Three Midrand based teams are out to scoop the jackpot on this year’s Carnival City Casino 400, the final round of the SA Off Road Car Racing Championship…presented by Absa, on November 14 and 15.
The Proudly South African Nissan team of Hannes Grobler and Richard Leeke clinched the Production Vehicle and Class T Championships on the recent Toyota Dealer 400 in the Lydenburg area and will be out to win its ninth event in ten starts.
Grobler and Leeke will have to contend with their own team-mates Giniel de Villiers and Francois Jordaan and Duncan Vos and Mike Griffith who will go all out to beat the soon to be crowned Production Vehicle Champions.
BAT Racing, a private initiative by young entrepreneur Brandon Harcus, has taken the local and international off road racing scene by storm with BAT vehicles winning four of the seven events held to date and Harcus recently announcing that a BAT would be seen in action in Dakar 2004.
Harcus and co-driver Gary Bertholdt have won two rounds of the championship in their Adrenalise Corporate Entertainment BAT and stand an outside chance of winning the coveted Special Vehicle championship.
KZN crew Gerald Mundell and Billy Bond (Prolong BAT) won the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 and are second in the Special Vehicle championship the leaders in the Class A championship while Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr won the recent Toyota Dealer 400 in their Century Property Developments BAT.
The O’Hagan’s / Kopanong Hotel Superteam has had mixed fortunes this season with the highlight being John Weir-Smith and Geoff Minnitt’s (Superteam Jimco) storming drive from the back of the field to win the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana.
What followed was a spate of engine failures and suspension problems, which has put the team out of the running for the Special Vehicle and Class A Championships.
Nic Goslar (Superteam Raceco) is the co-leader in the Class S Drivers Championship and along with Warren Bowie only has to finish ahead of archrivals Mohammed Noor and Mohammed Moultsen from Botswana to win the championship in his debut year.
Benoni businessman Andre Botha and Beans Heydenrych, also in their debut year, are second in Class F in the Superteam Chevy and must beat Jaap Zeeman and Johannes Barwise to wrap up the Class F title.
Father and son Rob and Gareth Wark share driving duties in the Superteam Mighty Mag and would like to end the season with a Class B win after only finishing once this season due to ongoing steering and suspension problems.
The Carnival City Casino 400 will be a spectator friendly event and a popular “bring ‘n braai” area will again be in operation, providing a friendly atmosphere for friends and enthusiasts to get together in convivial surroundings.
Spectators at Carnival City Casino will also have access to fast food outlets, a beer tent and toilet facilities. The section of the route that passes through the Carnival City complex has also been revamped and now includes additional high-speed ramps to increase the spectacle.
This will provide enthusiasts with spectacular views of the action. Spectators will be able to see the cars three times from one vantage point within the complex, and will also be within close proximity of spectator points within a few kilometers of Carnival City Casino.
The weekend’s action will get underway with the prologue, to determine grid positions, at 12:00 on Friday, November 14. This should provide plenty of action and will set the tone for what looks like developing into a highly dramatic weekend of world class off-road racing. The main event gets underway at 08:00 on Saturday, November 15.