Advertorial by Toyota of South Africa
Pictures: Motorpics
The Castrol Team Toyota Off Road team will be looking to succeed on ‘home’ turf in the Atlas Copco Sugarbelt 400 that takes place on the 21st and 22nd of May.
The event, considered one of the tougher and more popular events in the eight event ABSA Off Road Championship, takes place in the Eston area of KwaZulu-Natal, an area used extensively by Toyota engineers during the development of the Hilux prior to its introduction in South Africa. KwaZulu-Natal is of course Toyota’s home province as well with the company’s manufacturing facility less than an hour’s drive away from Eston.
“It was on this event last year that Anthony Taylor gave notice of the real potential of the Hilux in off-road racing when he held a reasonably comfortable lead through the event until just 40 kilometres from the end,” says Castrol Team Toyota team principal, Glyn Hall. “The Sugarbelt 400 combines a unique mix of terrain with the route traversing tracks through cane fields, open grassland and a forest section, with a fair bit of variation in elevation in this hilly area of KwaZulu-Natal thrown in for good measure.
“This is the kind of terrain that the Hilux has shown itself to be well suited for. Both Duncan Vos and Anthony Taylor are enthusiastic about their chances of success on this event given the performance of the Hilux in the Toyota Dealer 400 some weeks back and its performance in this event last year.
“As ever the team has applied itself to the process of constant improvement of the Hilux to optimise its potential. We are really competitive in terms of speed – we saw that in Lydenburg – and our aim for the Sugarbelt 400 is to use that to our advantage in a good clean run and hopefully a visit to the top step of the podium for Toyota and our partners Castrol, Imperial, and the Innovation Group.”
The Sugarbelt 400 is based at the Beaumont Eston Farmers Club, just off the R603, and this area will also serve as the designated service point. This is a spectator friendly event with a number of spectator points accessible without the need to venture off main tar roads.
