The Kopanong Hotel Superteam will field five cars in round four of the Absa Off Road Championship, the Sun City 400, which takes place in the Pilanesberg area on July 23 and 24 and is confident that it can put the recent Toyota 1000 Desert Race behind them when the entire team was time barred by mere minutes after completing racing section one.
Everything was going according to plan for John Weir-Smith and Geoff Minnitt (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jimco) who were the fastest Special Vehicle qualifiers in the Prologue and the early race leaders until they picked up a puncture, which dropped them down the order.
They mounted a charge but lost time at the midway service point having the gearbox tightened and then resumed their charge only to run out of fuel 18 kilometres from the finish while in second position. Henry Kirstein and Renier Jooste in the Atlas Copco BAT stopped to offer the stricken pair some fuel but it was insufficient to get them to the finish.
Andre Botha and Bean Heydenrych (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Chevy) had Class F sewn up and stopped to give their teammates some fuel. Class S contenders Nic Goslar and Warren Bowie (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Raceco) and Chris Fick and Rob Knight (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Land Rover) had assumed the role of Good Samaritans throughout the day and helped many competitors who were stuck in dongas and soft sand and they too assisted their stricken team-mates.
All these delays meant that by the time they all got underway again they had missed the time bar and were out of the race.
“Not being able to continue the race on Sunday was a bitter pill for us all to swallow,” said Andre Botha. “However, I am satisfied that the vehicles performed well and that the actions of the entire team in helping stranded competitors was in the true spirit of sportsmanship.”
The Superteam has acquired the Raceco that Buks Carolin had intended racing before deciding to join Atang Makgekgenene as co-driver in the Total Jimco. Richard ‘Ouboet’ Carolin who is no stranger to Special Vehicles will drive the Class S BMW 540 V8 powered vehicle.
“We are thrilled to have Ouboet help us develop the Raceco and believe he will add considerable value,” said Botha. “Based on our Toyota 1000 performance, where the vehicles didn’t miss a beat, I am confident that we will deliver positive results on the Sun City 400.”