A grandstand finish is on the cards in the Production Vehicle category in this year’s Absa Off Road Championship.
After the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race three teams remain with a realistic chance of lifting the overall championship – and with just 12 points separating the trio the last two events of the season are going to be white knuckle affairs. Current leaders Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst (RFS Toyota Hilux) have an 11 point advantage over reigning drivers’ champion Duncan Vos and Rob Howie (Team Castrol Toyota Hilux) with Botswana winners Hannes Grobler and Hennie ter Stege a further point in arrears in the RFS BMW.
Second on the Botswana outing lifted Visser/Badenhorst to a total of 97 points. Third was enough to move Vos/Howie to 86 points, with winners Grobler/ter Stege moving to within a point of the factory Toyota crew.
Sun City 400 winners Terence Marsh and Buks Carolin (Regent Racing Nissan Navara) and Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen (Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux) are fourth and fifth in the standings and have mathematical chances of sneaking in the back door. But Marsh and Carolin trail the leaders by nearly 40 points and with two events to go are effectively out of the picture.
Although there are anomalies in scoring for overall and class finishes the situation in the premier SP Class is the same as in the overall battle. Here Visser/Badenhorst lead Vos/Howie by seven points with Grobler/ter Stege a further point in arrears with Marsh/Carolin and Bertholdt/Vermeulen completing the top five.
An interesting situation has developed in Class D. Championship leaders Dewald van Breda and Johann du Toit (Northam Toyota Hilux) missed the Botswana race and have had their lead slashed.
A win for Deon Venter and Ian Palmer in the new 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux moved them to within three points of van Breda and du Toit. Venter and Palmer were the only Class D finishers on the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race.
Victory in Botswana has put Class E championship leaders Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable (Team Ford Ranger) in almost impregnable position in Class E. They now lead Pikkie Labuschange and Rikus Erasmus (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux) by 29 points and have one hand on the trophy.
For teenager Woolridge it was a fairytale result on his first Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race. Woolridge’s father, Neil, is a former overall winner of the desert classic and it looks as though the youngster is destined to follow in his footsteps.
The next event on the calendar is the Human Auto 400, in the Free State, with event headquarters, start, finish and DSP located at the Windmill Casino on October 22 and 23.
– Credit: www.saoffroadracing.co.za