It is a tad ironic that the Human Auto 400, a new event in the Free State on the Absa Off Road Championship calendar, could settle a tight battle in the Special Vehicle championship.
With the Free State race a new event the championship contenders will be playing on a level field. None of the frontrunners will quite know what to expect and that adds a touch of spice to an already intriguing menu.
As matters stand current championship leaders Shameer Variawa and Siegfried Rousseau (Team Total Porter) hold a tenuous 12 point lead over 2007 champions Kallie and Quintin Sullwald in the Elegant Fuel BAT. Class P leaders Johan van Staden and Johan Rossouw are a further 11 points in arrears with Herman and Wichard Sullwald (Sullwald Racing SVR) just one point behind the Pretoria based crew.
The situation in Class A, however, is a little different. Anomalies in off road championship scoring see Kallie and Quintin Sullwald three points ahead of Variawa/Rousseau with the second Sullwald crew, Herman and Wichard, in third place another eight points off the pace.
While Variawa/Rousseau and Kallie and Quintin Sullwald have the inside track just 24 points separate first from fourth. With 50 points to play for over the final events in the overall classification, Variawa and Rousseau are far from out of the woods.
The Team Total crew and the Sullwald teams have dominated the latter part of the season, but there are other teams who could throw spanners in the works. Outgoing drivers champion Evan Hutchison and Darryl Curtis (Motorite Revo1) looked menacing in the 4×4 car on the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race, as did Colin Matthews and Alan Smith (Century Racing CR2) before reliability problems struck once more.
Jimmy Zahos and Stefan Coetzee (Cobalt Racing Porter) have plenty of pace, as do Bevan Bertholdt and Danie Stassen in the lab88 BAT. KwaZulu-Natal crew Clint Gibson and Gary Campbell look to be good outsiders in the Gibson Racing SVR, along with the father and son pairing of Nardus and Louis Alberts in the Wrapsa BAT.
Nick Harper and Kevin Hume (Atlas Copco BAT) will want a pick me up after a disappointing Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race, while newcomers Neil Meyer and Leon Muller (Zarco Magnum) and the experienced Keith du Toit and Ashley Thorn (White Star Racing BAT) picked up encouraging results in Botswana. Meyer/Muller and du Toit/Thorn, however, now need to up the pace a little if they are to challenge for top five places.
A tight route made life difficult for the Special Vehicle runners in Botswana. The going in the Free State is likely to be much more open, and with so much at stake a more than interesting race is in the offing.
Veteran drivers dominated Class B on the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race with Coetzee Labuscagne and Giel Nel, in the Raysonics Zarco sister cars, outlasting the rest of the opposition. Championship leaders Bes and Lindie Bezuidenhout (Adenco BAT) were among those who fell by the wayside but still have a handy championship lead.
Apart from Labuscagne and daughter Sandra and Nel and Jaco Jonck, the Free State field will include the Makenete brothers Keith and Andrew (Zarco) and Northern regions regulars Johan de Klerk and Willem Pretorius in another Zarco. Also making the trip to Bloemfontein will be two UTV Racing entries from Stratford Voogt/Sidriaan de Villiers and Dwayne Voogt with a co-driver yet to be nominated.
The battle in Class P also looks to be highly competitive and could serve up some interesting battles. Van Staden and Rossouw, in the Atlas Copco BAT, still have a handy lead in the championship but were well beaten by Johan and Deon Bezuidenhout (Adenco BAT) who came up with a well nigh faultless Botswana performance.
There will be stiff competition for both crews from Swaziland pair John Thompson and Clinton McNamara (Zarco) and the Regent Racing Jimco combination of Archie Rutherford and Mike Lawrenson. Veteran Bodo Bertholdt partnered by Philip Herselman in the Atlas Copco BAT, keeps soldiering on while Marius Fourie, with wife Jolinda back in the car, was also impressive in Botswana in an ageing BAT.
John Telford/Jaco Swart will also be back in harness in the Calcamite BAT along with Glenn and Rob Gibson (Gibson Racing BAT) and Nic Goslar and Richard Carolin in the Men’s Health International Zarco.
The Human Auto 400 will be based at the Windmill Casino on the outskirts of Bloemfontein with race headquarters, the start/finish and designated service point all located within the complex. The Donaldson Prologue will start at 12:00 on October 23 and the race at 08:30 on October 23.
The route will be spectator friendly with numerous vantage points. Public entry to the start/finish, the designated service point and spectator points is free of charge.
– Credit: www.saoffroadracing.co.za