Motorite Racing’s Evan Hutchison and Darryl Curtis have combined well in their first season together in the ABSA Off Road Car Championship, but the two former off road champions have yet to achieve a result worthy of their considerable off road racing experience. Hutchison, the outgoing national champion in the Special Vehicle category, and Curtis, a multiple former national off road and enduro motorcycle champion, have just the final round – the RFS Magalies 400 – in Gauteng this weekend to make amends.
Since they competed in their first event together, the Sun City 400 in July, The Motorite Racing pair has suffered a series of technical bothers that have seen them fail to complete an event since. Steering rack problems saw them drop out of the Sun City event early, an engine misfire was the problem while leading the 4×4 Mega World 400 in Gauteng, a steering knuckle broke while they were leading the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana on the final day in September, and an electrical problem forced them out of the recent Human Auto 400 in the Free State last month.
“It’s been a frustrating year,” admitted Hutchison. “After our championship-winning performance last year in the four-wheel drive Revo V8, we’ve had a very lean season in 2010 and we’re keen to end it on a high note this weekend.
“Two third place finishes in the first three events wasn’t too bad a start, particularly since we were campaigning the 2007 championship-winning BAT Spec 3 while we were rebuilding the Revo to meet the revised regulations. But it hasn’t gone well since, even with the return of the Revo (now with a 3.5-litre V6 engine instead of the 6,8-litre V8) from the Toyota Desert Race.
“To be honest, the new Revo doesn’t have the pace of the V8 front runners and this is a big disadvantage on the faster events. It’s important for us to finish on Saturday and complete the season with a good result.”
Curtis is a leading competitor in the inaugural World Extreme Enduro series that consists of the planet’s top five extreme motorcycle endures. This includes the Roof of Africa Rally, which takes place in Lesotho the week after the RFS Magalies 400.
The Donaldson prologue to determine race grid positions will start at 12:00 on Friday from the Tarlton International Raceway and the 60-km route will take competitors along the R24 Krugersdorp/Magalies road through Maloney’s Eye into a new section in the Blaauwbank area.
The race will start at 08:30 on Saturday. Two 180-km loops including Friday’s prologue will take in the Syferbult, Carletonville and Ventersdorp areas before heading back to Tarlton.
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.
– Credit: Peter Burroughes Communications.