The Nampo 400, a National non-championship invitational race, the first round of the Northwest Off Road Challenge and the second round of the Northern Regions Off Road Championship, sponsored by Senwes and Barloworld, takes place in Bothaville this weekend and has attracted a strong entry.
Eight crews that will be contesting the SA Off Road Car Racing Championship, which gets underway with the Nissan Dealer 400 in Darling on March 19 and 20, have entered the Free State event while 40 crews have taken up the challenge in the regional categories.
In the Production Vehicle category the GBS Racing team of reigning Class D champions Hein Grobler and Gerhard Prinsloo, Johan Gerber and Coetzee Labuschagne and husband and wife JP and Linda Augustin will be out in force in their familiar gold Nissan Hardbody pick-ups with Klerksdorp based Grobler intent on a repeat win. Hannes Steyn and Ockie Fourie will be in action in the Class D Isuzu and could spring a surprise win.
Dirk van Reenen and Ian Palmer in the Ford and Thomas Rundle and Rassie Erasmus in the Toyota spearhead the Class E challenge.
Only two Special Vehicles have entered in the National non-championship invitational race both of who are in BAT vehicles. Toyota Dealer 400 winner Mark Corbett and Gavin Kelsey are the likely overall winners in the Class A Century Property Developments BAT but cannot underestimate wily veterans Henry Kirstein and Renier Jooste in the Class B Atlas Copco BAT who have won their fair share of regional races in the past.
The regional entry is split equally between Production and Special Vehicles and here a number of national championship crews have opted for the shorter 250km regional route as a shakedown for the first event in the Western Cape.
Much attention will be focussed on the competition debut of the new Fury Ford Class T challenger that Arthur and Lorraine Roberts will be campaigning in the national championship as well as on the locally designed and built Class B Zarco’s of Hendrik Fourie and Glenn Classen.
The event gets underway with a 50km Prologue at 13h00 on Friday, February 20 to determine starting positions for Saturday’s main event, which starts at 11h15 and which will comprise one lap of 130km and two laps of a 60km route that will provide competitors with terrain including desert-like sand sections, plantations, bushveld, dongas and farm tracks.
Spectators will be well catered for with food and refreshments available throughout the day at Nampo Park, which is the home of the world renowned Nampo Harvest Day that attracts in excess of 60 000 visitors over four days annually.
Nampo Park is situated 220km from Johannesburg, 40km from Klerksdorp and 20km from Bothaville and will be used for the start, finish and designated service point with many spectator points within easy reach via tar and good gravel roads.