The two factory Castrol Toyota Hilux V6 entries in the hands of Mark Cronje/Chris Birkin and Bevan Bertholdt will be among the pre-race favourites. But the priority for both teams will be to make it across the finish line.
“The vehicles are ultra competitive and won’t be far off winning pace,” said Toyota Motorsport manager William Haddad. “We have had a little bad luck at crucial times over the last two seasons, but we have high expectations for the 2008 season.
“The main objective for the factory crews and the privateers will be to gather in as many good finishes as is possible. The championship hasn’t been to the Port Elizabeth for many years, so it should be an interesting race.”
A major portion of the route will take in the Longmore Forest area which has for many years been the backbone of the national championship VW Rally. With this in mind crews with rally experience could find themselves in the pound seats, and Cronje/Birkin are the reigning Class A7 rally champions while Houghton is also a veteran rallyist.
Bertholdt and Houghton will also be out in a new Castrol Toyota Hilux V6 with Cronje and Birkin taking delivery of their new vehicle at the start of the season. The Bertholdt/Houghton vehicle will be taken over by Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst and their vehicle will go to Jaco Swanepoel and Keith Solomon who will race under the IDM Cement banner.
“We are raring to go,” said Houghton. “We need to put some points on the board so I think our approach will lean towards conservatism.
“The forest section will be interesting but even those of us with rally experience are not quite sure what to expect.”
Toyota will also be looking for a good result from Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst in a third Castrol Toyota Hilux. The pair improve with every outing and have also managed to add consistency to pace.
Jaap and Hugo de Bruyn, in the Micaren Exel Toyota Hilux also have the ability to spring a surprise. Swanepoel/Solomon and George and Sharon Barkhuizen, in the Ruwacon Toyota Hilux, have both made a quantum leap from Class E into the premier category, and both crews are still in a learning curve.
There is no learning curve for Toyota crews in Class D but Cliff Weichelt/Jimmy Goch (N1 4×4 Toyota Hilux D4D), Ramon Bezuidenhout/Stefan Lock (Toyota Hilux) and Christiaan du Plooy junior and Henk van Vuuren, in the Retirement Fund Solution Hilux, will all be keen to chalk up their first points off the season. Weichelt is the reigning Class D drivers champion while Bezuidenhout/Lock were the rookies of the year in 2007.
Class D is a straight Nissan versus Toyota fight and, like last year, has the makings of an ultra competitive category. Going into the last event last year four or five crews were in with a chance of winning the championship, and the same scenario could develop.
Down in Class E experienced Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux) got their season off to a fast start with a win on the opening event. They will want to keep the momentum going with Ford crew Jack Peckham and Lucio Santoro and Nissan pair Thomas Rundle and Brian Roberts two major threats.
The Toyota challenge will be bolstered by the first appearance of Rob Gurney and Paul Gonlag in the Castrol Toyota Hilux run last year by Brian Martin and Ockie Fourie. Gurney is an experienced campaigner and will be looking for a win first time out.
Deon Venter and Ian Palmer (4×4 Megaworld Toyota Hilux) now have a full season of off road racing behind them and could also challenge for top honours. Dewaal van Breda and Pieter du Plessis, out in another Toyota Hilux, are something of an unknown quantity at this stage.
