Victory on the Atlas Copco Timbertrack 400 in KwaZulu-Natal has given former SA champion Duncan Vos and Rob Howie a tight hold on the Production Vehicle title race as the Absa Off Road Championship approaches the halfway mark.
For the second time in a row Visser and Badenhorst had to fight a rearguard action to gather in valuable championship points, and the advantage now clearly lies with Vos and Howie.
Second place on the Atlas Copco Timbertrack race kept Cliff Weichelt and Johan Smalberger (N1 4x4 Toyota Land Cruiser) at the top of the Class D championship. The win went to Mpumalanga based brother Johan and Werner Horn (Malalane Toyota Land Cruiser) but it was not enough to lift them above reigning champions Jack and Sarel Oosthuizen in the LMC Land Rover.
Consistency is again proving to be a major weapon for the Oosthuizens. But for Weichelt the status quo in the Class D championship is proving incentive enough to keep him commuting between Perth and South Africa.
Down in Class E the Elite Furniture Removals Toyota Hilux pair of Dirk Putter and Koos Claasens still lead the championship, but an act of sportsmanship in KZN cost them the opportunity of increasing their advantage.
Putter and Claasens stopped to help Special Vehicle crew Quintin and Kallie Sullwald (Elegant Fuel BAT) who ran into alternator problems and were blocking the road.
The time lost eventually saw Putter and Claasens finish 25 seconds behind local crew Rowan Lamb and Lyle Parker who claimed their first national win in the diesel powered ex factory Ford Ranger. Only two points now separate Putter/Claasens, who were looking for their third straight win, and the KZN team.
SPECIAL VEHICLES
History was made in the Special Vehicles category when the Century Racing crew of Colin Matthews and Alan Smith became the first Class P team to take the overall lead in the Special Vehicle category.
As a result of this weekend's victory, Matthews and Smith now hold a three point lead over reigning SA champions Hermann and Wichard Sullwald (Elegant Fuel BAT) in the overall standings, with Johan van Staden and Mike Lawrenson third in the Atlas Copco BAT.
Only four points separate the three crews but the Class A results on the Toyota Dealer Team 400 are still under appeal and could alter the situation. Van Staden and Lawrenson have appealed against a penalty that relegated them to fourth place behind the Sullwalds, Nardus and Louis Alberts (Wrapsa BAT) and Laurence and Gerhard du Plessis (Zarco) at the Mpumalanga race.
The du Plessis brothers and former champion Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen (Motorite BAT Venom) are locked together in fourth place in the overall championship with Marius and Jolinda Fourie, second overall and Class A winners in KZN, completing the top five.
NOW FOR BOTSWANA
The season reaches the halfway mark at the Toyota 1000 Desert Race, the only marathon event on the calendar, in Botswana from June 22 to 24. The race carries points and a half and could muddy the waters in the overall and class championship title chases.