Thomas Rundle and former national champion off road racing co-driver Juan Mohr enjoyed their best result of their first season together in the Barden Tyre Services Racing Nissan Navara when they finished a calculated third overall on the Sun City 400 on Saturday.
Two non-finishes in their first two outings together in the ex-factory class SP pickup that took Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford to the national title in 2009 had not dampened their enthusiasm or resolve and their aim of finishing the weekend’s fourth round of the Absa South African Off Road Championship was more than met.
The weekend started well with third place overall and in class SP of the Production Vehicle category in Friday’s Donaldson prologue, which determines the start order for the race.
“We enjoyed a good run in the prologue and were very pleased with our result, which was only 14 seconds slower than Gary Bertholdt’s winning time over the 60 km and just three seconds off Anthony Taylor in the factory Toyota,” said Rundle. “We realised we had good pace and knew a good prologue result would set us up nicely for the race itself, so we decided we would adopt a cautious approach on Saturday without taking undue risks and aim for our first finish of the year. It all worked out really well.”
The pair found themselves in the overall production car lead after 139 km and some two hours of racing after Taylor’s Toyota and a special vehicle collided. Then the first of two punctures dropped them back to second behind Marsh’s Nissan as they reached the compulsory halfway service stop at Sun City.
“We sourced the cause of the mysterious electrical fault and engine overheating problems that frustrated us in the previous event and the Barden Tyre Service Racing Nissan Navara ran like clockwork throughout the weekend. I’m very happy with a podium finish and we look forward to the next event at Carnival City in August,” added Rundle.
The gap between Bertholdt and Rundle at the finish was 1 min 47 sec with Marsh taking the chequered flag just 23 seconds ahead of the fast-closing Toyota.
It says a lot about the level of preparation and professionalism of the privateer teams in the premier SP class (there were 14 in all among the 17 SP entries) that the top three places in this weekend’s race went to privately-run teams. Marsh’s success, his first in the production vehicle class, was the third in four races to go to a privateer this year.
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.
– Credit: Peter Burroughs Communications