall in the Production Vehicle category at Carnival City at the weekend.

The Atlas Copco pair did well to recover from a disastrous Donaldson prologue on Friday, when they failed to complete the 67-km time trial after getting bogged down in a muddy vlei.  They had suffered a puncture just nine km from the finish and decided to continue driving on the flat tyre.  Then, trying to extricate themselves from the mud, they lost four-wheel drive.

Things didn’t improve much in Saturday’s race, round five of the Absa Off Road car Championship, after they started the 356-km race in 58^th position among the combined Production and Special Vehicles.  “We lost about 10 minutes after straying from the route and then we hit a ditch at speed while travelling in the dust of one of the special vehicles that had started in front of us,” said Bertholdt.  “The sump guard came loose, we suffered a flat tyre and the GPS stopped working.  We landed hard on our nose and were lucky to even get going again.”

They dragged the sump guard through the remaining 30 km of the opening 178-km loop to the mandatory service stop midway through the race, where their service crew was able to effect repairs and send them on their way again.

“This is a cruel sport and you have to learn to take the rough with the smooth,” said a philosophic Bertholdt.  “After all our problems we just hung in there on the second loop and made up as many places as we could in the dusty conditions.  I was happy just to finish.”

The three other Atlas Copco crews all finished in the top 10 in the two racing categories.  Highest placed was the class A BAT Spec 4 of father and son combination Nick and Ryan Harper, who were fourth overall in the Special Vehicle category after starting the race in 10^th place.

Johan van Staden and James Rossouw (Atlas Copco BAT Spec 2) also made a great recovery from a lowly 26th place start position among the special vehicles (thanks to a puncture on the prologue) to cross the finish line in seventh place and second in class P.

Former national rally star Etienne Lourens enjoyed a great off road racing debut with Phillip Herselman in the class P Atlas Copco BAT normally driven by Bodo Bertholdt.  Despite a broken pinion tooth in the gearbox on the first of the two 178-km loops that made up Saturday’s race, they were able to maintain second place in class until the sounds from the gearbox became too ominous and the experienced Lourens decided to back off and preserve the car to the finish, crossing the finish line in an impressive eight overall and third in class.

The reigning national champion in the Special Vehicle category and the multiple former national off road and enduro champion started Saturday’s 356-km race from Carnival City in third place among the Special Vehicles after Friday’s 67-km Donaldson prologue.  Halfway through the first of the two 178-km loops that made up the testing course, they were in the lead and running strongly ahead of Hermann and Wichard Sullwald (SVR V8) and Kallie and Quintin Sullwald (BAT Spec 4).

Then 20 km from the compulsory stop at the Designated Service Point back at Carnival City, the Motorite Racing BAT’s V8 engine started to misfire.  “We were going well and maintaining a good rhythm and keeping an eye on the Sullwalds, who weren’t that far behind,” said Hutchison.  “We kept going, but the misfire got progressively worse and it took us 20 minutes to complete the last one and a half km into the DSP.  By that stage we had dropped far back in the field and we reluctantly decided to call it a day.”

“Of course, it is very frustrating.  There’s a whole team behind you and there is a lot of preparation and hard work put in to prepare a car for a race.  This time it was very important for us to get a good result after missing out on the points in two of the previous rounds.  With three races remaining, including the 1 000-km Toyota Desert Race next month, it’s going to be a tough task to retain our championship title.”

“Shameer (Variawa) was also out of luck today but retains his lead in the points standings, so we remain 39 points in arrears with a maximum of 75 on offer.  It’s not an impossible task.”

The Sullwald father and son combination of Hermann and Wichard went on to win the event from Hermann’s brother Kallie and his son Quintin.  Third was the Porter of Jimmy Zahos and Stefan Coetzee.

Motorite Racing is the motor sport division of Motorite Insurance Administrators, the largest independent mechanical breakdown insurance and full maintenance plan service provider and administrator in South Africa.

Variawa, the 2000 Special Vehicle champion, and Rousseau had come into the fifth round of the series with a handy 18-point lead over Johan van Staden and James Rossouw and 25 ahead of Kallie and Quintin Sullwald.

Disaster struck as early as Friday’s 67-km Donaldson prologue that determined the start order for Saturday’s 356-km race.  The pair encountered a deep drainage ditch filled with muddy water and when they tried to cross it the two left hand wheels of the Total Porter got stuck in the ditch.  They tried to drive out of the obstacle, but the further they went the muddier it became and they eventually had to be towed out.

As a result they were unable to complete the prologue and had to start the race from 57^th place among the combined field of Special and Production Vehicles.

Faced with the daunting prospect of overtaking so many vehicles in the thick dust, while at the same time having to watch out for rocks and other obstacles in their way, the Total pair was making good progress when a gear selector broke 70 km into the first of the two 178-km loops that made up the route.  They tried to make running repairs – Rossouw event legged it back some distance to another stranded competitor, Naeem Moosajee in another Porter, to borrow some tools – but were out of luck.

Ironically, the race was won by Hermann Sullwald and his son Wichard in their SVR V8, a car built by Variawa and based on the Porter.

“We’ve put ourselves under a bit of pressure now to win this championship, but with the 1 000-km Toyota Desert Race next month as one of the three remaining rounds, we’re confident we’re still in with a good chance,” said the 33-year-old Mayfair (Gauteng) businessman.

“I was brought up in Botswana as a small boy and this is my favourite event.  It was always my dream to win the Desert Race.  After 16 years of trying, Siegfried and I have won it twice in a row now and are aiming for our hat-trick this year.”

Variawa and Rousseau lead the Special Vehicle category by six points from Kallie and Quintin Sullwald (who finished second in the 4×4 Mega World 400) and by nine points from Johan van Staden and James Rossouw, who were seventh.  With 25 points for a win, there is still everything to play for.

