The Lesotho Sun 400, is considered to be one of the toughest events on the South African off road racing calendar. “The Lesotho Sun is renowned for its rough roads and changeable conditions, however the cars have proved their reliability this year and we are confident we can make it through,” comments Neil Woolridge, team manager.
Class SP entrants, Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer, have a thorough knowledge of the Lesotho event with both having won the famous Roof Africa. “It’s not my favourite event, simply because you get thrown around a lot in the car – especially in the Production classes, however we are always up for a challenge and we have a great deal of confidence in the vehicles.”
“With virtually no problems on the Limpopo event we’ve had a lot of time to work on the set-up for Lesotho. We stripped both the SP cars and have done some suspension work to get the cars ready for the rough roads of the Mountain Kingdom.”
Driving the sister SP Ford Racing Ranger will be Rob Gurney and Graeme Stainbank. Stainbank missed the previous outing due to business commitments but is eager to get back in the how seat in Lesotho. Both Gurney and Stainbank are new to the event and will certainly have their work cut out for them.
“It will certainly be a baptism of fire for us as we haven’t competed on the event previously,” says Gurney. “It will be great to have Graeme back in the car with me and after a strong performance at the previous outing, we are looking forward to the event.”
Manfred Schröder and Ward Huxtable, who campaign the Class E Ford Ranger, will approach the event from a tactical point of view. “Manfred and I have discussed our strategy and we are approaching it as if it were an endurance test. We have a big lead in the championship so we don’t need to take any unnecessary risks,” explains Huxtable. “Whoever makes it to the finish is likely to pick up a big points tally so at this stage that is certainly our aim.
“It will definitely be a challenge,” he continues.” Manfred doesn’t hold much affection for the event and for me it will be a first. Luckily I have spectated on the event a number of times and I have also assisted the service crew so I am somewhat familiar with the tricky terrain – I’m looking forward to it very much.”
There will be some uncertainty about what the crews have in store for them due to the recent weather conditions, which have prevailed over the area. “We’re not really sure what to expect,” explains Woolridge. “There has been a lot of snow this year so the rivers could be quite high, we also have no idea what the weather will be like when we arrive. Conditions in Lesotho have been known to change drastically from day to day so we could be in for a real mixed bag.”
“Overall the team are confident of a strong result. For Kenny and I it is an important event as the championship is very close and we can’t afford to make any mistakes. The cars have been performing beyond our expectations this season and so we are hopeful of another strong finish all round,” he concludes.
The team would like to thank Rockford Fosgate, Time Freight, D.F.Harden Panel Beaters and Sharpline Signs Pietermaritzburg for their continued support.
