The late Bevan Bertholdt’s memory will be honoured in the final round of the 2010 Absa Off Road Car Championship, which takes place in Gauteng on Friday and Saturday, when Jacques Wheeler and Danie Stassen compete in the lab88 BAT Spec 4 special vehicle in which Bertholdt and Stassen contested the previous four rounds of the series.
Bertholdt, 39, and instructor Boeta Austin were tragically killed on November 2 when the helicopter Bertholdt was piloting crashed near Pretoria while he was undergoing his licence renewal.
The RFS Magalies 400 was to have been their swan song in the lab88-liveried BAT before Bertholdt took delivery of a brand new, lightweight Spec 4 built to his specifications by Romano Bevilacqua and his team at EFS and with which he intended contesting the 2011 championship. Wheeler was to have given the new car a shakedown on Bertholdt’s behalf before taking over the older car.
“We decided it would be appropriate to honour Bevan’s memory by running his car this weekend and we’re grateful that Jacques has agreed to team up with Danie on this special occasion,” said lab88 managing director Conrad Leigh. “The car will carry a special message to the memory of someone who has left an indelible mark on the sport he loved so much.”
“Bevan was a very special person, larger than life and very much his own man. That is why we decided to associate our company with him and off road racing. He will be sorely missed.”
– Credit: Peter Burroughes Communications.