Woolridge and Skjoldhammer adopted a tactical approach on the Ford Motorite event, which marks the halfway point in the championship challenge. Starting from 12th position after Friday’s prologue. Woolridge and Skjolhammer had a faultless run throughout Saturday’s event to climb their way up to a hard-earned second place.
“We made a decision early on that we ought to opt for a strong points finish rather than risk everything for a win,” explained navigator Skjoldhammer. “Once we heard that Hannes Grobler was out we knew our main focus had to be finishing.”
“The car was faultless, it just ran perfectly the whole weekend,” continued Woolridge. “It was an important weekend and we got just the result we needed. We could have picked up the pace towards the end in an attempt to catch leaders Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford but it would have been a risk and at the moment our focus is on winning the championship.”
Rob Gurney and Baphumze Rubuluza in the sister SP Ranger finished fourth in class in what was Rubuluzas first Off Road event in the hot seat. The duo was slowed in the later stages of the race when their power steering broke.
“Up until that point we had been experiencing a faultless run with the car, which performed impeccably all weekend,” commented Gurney. “Unfortunately the power steering problem cost us time but overall we were very happy with our performance.”
Manfred Schroder and Ward Huxtable, who have dominated the class E field throughout the year, once again claimed victory in Class E. The pair didn’t have it all their own way however, getting stuck in a riverbed proved to be a minor scare. Sportsmanship prevailed and the pair was soon rescued.
“A passing Nissan crew stopped and towed us out, we returned the favour by assisting another crew who suffered the same fate – also a Nissan,” mused Schroder at the finish.
Navigator Ward Huxtable continued; “It was a great show of sportsmanship that we won’t soon forget. The route was somewhat confusing at that point and a lot of crews were getting lost – thank goodness for GPS. Once we were out of the riverbed it was plain sailing, the Ranger was faultless and we took a comfortable victory.”
The next round of the ABSA Off Road Championship will take place on the 1st of September in Lesotho. With the championship now developing into a three fight between Ford’s Woolridge and Skjoldhammer, teammates Schroder and Huxtable and Nissan’s Hannes Grobler and Francois Jordaan the knives will be out at the Lesotho Sun 400.
“Overall it’s been a great weekend for the whole team. All the drivers have been delighted with their cars and all three finished. It’s all the more heartening as it was a Ford sponsored event and we were able to show the strength of the Ford’s in this year’s championship fight,” concluded Woolridge.
