A string of Sandton residents – some with title hopes – will all be looking for top performances on the Carnival City Casino 400, the final round of the Bankfin Off-Road Championship, on the East Rand on November 29 and 30. –
– For co-drivers Kenny Skjoldhammer and Mike Griffiths the event is a make or break one with the pair locked together at the top of the overall standings in the Production Vehicle co-drivers overall championship. Skjoldhammer is also in line to win the Class T co-drivers championship while Griffiths has already wrapped up the Class D title. –
– Skjoldhammer, who sits alongside KwaZulu-Natal based Neil Woolridge in the works Ford Racing Ranger, and Griffiths, who partners Duncan Vos in the factory Nissan Hardbody, both have 182 points in the overall championship. With an overall win unlikely for Vos and Griffiths in a Class D vehicle, the odds lie with Woolridge and Skjoldhammer, but it is going to be close. –
– Another Sandton resident, Greg Daus, has already won the Class S drivers championship for the Nashua Mobile Racing team in the Special Vehicle category. Daus will again team up with Archie Rutherford, this time in a Class A car, and will have his eye on an overall win. –
– Daus, however, will have to get the better of fellow Sandtonians in O’Hagan’s/Kopanong Hotel Superteam leader John Weir-Smith and Geoff Minnitt, in the BMW Jimco, and Atang Makgekgenene/Alec Salley in the SAM Racing Jimco. Weir-Smith will go into the East Rand event full of confidence after a win, with Geoff Minnitt, on the recent Queen Motor Spares Tarka 400 in the Eastern Cape. –
– Scott Abraham partners motorsport legend Sarel van der Merwe in the O’Hagan’s / Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jeep, which won class F on the recent Tarka 400 with Richard Carolin behind the wheel. –
– Other top contenders from Sandton in the Special Vehicle category are father and son duo Rob and Gareth Wark in the Class B Superteam Mighty Mag. Joining them will be Mark Corbett, along with co-driver Juan Mohr, with the pair frontrunners throughout the season in the Century Property Isuzu running in Class D in the Production Vehicle category. –
– 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 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. –
– Two prime spectator points along the route will also offer fast food and beverage outlets and toilet facilities as well as a public address system. Route and spectator guides will be available to the public at the start and finish. –
– The weekend’s action will get underway with the prologue, to determine grid positions, at 13:00 on Friday, November 29. 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 30. PHOTOGRAPHS AVAILABLE VIA www.motorpics.co.za
