The Toyota Dealer 400 in Lydenburg on October 10 and 11 the penultimate round of the Absa Off Road Championship, will be no place for the faint of heart in the Special Vehicle category.
Only 17 points separate the top three crews in the overall championship with former champion Shameer Variawa and Siegfried Rousseau, in the Total Porter, taking over the log leadership following the recent Limpopo 400. Second place in Limpopo saw Variawa and Rousseau move five points clear of Karl-Heinz and Quintin Sullwald (Sullwald Racing BAT) with another former champion, Terence Marsh, and Pieter Groenewald (Regent Racing BAT) a further 12 points in arrears.
But, just to add a little spice to proceedings, Variawa/Rousseau and the Sullwald’s still have to drop a result. Both crews have a 100 percent finish record this season and having to drop a result keeps Marsh and Groenewald in the frame.
As if that was not enough two other crews, Gary Bertholdt/Andre Vermeulen (Atlas Copco Porter) and Nick and Ryan Harper, in the Atlas Copco BAT, have thrown their hats into the ring at a late stage of proceedings.
Bertholdt/Vermeulen won the Limpopo 400 and two good results on the trot for the Harpers see both crews still in with a mathematical chance of taking the title.
The odds are still with the three frontrunners and the Lydenburg outing could have a major influence on the final outcome of what has again been an intriguing championship. The fact that there are three or four other crews capable of throwing a spanner in the works simply makes the situation more interesting.
The situation is much the same in Class A with the same crews, along with Mike Whitehouse/Mathew Carlson (Regent Racing BAT), in the mix. Here, however, different points allocations for overall and class result see the gap between the top three teams stretch to 20 points.
There is also a tight situation in Class B where Louw de Bruin (Ruwacon BAT) leads the driver’s championship by nine points and Tiddo Voogt the co-drivers stakes by just five points. Veterans Giel Nel (Luk Africa Zarco Truggy) and Deon de Kock are second in both championships and are being chased by Bez Bezuidenhout/Johan de Bruyn (Adenco BAT) with Rudi Britz also in the picture in the co-driver championship.
Britz partners de Bruin but missed an event earlier in the season. Voogt, for his part, has this season sat alongside both father Jan and son Hendrik Kraaij in the Keymax BAT.
The Limpopo 400 saw brothers Johan and Etienne Bezuidenhout (Adenco BAT) take a tenuous lead in Class P. Going into the Limpopo race the brothers shared the lead with KwaZulu-Natal pair Don Thompson and Don Blakey in a Zarco.
A non finish hit the KZN crew where it hurts and they have been overtaken in the championship by Limpopo class winners David and Gary White in the Ruwacon BAT. With 13 points now separating the teams Thompson/Blakey are by no means out of the picture, but the Toyota Dealer 400 in Lydenburg is also important for them if they are to bounce back.
With a tough and scenic route in store for competitors on the Toyota Dealer 400, the race has all the ingredients to turn into a humdinger. That it could play a decisive role in the various championship battles is beyond doubt.
