On an event they would love to win, Toyota teams, spearheaded by the Castrol Toyota Hilux entries in the premier Super Production Class, will be told to simply go as fast as they can and finish the race. “Off course we would love to win this race, but we are not going to get too technical in our approach,” said Toyota Motorsport manager William Haddad. “The crews will be told to go out an enjoy themselves, and to go as fast as they can without crashing or breaking the vehicles.
“We are looking forward to it and the route on this event, particularly the forest section, is always interesting and a fair test.”
The event is organised by the South African Motorsport Club (SAM), and Haddad added that the route marking and the road book were also always of a high standard. This, along with the GPS system in operation in the Absa series, would take the pressure of crews and lead to close racing.
Encouraging performances on recent events has also built up an air of optimism in the Toyota camp. Factory crew Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin have twice come close to wins this season, while team-mates Bevan Bertholdt and Robin Houghton bounced back to form on the recent Ford Motorite 400 in Limpopo.
Former Class D champions Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst, in a third Castrol Toyota entry, have also found their feet in the SP Class and Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn, in the Micaren Exel Toyota Hilux, have had their moments this season. Toyota will also have high hopes in Classes D and E where a number of crews have also hit encouraging form.
“We owe the team a win and this would be the right event to put it all together,” said Cronje. “We have the potential and hopefully we won’t be short of the little bit of luck always needed at this level.”
After a powerful showing in the prologue for the Ford Motorite 400, the Visser/Badenhorst combination ran into problems in the race. They will be hoping to bounce back on their own event and according to Visser have now come to terms with the SP Class.
“In Limpopo we finally started to drive the vehicle as an SP Class entry and not a Class D entry,” said Visser. “It made all the difference and has also given our confidence a boost.”
The Limpopo event also gave Cliff and Louis Weichelt (Bosal Toyota Hilux D4D) a boost in confidence. After a patchy season they picked up a win that sees them as one of half a dozen crews still in with a chance of winning the championship in a highly competitive class.
The Toyota Dealer 400 will also be hugely important for rookies Ramon Bezuidenhout and Stefan Lock (Toyota Hilux) who would be prime candidates for a newcomers of the year award. Bezuidenhout is just one point behind Coetzee Labuscagne in the drivers championship, while Lock leads the co-drivers championship by three points.
The first six in the drivers championship are covered by just 10 points, while nine points separate the first five in the co-drivers title race. Expect a dogfight in Mpumalanga.
Toyota crews are also in contention for championship honours in Class E where Ford pair Jack Peckham, who still has to drop a score, and Lucio Santoro lead the driver and co-driver stakes. George and Sharon Barkhuizen (Ruwacon Toyota Hilux) and Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux) need good results on the Toyota Dealer 400 to maintain their challenges, and there will be pressure on both crews.
Brian Martin and Ockie Fourie (Castrol Toyota Hilux) have dropped down the list via two non finishes in a row. They will be keen to bounce back with brothers Mark and Stuart Moffatt (Bosal Toyota Hilux) also capable of pulling off a win.
The prologue to determine start positions for the race proper will be run on November 2. The race proper will start at 08h00 at Lydenburg Toyota on November 3 and will be run over three loops.
The designated service point (DSP) and the finish will be at the Lydenburg Rugby Club.
