De Villiers/von Zitzewitz included in Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team
The season is entering the back straight with the running of the Sun City 450 on September 30 and October 1 – the penultimate round of the Donaldson Cross Country Motor Racing Championship – but as the series winds down there are still important questions to be answered where the Production Vehicle category is concerned.
The Pilanesberg race makes a welcome comeback to the cross country calendar and, in the past, has produced some memorable moments. It has the capacity to do so again.
The overall title chase is done and dusted with Toyota Gazoo Racing SA pair Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie taking back to back championships. But one of the remaining questions to be answered is whether or not Poulter and Howie can cling to an unbeaten record that has taken them to five successive wins?
The Toyota team is unbeaten in two seasons with team-mates Anthony Taylor and Denis Murphy chipping in here and there when Poulter and Howie have faltered. Not surprisingly the two FIA Class entries have been in a class of their own this season, but preserving an unbeaten record provides Poulter/Howie with a motivating factor.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing squad has been strengthened by the addition of Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz, who will test the new two-wheel drive Toyota Hilux Evo in preparation for Dakar 2017. Terence Marsh will also be out in the Red-Lined Nissan Navara with TopCar editor Calvin Fisher and Samsung executive Justin Hume alternating the co-driving duties.
The other unanswered question hinges around the battle in Class T for cars above four litres with solid axle rear suspension. It is a battle that has been raging all season between privateers Jason Venter and Vince van Allemann (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux), and Chris Visser and Ward Huxtable in the Neil Woolridge Motorsport/Ford Performance Ranger.
As matters stand it is advantage Venter and van Allemann. They have eked out an 11 point lead in the overall championship and have doubled that advantage in Class T.
It could be that former champion Visser and Huxtable are entering the Last Chance Saloon. Finishing ahead of Venter and van Allemann is an absolute priority for the Ford crew, and the continuation of their private battle is one of the cameo performances to be watched with interest.
Just to add a little interest to proceedings Johan van Staden and Mike Lawrenson (Red-Lined Nissan Navara) are mathematically capable of catching both Venter/van Allemann and Visser/Huxtable over the last two events. It is a tall order, but second place on the Nkomazi 450 won’t have done van Staden and Lawrenson any harm in the confidence department.
Behind the top three in Class T there are other cameos worth watching. Only four points separate Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (NWM/Ford Performance Ranger), Luke Botha/Andre Vermeulen (Red-Lined Nissan Navara) and Nkomazi winners Johan and Werner Horn in the Malalane Toyota Hilux.
Gary Bertholdt (Atlas Copco VW Amarok) is only seven points adrift of Johan Horn in the drivers’ championship and is always a danger man. A new threat to the Class T brigade has also emerged with Hennie de Klerk taking over the VW Amarok previously run in RFS colours by Christiaan du Plooy and Henk Janse van Vuuren.
De Klerk and Adriaan Roets will run the car in Treasury One branding with both Amaroks showing enormous potential during the season. De Klerk and Roets showed patchy form in the BMW X3, and the switch in machinery is likely to give the pair a new lease on life.
Where Class S is concerned – for cars up to four litres with solid axle rear suspension – Otto Graven and Bobby Brewis (Graven Motorsport Toyota Hilux) have built up a handy lead over North West crews Heine Strumpher/Henry Hugo (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux) and Jannie and Chris Visser (Toyota Hilux). Strumpher/Hugo and the Vissers both missed the last event, but in familiar conditions will make life uncomfortable for the Kimberley based pair.
Graven/Brewis lead Strumpher/Hugo by 24 points and the Vissers by 30 and theirs is a position of strength. Ronald Graven and Lohan Farber, in another Graven Motorsport Toyota Hilux, can also do the class leaders a favour by finishing ahead of the two North West crews.
Race headquarters and the designated service park will be located within the main Sun City complex with free public entry. The qualifying event to determine grid positions will start at 11:00 on September 30 and the race at 08:00 on October 1.
After a ceremonial start at Sun City competitors will travel to Tweelaagte, 30 kilometres to the west, where they will be flagged away at two minute intervals. The race will be run over two laps with a compulsory 20 minute service halt at the end of the first loop, loop two will start at 12:00.
There is also free public entry to spectator points along the route with easy access from race headquarters. Catering, refreshments and route guides will also be available at race headquarters.
Cross country enthusiasts can also follow the event on the RallySafe app for Apple and Android devices. The app is downloaded free of charge and enables enthusiasts to track the cars on a detailed map, download split times and access results.
Images: Waldo van der Waal
 Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie |
 Jason Venter and Vince van Allemann |
