Toyota Motorsport is in a strong position in the 2002 Bankfin Off-Road Championship going into the Mafikeng 500, leading the overall Production Vehicle Championship and classes D and E.. –
– Castrol Land Cruiser contenders Piet Haasbroek and Christo Bosch have the upper hand in the overall championship standings, while Toyota recently made a successful debut with its new Class T Castrol Land Cruiser in the hands of ex-multiple champions Apie Reyneke and Robin Houghton. –
– Reyneke/Houghton had a bad start in the previous event, the Toyota 1000 Desert Race, after ending nose first in a ditch because of a mishap in the prologue. Local children moved route markers which caused Reyneke to get stuck in a dry river bed. –
– This forced them to start from the back of the huge Desert Race field of over 70 cars, but they managed to move their new vehicle through the ranks to finish in an admirable third overall and third in Class T. –
– “It was a tough job to work our way through the field with so many cars ahead of us, but we managed to move up to within 30 minutes from eventual winners Hannes Grobler and Richard Leeke (Nissan Hardbody) and only 11 minutes behind second-placed Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjöldhammer (Ford Ranger V8),” said Reyneke after the event. –
– Toyota Motorsport manager Wammy Haddad said the vehicle survived it’s maiden event without any mechanical problems and only some damage caused by hitting a large rock had to be repaired after the event, and body panels damaged in the battle to overtake slower vehicles. –
– Toyota will also focus on a good class result for defending Class D champions Shumie van Vuuren and new navigator Hennie ter Stege in the second Class D Castrol Land Cruiser while Haasbroek/Bosch will be out in full force to regain their winning streak after two consecutive wins in the first two races of the season. –
– “We had our fair share of problems in the Desert Race and are focused on not only maintaining our hold on the Class D championship, but also our lead in the overall driver’s and navigator’s championships,” Haasbroek said. –
– A surprise in the championship status is that of father and son Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn who are holding third overall in the Production Vehicle Championship in their ex-Birkin Class E Toyota Hilux 2700i 4×4. –
– The O’Hagans / Kopanong Hotel 500, starting on Friday July 26 with a 60 km long prologue followed by the main race on Saturday July 27, is the fourth round in the Bankfin Off-Road Championship for Production Vehicles and marks the halfway point of the 2002 championship.
