It’s been a very difficult season so far this year for the champions, whose best result has been second in the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 in KwaZulu Natal in May after their all-conquering BAT was destroyed in a frightening accident in the opening round in the Western Cape in February.
After taking over the second Motorite BAT Spec 3 for the remainder of the season following the mishap in the Nissan Dealer 400, Hutchison and Bergmann have managed just one points’ scoring finish. In the most recent Sun City 400, they looked to be headed for the elusive first win of the year when they ran out of spare tyres after suffering three punctures.
The Limpopo event was a turning point for the team last year and Hutchison, ever confident, is not admitting defeat just yet. “It’s been a hard season for us and it looks like our championship chances are over. But you can never give up. Last year we struggled during the first half of the season and then we won the last three events. Right now we’re lying 12th overall, more than 50 points (two wins) behind the leaders.
“But with teams having to drop their worst score at the end of the season, we can still finish in the top three. That’s our goal now. Whatever happens, from here on we aim to get the best results we can and look forward to the new season in 2009, for which we have some exciting plans.”
Alfie Cox and Hennie ter Stege will be sitting out the remainder of the season following the sale of the Motorite Ford Ranger.
“We didn’t really get the results from the ex-works Ford that we expected,” said team manager Hutchison. Alfie and Hennie did a great job under the circumstances and, although we managed to up its performance to a competitive level by mid-season, it was always going to fall short of the works entries in the Super Production class.
“When a decent offer came along for the car, we decided to let it go. We only ever planned to run the Ford for a season. Frankly, we’d rather reserve our money and effort for a more competitive programme next year.”
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.
