Following team manager Evan Hutchison’s class B win in the inaugural event in 2005 in a Motorite BAT (he went on to win the class B championship), Motorite Racing’s two South African designed and built BAT Spec 2 space frame racers finished second and third last year on their way to taking the top two positions in the Special Vehicle category of the 2006 Absa Off Road Championship.
Cato Ridge (KwaZulu Natal) based KTM motorcycle dealer Alfie Cox took the chequered flag at the finish in Polokwane last year with co-driver Hennie ter Stege and added to his legendary status by going on to win the championship.
It was his first attempt at the special vehicle class after winning the 2005 production vehicle class in a works Nissan Hardbody, making him the first person to win the national off road championship on two wheels and four. It also took his tally of national off road and enduro championships to a record 25, of which 23 were achieved on two wheels.
Former bike racer and quad champion Hutchison, with co-driver and BAT builder Achim Bergmann was second behind his team-mates and went on to finish second overall in the championship.
“When we came to last year’s event we were better placed to win our first championship than we are today,” said Hutchison. “We’re running two Spec 3 BATs this season and, while the new cars have proved to be very fast and strong, we’ve had a few more teething problems than we expected.”
With three rounds of the eight-event championship remaining, Hutchison and Bergmann are third overall, 25 points (value of a win) behind leaders Nick and Ryan Harper (BAT). Cox and ter Stege are fifth, a further nine points in arrears.
“We have some catching up to do, but we are optimistic we can pull off our third off road championship in only Motorite Racing’s third year in off road racing,” said a confident Hutchison.
The top class in off road racing has become a lot more competitive this year, with five different winners in the first five events this year (Hutchison won the opening round in the Western Cape in March in a Spec 3 BAT, while Cox gave the Spec 3 a debut win in the Sun City 400 in May). Both Cox and Hutchison are fighters and it would be a brave gambler who would bet on either of them not emerging as the champion at the end of the year.
Alternator problems on the big, 6,7-litre Chev V8 engines that power the awesome Spec 3 BAT saw the two Motorite cars finish outside the top positions in the most recent event, the Amathole 500 in the Eastern Cape.
“We’ve sorted out the electrics and put a lot of effort into preparing the two cars for this weekend’s race. We had a good day’s testing at Gerotek and at the very least we’re looking for a team 1-2,” said Hutchison.
Cox as ever is all enthusiasm. “I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of my Motorite BAT. It’s an absolutely awesome machine. We’re up against it a bit right now, but we have the best equipment and a great team of professionals behind us. The competition is tough and we’ve seen some special performances by our rivals, but we have to win races if we want to win this championship and we’ll be putting in our very best effort,” he promised.
Motorite Insurance Administrators, who have been funding the most successful team in special vehicle off road racing since the beginning of the 2005 season, also sponsor the Off Road Car Commission’s new satellite tracking system that allows the organisers to track each vehicle via an on board GPS unit throughout the event, allowing for greater control of the safety of competitors as well as the administration and scoring of the event.
