Off-road stalwarts Hannes Grobler and Hennie ter Stege opened the ABSA Off Road Championship with BMW-infused bang by winning the Production Vehicle category of the Adenco 400 this weekend.
Success started early for the pair in their diesel-powered RFS BMW X3 as they won the Donaldson Prologue on Friday to start first on the road, and then closed the door on Thomas Rundle and Juan Mohr to finish five and a half minutes ahead of the Barden Nissan Navara at the end.
Grobler and ter Stege lost three minutes at the end of the first of two loops that made up the race for prop shaft repairs, while Rundle and Mohr were left to rue two punctures at the same spot on a tough and technical route run in searing heat.
Grobler exclaimed: “Winning the prologue was the key to our victory. Hennie and I knew we had to have a good start position to have a chance, and winning the prologue gave us the edge we needed.
A surprise result saw former Class E champions Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux score their best ever national result by taking the final podium place in the Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux.
A solid performance saw Terence Marsh and George Smalberger finish fourth in the ex factory Regent Racing Nissan Navara with the pair holding off Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen in the Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux.
Repairing broken front differential mountings cost the Atlas Copco crew a wad of time at the end of the first of two loops that made up the race.
With more fancied crews running into problems Louw de Bruin/Riaan Greyling (Ruwacon Ford Ranger), Christiaan du Plooy/Henk Janse van Vuuren (RFS Toyota Hilux) and Malcolm Kok/Johan Burger (Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux) moved up the pecking order to grab top eight finishes.
Among those for whom the weekend turned into a disappointment were Visser and Badenhorst and the two new Team Castrol Toyota Hilux cars. Former SA champion Duncan Vos and Rob Howie and Anthony Taylor and Chris Birkin ran into teething problems with the Toyota Hilux double cabs.
While Taylor/Birkin eventually had to call it a day, Vos and Howie battled to 10th place in the premier SP Class with both cars suffering from fuel starvation and prop shaft problems.
Reigning Class D champions Deon Venter and Ian Palmer took the Class D honours in the 4x4 Mega World Toyota Hilux and there were no finishers in Class E.
In the Special Vehicle category, Century Racing crew Colin Matthews and Alan Smith (previously known as the Donaldson Prologue specialists) clinched their maiden win after dominating the race from start to finish.
They came home around eight minutes ahead of the father and son combination of Nick and Ryan Harper in the Motorite BAT.
The podium was completed by the reigning South African champions Kallie and Quintin Sullwald who overcame a ten minute penalty during the Friday prologue to determine start positions for the race.