After the high of winning last year’s championship, we have had a miserable year in 2008, so today’s result is particularly pleasing, said Hutchison. “Achim and I are determined to finish what has been a frustrating season, in which we don’t seem to have had any luck, on a high note. The Motorite BAT performed faultlessly and, apart from two punctures during the second half of the race, we had no problems at all.”
Hutchison and Bergmann completed Friday’s 74-km prologue in third place in the special vehicle category and assumed the lead in Saturday’s race after the compulsory midway service stop in Lydenburg. Second at the finish a few kilometres outside Lydenburg were Karl-Heinz and Quintin Sullwald in a BAT Spec 4, with Don Thomson and Gary Campbell a further 7 min 50 sec in arrears in their Zarco Lite special.
“Despite only finishing one of the past six events – the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 in May, in which we finished second – we have never given up or lost faith in our ability to win,” said Hutchison. “This very welcome victory is just reward to our team and our sponsors, Motorite Insurance Administrators, who have continued to put in the effort and give us their full support.
“Congratulations to the SAM Club for an excellent event. It was tough and the dust made life very difficult on Saturday when there was hardly any wind. Overtaking was a problem in the early stages, but we bided our time and took our opportunities as they presented themselves. We pushed as hard as we could in the conditions and the car responded magnificently.
“Although we are no longer in a position to defend our championship, we will be giving it all we’ve got in the final around in Gauteng in November and will be aiming for nothing less than another outright win.”
Motorite Racing is the motor sport division of Motorite Insurance Administrators, the largest independent mechanical breakdown insurance and full maintenance plan service provider and administrator in South Africa.