Nissan Motorsport is aiming for an unprecedented eighth consecutive win in the individual driver and co-driver championships and a seventh win in eight years in the manufacturer competition.
The Midrand (Gauteng)-based team is geared up for stiff competition from the other manufacturers contesting the country’s premier off road racing series and has again entered a strong team of three Navara racing pickups which will compete in the top Special Production class.
Two official factory entries will be in the capable hands of reigning champion Duncan Vos and 2006 champion Hannes Grobler, the latter competing in his 31st year of motor sport. Vos will again be accompanied by co-driver champion Ralph Pitchford, while Grobler will team up for the first time with Juan Mohr.
There will again be a third Navara in factory colours for Norwegian privateer Ivar Erik Tollefsen and English co-driver Quin Evans. Tollefsen and Evans entered last year’s championship to hone their skills for the 2008 Dakar Rally and they quickly got to grips with the local conditions. Tollefsen finished an excellent third in the drivers’ championship on debut behind team-mates Vos and Grobler, while Evans was fourth in the co-drivers’ competition after missing the last two rounds as a result of a broken leg he sustained in a motorcycle accident in England.
These are the same vehicles that dominated last year’s Production Car category. They have been rebuilt for the new season and will also sport new livery with the familiar Nissan motor sport red still the main colour and blue added in recognition of primary sponsor Sasol.
According to Nissan Motorsport general manager Glyn Hall, ongoing engine and suspension development will see improvements in these departments. All three pickups will run with ‘fly by wire’ throttle control this season.
"The Nissan Navara was the car to beat last year," said Hall "and it will be in the firing line again this year. The competition is getting fiercer each year and we expect a tough battle in the eight races that lie ahead. Duncan and Hannes’ cars are in their third season, so they have been stripped, thoroughly inspected and rebuilt with loving care to ensure that they are up to the challenge and arrive at the first race in tip top condition."
Nissan’s official factory team will again be backed up by an enthusiastic band of privateers, who will enjoy Nissan’s support and encouragement.
"Without these privateers and the Nissan dealerships that back some of the teams, we would not have been able to win six manufacturers’ championships in the past seven years," said Hall.
Nissan Motorsport’s Role of Honour
Nissan Motorsport’s unprecedented unbroken run of 13 national championship successes started in 1996 with Nissan’s second Group N production car championship with Devon Juby in a Sentra (Giniel de Villiers won in a Sentra in 1994) and was followed by four successive touring car championships with De Villiers and the locally-developed Nissan Primera from 1997 to 2000. Then followed a record seven consecutive off road championships between 2001 and 2007 (De Villiers in 2001, Duncan Vos in 2002, Hannes Grobler in 2003 and 2004, Alfie Cox in 2005, Grobler again in 2006 and Vos again in 2007). All of these championships were won in locally built and developed Nissan one-ton pickups, the Hardbody from 2001 to 2005 and the Navara in 2006 and 2007. In addition, Nissan won the 2006 Bridgestone Production Car Championship with Leeroy Poulter in a locally developed Sasol 350Z.
