The Castrol Toyota Hilux factory and privateer teams will continue their quest for an elusive first win this season at the African Heritage/Amathole 500 in the Eastern Cape from July 27 to 30.
The Amathole 500 is round five of the Absa Off Road Championship and will be run in conjunction with the African Heritage event. The African Heritage is round two of the FIA Cross Country World Cup and is the only international race in South Africa this year that counts towards a world series.
There was heartbreak for the factory squad when Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin were within a toucher of winning the Production Vehicle category and the Super Production Class at the recent Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana. Cronje/Birkin and the rest of the squad will, however, take heart from the Botswana event.
“It was disappointing and frustrating to come so close to a win on the Desert Race,” said Toyota Motorsport manager Wammy Haddad. “The big positive was that Botswana again underlined the potential of the vehicles, and we are going to be competitive in the Eastern Cape.
“What we need is a little luck and for all the pieces to come together at the same time.”
Cronje and Birkin lie joint third in the Production Vehicle championship and will be aiming at further boosting their title challenge. A good result will keep them in the frame.
Team-mates Bevan Bertholdt and Robin Houghton will be desperately keen to turn around a season that so far has brought little for them to shout about. The pair have been plagued by bad luck and a finish in the points will be manna from heaven.
“It has been both disappointing and frustrating,” said Houghton. “But Bevan and I have been around long enough to know that you just have to guts out bad patches.
“We are due a change in fortunes and a good result this time around will set us up for the rest of the season.”
Jannie Visser and Japie Badenhorst will have been hugely encouraged by a promising first outing in a third Castrol Toyota Hilux in Botswana. The same applies to Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn, in the Micaren Exel Dealer Team Hilux, who led the Desert Race at the halfway stage.
An experienced pairing and a couple of rookie crews will take up the challenge in Class D. The father and son pairing of Cliff and Louis Weichelt have plenty of experience but, like Bertholdt/Houghton, have not had much luck this season in the Bosal Toyota Hilux D4D.
Ramon Bezuidenhout and Stefan Lock, in their first season, already have a Class D win under their belts in a Toyota Hilux. They also came up with a good performance in Botswana, as did Malcolm Kok and Wayne Brink in another Toyota Hilux, but lack of experience could be a problem for both teams.
The Weichelt’s and Bezuidenhout/Lock will have a long weekend ahead of them. Both crews have also entered the African Heritage invitation race where they will race at the back of the international field.
Toyota will have high hopes of a win in Class E where three Toyota crews are involved in a tight championship battle. Botswana winners George and Sharon Barkhuizen (Ruwacon Toyota Hilux) are only one point behind leaders Jack Peckham and Lucio Santoro in a factory Ford Ranger.
Hot on their heels are Brian Martin and Ockie Fourie who have a 100 percent finish record this season in the Castrol Toyota Hilux, and Jannie Visser/Joks le Roux in the Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux. Brothers Mark and Stuart Moffat (Bosal Toyota Hilux) are also capable of winning, and Toyota have a powerful hand in a highly competitive class.
