It was a case of so near and yet so far for Bevan Bertholdt and Danie Stassen (lab88 BAT Spec 4) in the Sun City 400 off road race at the weekend.
Making his debut in the newly-acquired BAT and with a brand new sponsor, the 39-year-old entrepreneur from Chartwell North in Gauteng made a promising start to the fourth round of the Absa South African Off Road Championship with second place in the Special Vehicle category in Friday’s Donaldson prologue.
But engine problems prevented him from taking his place on the start line and he was forced to watch as the team that narrowly beat him in the prologue, Kallie and Quintin Sullwald in a BAT Spec 4, went on to win the race.
“It was massively disappointing,” said Bertholdt. “We had worked very hard to get the new car ready for this event – a big thank-you to Romano Bevilacqua and his team at EFS for all their hard work – and we were obviously keen to give our new sponsor, lab88, a good showing in their first ever off road event.
“We had a great run in the prologue and looked to be heading for the fastest time of the day when the engine lost power about 10 km from the finish. We limped home, but were only four seconds slower than the winning time of Kallie and Quintin.
“We decided to send the engine back to our workshop in Johannesburg and fit a new one overnight – thanks to Evan Hutchison and the Motorite team, who made their spare engine available – and hoped to have the car back in time for Saturday’s start. Sadly, this was not to be and while my team did a great job in swapping the engines, we were unable to have it ready in time.
Bertholdt, a national championship off road winner in both Special Vehicles and Production Vehicles, was not discouraged after his and Stassen’s showing in the prologue made up for the two non-finishes in their only previous appearances this year in an unsponsored Porter. It was an impressive performance and one that sends out a warning to his rivals and notice to the fans – watch out for the orange and black lab88 BAT, it goes like the proverbial bat out of hell and you’ll be seeing a lot more of it in the events to come.
“We believe, with the support of lab88 and our other partners, we can be a potent force in the Special Vehicle championship and we will be back to complete unfinished business in the next round (the 4×4 Mega World 400 at Carnival City on August 27 and 28).
lab88 is a specialist retailer of high-end cellular telephones, cameras, computers and television sets based in Fourways, Gauteng and has chosen to partner with off road racing as a marketing tool and brand builder.
– Credit: Peter Burroughes Communications