In recent seasons Special Vehicle title chases have had a habit of going all the way to the wire, and there is every reason to believe it won’t be any different this year. A quick look at the entry list for the Darling event suggests this year’s title race is going to be just as competitive.
Last year’s Class A battle went to the final event of the season before Evan Hutchison and Achim Bergmann (Motorite BAT) saw off a challenge from Nick and Ryan Harper in the Atlas Copco BAT. The two teams are back in harness this season and will again be frontrunners, but there is no shortage of challengers.
BAT builder Brandon Harcus, teamed with veteran co-driver Richard Leeke, rejoins the Motorite team after a season in Production Vehicles and will be a major threat. So too will be Shameer Variawa and Siegfried Rousseau, in the Total Porter, and the Sullwald brothers Karl-Heinz and Herman in a pair of Zarcos.
Gary Bertholdt, in the Atlas Copco Porter, is seriously quick but has underachieved in the last season or two. The answer to his problems could lie in new co-driver Pierre Arries who, like Leeke, is a rally national champion and a cool, calm and collected customer.
After consistent performances last year one can also expect the Regent Racing teams of former champion Terence Marsh and Pieter Groenewald and Mike Whitehouse and Mathew Carlson to push for wins. Whitehouse, in his second year as a driver after sitting alongside Marsh, will be out in a new BAT Spec 4 and could turn out to be a dark horse.
Veterans Nardus Alberts and Collin Hunter won last year in the Wrapsa BAT, Naeem Moosajee/Rayhaan Bodhanya (Jimco) had their moments and Botswana based Garry Gillingham (Shell Botswana BAT) looks set to benefit from having the experienced Andrew van Zyl sitting alongside him. Pieter Ruthven and Dewaal Boshoff will again be teamed up in the Ruwacon BAT, but all eyes will be on a pair that could set the cat among the pigeons.
Mark Corbett returns to the Special Vehicle fold in a new car that is going to attract a huge amount of interest. Early reports suggest the new Century CR1, built in house and fitted with a Nissan motor, incorporates some radical design features.
New race cars are notoriously fickle and prone to teething problems. Only time will tell whether Corbett and co-driver Rudi Balzer emerge as championship threats, but the new car supplies an injection of fresh interest in an already intriguing Class A battle.
The one off road championship that did not go all the way to the wire last season was in Class B where Jan and Hendrik Kraaij, in a Regent Racing BAT, totally dominated. A string of five wins in a row put the championship beyond doubt.
In Darling, however, Jan Kraaij will be partnered by Tiddo Voogt with the pair back to the Keymax banner under which the Kraaij’s first made their mark. Whether the change in personnel has any affect on performance remains to be seen.
Bes Bezuidenhout./Johann de Bruyn will be back in the Adenco BAT with veteran Giel Nel, now partnered by Deon de Kock, again out in the LUK Africa Truggy Zarco. Gauteng pair Alastair Stubbs and Marc de Chalain, in the Stafix Racing Viper, will be a threat along with Louw de Bruin and Rudi Britz in the Ruwacon BAT.
Newcomers Simon Beckett and Steve Harris, in a Century Property Developments BAT, are an unknown quantity but could shake up a few of the regulars. Kraaij and Voogt will start as favourites, but the odds may have shortened.
The new Class P category, with Class S to be phased out at the end of the year, has drawn an interesting early season mix. Reigning Class S champions Richard Schilling and Chris Davies (Aceco) and arch rivals Nic Goslar/Richard Carolin (Raceco) will be at it again.
But brothers Johan and Etienne Bezuidenhout (Adenco BAT) make the switch from Class B and another set of brothers, David and Gary White (Ruwacon BAT) make the switch from Class A. Other Class A and B crews can be expected to follow suit as the season progresses, and the new category has the makings of a highly competitive class.
With an extended 75 kilometre prologue and what is largely a new route, the Darling event is set to get the season off to a flying start.
Any of half a dozen or more crews could walk away with overall honours, but that is what one has come to expect from the upper echelons of the Absa Off Road Championship.
