Special Vehicle championship contenders prior to the Toyota Dealer 400, John Weir-Smith and Geoff Minnitt (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jimco) blew their chances when they were forced to retire with a broken drive shaft.
Weir-Smith and stand-in co-driver Joe Lima won the Lesotho Sun 400 and a good result on the Lydenburg event would have put him well in contention for the championship but that is now history and his strategy is to win the Carnival City 400, final round of the Absa Off Road Championship, overall.
“We broke a drive shaft in the Prologue and should have replaced both drive shafts as a precaution,” said Weir-Smith. “We didn’t and there’s little point in crying over spilt milk so, with the championship no longer in reach, my strategy is to give the Production Vehicles a run for their money and win the Carnival City 400 outright.”
“The conditions will suit the BMW 540 V8 powered Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jimco well and I am confident that we’ll have the edge over the Lexus V8, Corvette LS-1 V8, Nissan V6 and Audi V8 powered Special Vehicles as well as the factory Ford and Nissans.”
Andre Botha and Beans Heydenrych have come to grips with the tricky handling characteristics of the two-wheel drive Kopanong Hotel Superteam Chevy V8 but have been plagued by power steering problems since mid-season.
“It’s taken a while to get used to the monster, which is not the easiest vehicle to drive,” said Botha. “Our times have improved on each event but the frustration brought about by the mystery power steering problem is now becoming a bit to much to endure.”
“The entire system was replaced for the Toyota Dealer 400 and when I fired the Chevy up before the start on Saturday morning the power steering failed yet again. Hopefully the problem will be sorted out for the Carnival City 400 because Beans and I would really like to finish the season on a high.”
Rookies Chris Fick and Robert Knight who have only managed to finish one event in the Class D Kopanong Hotel Superteam Land Rover were having a good run in Lydenburg until they collided with a concrete block, which destroyed the front suspension.
It’s been a season of mixed fortunes for the Kopanong Hotel Superteam but everyone is confident that the Carnival City 400 will be the turning point.
