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ABSA South African Championship 2006 Special-Newssection
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This is the single-news section of the
marathonrally.com special of the ABSA South African Offroad Championship series 2006. To see all news please use the link under the
article or navigate with the left main-navigation.
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ABSA 2006: Motorite BAT crews will be in the firing line
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So far this season there have been five different winners in the five races run so far. But Motorite BAT crews have won three of those races and currently hold the first three places in the drivers championship, and the first two places in the co-drivers championship.
Lesotho Sun 400 winners Alfie Cox and Hennie Ter Stege currently lead the overall and Class A standings, with Evan Hutchinson and Achim Bergmann in hot pursuit. Brandon Harcus, paired again at Sun City with Marcelle Trethewey, is third in the drivers championship and along with Cox and Hutchison has tasted victory this season.
While the Motorite crews will be under fire, there is no shortage of potential winners. Nick and Ryan Harper (Kartek BAT) and Gary Bertholdt and Henry Kirstein (Atlas Copco Porter) have also won this season and will again be among the frontrunners. Former champion Shameer Variawa and Andrew van Zyl (Total Porter) have the pace to trouble the best crews, and reigning champions Terence Marsh and Mike Whitehouse (Nashua Mobile BAT) will want to bounce back after failing, for the first time in 13 starts, to see out the distance on the Lesotho race.
The likes of John Moore/Ashley Thorne (Leo/Connix Internet Koloi Chev) and Colin Matthews and Juan Mohr in the Gondwana Steel BAT have all had their moments this season. The biggest threat to the Motorite crews, however, is likely to come from Nardus Albert and Colin Hunter who have shown impressive form of late in the Wrapsa BAT.
Clint Gibson/Mike Brown (Absolute BAT) and the father and son pair of Rob and Gareth Wark, who are now going to share a single seater BAT, could also come into the reckoning. The pace up front is likely to be fast and furious with no prisoners taken. That is going to make for a highly interesting race and the battlefield will be no place for the faint of heart.
Looking for winners in Class B is also a tricky exercise. Jan and Hendrik Kraaij (Keymax BAT) currently lead the championship but still have to drop one score, and the challengers are lining up. The championship leaders will be looking for every point they can muster, while Ernest Corbett/Warwick Goosen (Century Property Developments BAT) will be coming off a high after winning in Lesotho. The Adenco BAT teams of Bez Bezuidenhout/Johann de Bruyn and Johann/Etienne Bezuidenhout are capable of winning as are John Thompson and Clinton McNamara in the Zarco.
The van Graan bothers, Rudi and Pierre, in the Technochair Zarco, have won this season and will be back in action as will former champions Marcus Taylor and Mark de Chalain in the CLE JRE. The latter have had a miserable time of it this season and will be looking to show their true colours. Veteran Giel Nel and Johan Smalberger in the Bosal Truggy and Marius and Tracey van Vuuren, in the Bosal Zarco, are both capable of good results, and there is little to choose between the top crews. This makes for what should be a highly interesting outing.
A win on the recent Lesotho Sun 400 saw Nic Goslar (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Raceco) move ahead of reigning drivers champion Richard Schilling in the Class S points standings. The experienced Schilling, partnered in the Plastotech Aceco by Chris Davies, won’t take that lying down and will be keen to hit back immediately.
Schilling/Davies have the pace to dominate but also face threats from Archie Rutherford/Craig Doubtfire (Nashua Mobile Raceco) and Botswana crew Gary Gillingham and Peter van Vuuren in the Shell Raceco. Once again a good battle is on the cards. Pride, as much as championship points, is a great motivator. There will be enough motivation throughout the various classes at Sun City to turn the outing into one of the most exciting races of the season.
2006/09/25 | 10:37 CET | Editor: MR/Charmaine Fortune
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