Team Ford’s Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst notched up their second win of this season in their Ranger TDCi machine at the Human Auto 400 at the weekend. The pair finished two minutes ahead of motorsports legend Alfie Cox and German Jurgen Schroder in a SP Nissan Navara. Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable brought the second Ranger home to take the final podium spot.
Despite suffering overheating problems, Visser and Badenhorst kept their championship hopes alive by nursing the Ranger to the finish. “It was a difficult race. The overheating was a problem, but on a really tough route Japie had to work overtime to keep us on the right course,” Visser said.
Some strong contenders throughout the various classes were casualties of the event’s high attrition rate, namely Toyota’s Duncan Vos and co-driver Rob Howie with engine failure and team-mates Anthony Taylor and Chris Birkin also failed to finish. Terence Marsh and George (Navara) Smalberger retired after crashing into a ditch.
With the season finale just a month away and only 15 points between the top six teams, the preparation and finish is set to be a bona fide nail-biter. The RFS 400 in the Magaliesburg region happens on 18-19 November.