Toyota teams have high hopes for the next round of the Bankfin Off-Road Championship, the tough Caledon 400, this weekend in the Eastern Free State. –
– After winning the opening round of the 2002 season, Class T hopefulls Apie Reyneke and Robin Houghton have been looking for a follow-up victory ever since. However, they had to be content with two non-finishes (rounds two and four), third in class (third round) and fourth in class last time out. –
– They will be out in full force to remain within reach of Class T Championship leaders Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjöldhammer (Ford Ranger). The Ford team have 68 points after four second positions in five races with only one non-finish and have a 20 point advantage over Reyneke/Houghton in their Castrol Land Cruiser. –
– Defending Bankfin Off-Road Champions Giniel de Villiers and Francois Jordaan are 8 points in arrears, and look set to challenge the Ford for the Class T lead with a hard-charging Reyneke only 12 points behind them. –
– “But we will be focusing on our position in Class T,” said Robin Houghton, with whom Reyneke has won multiple Production Vehicle championships. “We are still within reach of the class honours, and with three events before the end of the season ahead of us and only 20 points between us and Woolridge/Skjöldhammer, we can still make it,” the young Houghton said. –
– Reyneke and Houghton had a clean get-away in the recent Toyota Dealer 400, but their Castrol Land Cruiser was slowed by what seems to have been a first in off-road racing – a rock embedded in the rear suspension, forcing the car to slow down because of handling problems. Two punctures and a broken hydraulic brake line forced them way down the field, but they managed to salvage a well-deserved fourth in Class T and fifth overall. –
– In Class D Piet Haasbroek and Christo Bosch (Castrol Land Cruiser), who were fourth behind the winning Nissan Hardbody of Duncan Vos/Mike Griffith, are set to resume the attack and consolidate their chances in Class D after their early-season success that also saw them leading the overall championship. –
– Toyota also have the support of Shumie van Vuuren in another Castrol Land Cruiser in Class D, while Class E contenders Kassie Coetzee and Ockie Fourie, who had to withdraw in the Sun City event with overheating problems caused by a hole in the radiator, are also back to aim for another Class E win after their very first success in the opening event of the season. –
– Toyota privateers Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn, who had a trouble-free season until their first non-finish in the Sun City event, are within reach of the Class E championship while privateers Piet Heunis/Coetzee Labuschagne (Toyota Hilux), who were runners-up in this class for near-standard 4-cylinder 4×4’s, have shown their ability to regularly claim a podium finish. –
– Toyota is in a strong second position in the coveted Manufacturer’s Championship with 344 points, just 68 behind Nissan, with Ford a distant third with 183 points. –
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