The Nashua Mobile off-road racing team is ready to end their development year on a high note and will strive for another good result at the Carnival City Casino 400, last round of the SA National Off-road Championship? presented by Absa, that will take place on November 14 and 15.
Both the Special Vehicles participating in Class A achieved excellent results in their development season while trying and testing top of the range equipment and technology in the Mitsubishi Evolution powered Jimco (A6) and Chenowth (A12). The Nashua Mobile Racing Chenowth fitted with twin turbo?s and in the hands of Greg Daus and Archie Rutherford, caused a stir at the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 earlier this year when they were chasing the leaders, Gerald Mundell and Billy Bond, to the end and settled for second place in their first event of the season ? only seconds behind the winners.
After not finishing the first two events (Nissan Sugarbelt 400 and Toyota 1000 Desert Race), the supercharged Jimco of Terence Marsh and Trevor Ahier finished every following race. At the Queen Motor Spares Tarka 400, they were the third Class A vehicle to cross the finish line after having some problems changing a flat tyre during the race. They bettered this result with a second place in Class A at the Sun City 400 and the team (Marsh borrowed his teammate?s navigator, Rutherford, for the Toyota Dealers 400 event,) finished in a respectable sixth place in Class A and in the Overall Special Vehicle Category.
This has resulted in them scoring some good points and they will go to the Carnival City Casino 400 with Marsh filling the fifth position in the Class A Driver?s Championship ? only a single point separates him from Atang Makgekgenene (4th) while he is two points behind John Moore (3rd) and a good result might just see him finishing third in this extremely competitive class.
Even though Ahier could not take up his normal position next to Marsh at the last event, the Toyota Dealers 400, due to study commitments, he is also lying fifth in the Class A Navigator?s Championship, and even though he is 11 points behind Mike Stangl in fourth place and 12 points behind Fred Werner in third position, there is still a chance for him to move up the points ladder and even to overtake the two navigators ahead of him to end the year in the third place in the Class A Navigator?s rankings.
It has been a development year for the two-car Nashua Mobile Racing off-road racing team and even though they have not won races, they have been on track with the planning and development of the Chenowth and Jimco. It is the first time the Mitsubishi?s Evolution engines are being used in Special Vehicles and fitted with a supercharged and twin-turbo respectively, these new combinations are proving to be a winning recipe as to date they have not experienced one engine failure during the season.
Marsh and Ahier will aim for a top-three position at the Carnival City Casino 400, the last round of the SA National Off-road Championship that will start at 12:00 with a time trial on Friday, November 14 while the main race will commence on Saturday, November 15 at 08:00.
