Former national off road champion Duncan Vos and co-driver Rob Howie, driving a Super Production class Castrol Team Toyota Hilux, on Saturday afternoon 30 July, won the Sun City 400 in North West Province. Second, 4,48 minutes in arrears, was the BMW X3 of former champion Hannes Grobler and Hennie ter Stege, with Malcolm Kock and Johan Burger third in a privateer Toyota Hilux a further 4 min 48 sec behind.
It was Vos and Howie’s second victory in the first five rounds of the Absa South African Off Road Car Championship (they also won the Atlas Copco Battlefields 400 in KwaZulu-Natal in round three in May) and they now lead the championship with 67 points from Thomas Rundle/Juan Mohr (61,5) and Terence Marsh/George Smalberger (56).
Castrol Toyota team-mates Anthony Taylor and Chris Birkin in the second factory Toyota Hilux overcame considerable odds to be among the 17 finishers, completing the course in hot and dusty conditions in 12th place after losing over an hour on the second loop when they were forced to stop and replace a broken front drive shaft while lying sixth.
Toyota, with four Hilux bakkies and two Land Cruisers in the top 10, won the manufacturers’ challenge for the event and consolidated its lead in the prestigious overall manufacturers’ championship.
Saturday’s 340-km route, over two identical loops with a compulsory service stop at the halfway point, was a very tough combination of tight, rocky tracks and fast grassland sections dotted with trees that took its toll of the strong field of production vehicles, with two championship front-runners among the 12 that failed to finish.
Vos and Howie had started the day in second place, a single second behind the privateer Toyota Hilux of Friday’s Donaldson Prologue winners Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen. Vos took an early lead after out-dragging Bertholdt off the start line, but dropped back to fifth place after 93 km when he had to stop to change a flat wheel.
By the time the field reached the compulsory service stop at the halfway stage, Vos had recovered to third behind the privateer Toyota Hilux bakkies of Pikkie Labuschagne/Rickus Erasmus and brothers Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn. Soon after the start of the second 170-km loop they were second, 1 min 30 sec behind Labuschagne, and they regained a lead they were not to lose again at around the 85 km mark.
“We’re right back in the championship,” said the four-times previous champion and twice before a winner of this event. “Apart from our puncture, we had a trouble-free run and the Hilux didn’t miss a beat. It was a tough event and we had to push hard to make up for the lost time. The dust was a big problem.”
Taylor’s weekend started off badly when he punctured both right-hand side tyres after hitting a rock in long grass at speed on Friday’s 55-km prologue that determines the start order for Saturday’s race. He lost more than eight minutes and finished 17th.
He started Saturday’s race 8 min 21 sec behind leader Bertholdt and, after a storming drive that’s saw him record the fastest time for the opening loop, he arrived at the halfway service stop in sixth place and just 3 min 38 sec behind the leading Hilux of Labuschagne. It was a typically tigerish performance by the former track racing star, who passed 11 bakkies in the heavy dust and remarkably made up nearly five minutes on the leaders.
He was challenging Grobler in the BMW at around the 20-km mark on the second and final loop when the drive shaft broke. “We battled to get the new shaft in and lost a lot more time than we should have,” reported Taylor, whose oil-stained racing overalls bore testimony to his and co-driver Birkin’s roadside repair job.
“It was tough break. I reckon we could have finished second today, but we’re happy to have scored some valuable championship points and are only 16 behind the leaders with three rounds remaining. There are a total of 75 points still to be fought for and we’re still in with a good chance,” he added.
Team principal Glyn Hall commented, “Both drivers did a superb job today. The two Castrol Toyota Hilux bakkies are now setting the pace and improving with every outing. We need to maintain the pressure and push hard in the remaining three events for a championship victory.”
The next round of the Absa Off Road Car Championship is the Carnival City 400 in Gauteng on September 10.