This weekend’s 4X4 MEGA WORLD 400 proved a trying outing for Team Ford Racing. Nevertheless the team persevered and didn’t leave the event empty handed as Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable took a well deserved third place in Class E in their bid to challenge for championship honours.

Lance is proving to be a formidable threat in this year’s class E championship battle. The teenager is strongly poised to claim the class title despite this being his first year of national competition.

“We’re happy to add to our points tally with another podium result,” explained Lance. “The next event is sure to be a further test of the reliability and durability of our cars. We’re very confident in our machinery and look forward to taking on the challenge.”

Off Road stalwarts Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer had their fair share of challenges throughout the weekend as gearbox problems during the prologue forced the pair to start from the back of the pack when the race got underway.

“It was a very disappointing outing for us. Things didn’t go according to plan, but on the bright side of things the car was fantastic during the main race and race times show we are right on the pace. All our improvements are really working, but we can’t dwell on that now, we have to look ahead to the next round and focus on preparations for the Desert Race,” commented Neil.

The next round of the championship takes place on 25 September in Botswana. The famed Desert Race is well known for its daunting nature. Covering 1000kms of Africa’s toughest terrain it is sure to claim many casualties along the way.

“There are only three rounds remaining and the Desert Race is always a tough outing,” explains Woolridge. “It’s imperative that we are well prepared and arrive in Botswana in a position to challenge for top position. Time is short but we have a great team behind us and we’ll be working hard in the coming weeks.”

There are only two rounds of the 2010 World of Accessories Junior National Off-road Championship for young motorcycle and quad racers left and the upcoming Mafikeng Junior National (4 September), the sixth round of the season, will be very important for those who stand a chance of winning championship titles.

A glance at the scoreboard after the recent Junior Roof of Africa shows that Tyron Miller (Miller Moore Sandton Honda) has strengthen his lead in the Open Motorcycle Class ahead of Scott Bouverie (Red Criterion Yamaha) while Michael Pentacost (Perry Yamaha) is in third place.

One will have to keep in mind, though, that only six of the seven events will count towards the championship and if the worst set of results are being dropped at this stage, Bouverie would still be leading Miller albeit by a mere five points which means that this battle will go down to the wire. Pentacost will have to stand his man against Darren Rudling (KTM) while Moore’s team-mate, Gerald Campher and Timothy Young (Xtreme Yamaha Support) can upset the applecart. The rest of the competitors will have to focus on scoring points to better their positions in the championship.

In the Senior (85cc) Class Wade Young (Criterion Yamaha) has not put a foot wrong and is leading the class after four victories and a third place. Even if he drops his worst set of results at this stage, he would still be leading Jason Helm who will most probably not compete again this season after breaking his leg at the Lesotho event. This means that the Lesotho winner, Angus Coetzee (Shimwells Yamaha) can get settled in third place although Jan Human (Miller Moore Sandton Honda); Willie Heyns (Honda) and Brett Swanepoel (Team Joat Yamaha) are within striking range of him.

Another ongoing battle is between the Junior 85cc Class leader, Calvin Wiltshire (Shimwells Yamaha) and the Lesotho winner, Aeron Thompson (Keeler Racing Suzuki) – only one point separates these two youngsters and if both drop points at this stage, Wiltshire will be leading Thompson by a single point. Dylan McGovern (Criterion Yamaha) and Alastair Drennan (Roost Racing KTM) can, however, not be left out of the picture. Most of the riders are only separated by a small amount of points and every point will make a difference at the end of the season.

Tiaan Shattock (Kawasaki) is leading the 65cc Class comfortably, but behind him anything can happen between second-placed Marco de Sousa (The Roost KTM); Calvin Hume (iMAS Racing Kawasaki) and Dean Lindsay (KTM) with only six points separating these three riders.

In the quad category, Michael Wagner (Factory Racing KTM) is still leading the Open Motorcycle Quad Class ahead of defending champion, Giacomo Antiga (Team Can-Am), but the gap will be smaller if points are thrown away at this stage. There are also a few riders who can pick up the pieces if the battle between Wagner and Antiga become too fierce – Tinus Bredenkamp (CDV Racing Can-Am) has proven that he can also win races and has moved into third place overall while Cornel Kannemeyer (Suzuki) and Bredenkamp’s team-mate, Gerhard Steenkamp, are now all in the top five with only a handful of points separating them.

In the Junior Open Quad Class, Shaun Smith (Honda) is still leading Tyronne Renwick (Yamaha) and Joshua Schenk (Yamaha). Competitors in this class will however have to adapt their tactics for the last two races as the drop-points system can cause the current order to look totally different at the end of the season.

A title is almost a certainty for the Junior Modified Class leader, Melchior Huskisson (Dirtrider Motorcycles Yamaha), but the top four competitors (JAG Quad Racing Yamaha’s Christopher Petersen; FD Racing’s Pandelis Kafaltis on his Arctic Cat and Wayne Smith on his Honda) have scored points after each race and will have to get rid of some of these points at the end of the season. There are also not enough points between the six chasers behind Huskisson for them to get too comfortable and every point scored at the last two events, can result in the current order to change.

Competitors in the Junior Modified and Junior Open Quad Classes compete for the Junior Quad Class Champion and here Huskisson is leading Shaun Smith; Petersen and Kafaltis, but this battle will also only be settled at the end of the season.

In the Ladies Quad Class Juandrie Meintjies (Team Nako Suzuki) is tied with Elanie van den Berg (Kawasaki) for the lead.

The Mafikeng Junior National will kick off at 09h00 on Saturday (4 September) when the junior motorcycle and quad classes will tackle their two-hour race while the senior classes will start their three-hour race at 12h00.