Toyota had to again undergo the pain of missing out on a Toyota 1000 Desert Race victory today.
Without a win on the only marathon event on the Absa Off Road Championship since 1999, it looked as though the drought would be broken when Team Castrol Toyota Hilux pair Anthony Taylor and Chris Birkin looked to be cruising to victory at the finish in Kumakwane. Then the notorious Desert Race sting in the tail struck once again and Taylor and Birkin were delayed by a broken sideshaft 17 kilometres from the finish.
The incident allowed the Team Ford Ranger TDCi of Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst to sneak in via the back door for a dramatic victory that once again broke Toyota hearts. Taylor and Birkin eventually limped home around eight minutes behind the Ford pair after dominating the race for all but 17 kilometres.
Taylor and Birkin on Friday won the Donaldson Prologue to determine start positions, and apart from a slight wobble on racing section two when they rolled the Toyota Hilux the pair looked in complete control of proceedings. The Toyota crew started the day with a handy lead and gradually tightened their grip on proceedings before the racing Gods conspired to ruin Toyota’s weekend.
After finishing third on the prologue Visser and Badenhorst endured a tough racing section two with punctures and other niggles. Then it all fell into place today with the pair scoring Ford’s first Toyota Desert Race victory since now team manager Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer won in 2001.
“The second day wasn’t so good but it worked out nicely today,” said Visser. “A turbo pipe came loose but that was replaced at the halfway point and after that we were fine.”
The Visser family cup overflowed when Chris’s brother Jannie and Joks le Roux came home third in the International Toyota Hilux. It was a second podium finish this season for the North West pair.
A typically steady performance took Terence Marsh and George Smalberger into fourth place in the Regent Racing Nissan Navara, with a fine performance from Malcolm Kock and Johann Burger taking them into fifth place in the Kock and Sons Toyota Hilux.
Kock’s father Andre is a former Desert Race winner and he is a cousin of the Visser’s.
Late problems dropped Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn (Micaren Exel Toyota Hilux) down the order and they were eventually sixth ahead of Christiaan du Plooy/Henk Janse van Vuuren (RFS BMW X3) and three-time winner Duncan Vos and Rob Howie in the second Team Castrol Toyota entry. Vos and Howie were plagued throughout the weekend by fuel pressure problems.
Trademark consistency took farther and son Jack and Sarel Oosthuizen to victory in Class D in a Land Rover, and saw them consolidate their championship lead. The Oosthuizen’s led home Louis Weichelt and Francis Boersma (N1 4×4 Toyota Land Cruiser) who were coming off a win on the Atlas Copco 400.
Reigning champions Deon Venter and Ian Palmer (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux) lost further championship ground when they retired on day two. It was their third successive non finish and gave the Oosthuizen’s more breathing space.
Perseverance saw Piet Kotze and Salomon Victor (Toyota Hilux) win Class E ahead of teenagers Jason Venter and Vincent van Alleman in the 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux. Venter and van Alleman were making their national championship debut.
– Credit: www.saoffroadracing.co.za.