The event, the opening round of the championship, saw Toyota take Classes D and E with the wins coming via Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst in the Tyco Trucks Toyota Hilux in Class D, and Brian Martin and Ockie Fourie in the Castrol Toyota Hilux in Class E. For Martin it was a special occasion with the Durban based Toyota engineer making his off road debut.
There was another good result for Toyota in the premier Super Production Class where Bevan Bertholdt and Robin Houghton, out in a Class D Castrol Toyota Hilux, finished fourth overall and fourth in class. Bertholdt, who has previously raced in the Special Vehicle category, was making his debut for the Castrol Toyota factory team.
The major disappointment of the weekend was a pre event testing accident which left the Castrol Toyota Hilux, scheduled to be driven by Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin in the SP Class, hors de combat. Cronje rolled the vehicle which was too extensively damaged to continue.
Bertholdt and Houghton, up against SP Class opposition from Nissan and Ford, did a sterling job. Plagued late in the race by overheating problems and the loss of first and third gears, the pair still managed a top five placing.
“Bevan drove nicely,” said multiple South African rally and off road champion Houghton. “It wasn’t easy out there but he did a good job and it will have boosted his confidence.
“Now we can’t wait to get into a real SP vehicle for the next event.”
Visser and Badenhorst, the reigning Class E champions, were delighted with their first outing in Class D. Their biggest problem – as was the case with most competitors – was overheating after the notorious water splash turned out to be a mud bath.
A broken gearbox sidelined another pair of former Class E champions in Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn in the Castrol Toyota Hilux. Also running in Class D this season, the pair were forced to retire with gearbox failure.
Martin and Fourie gradually wore down the Class E opposition. The pair lost time with a broken sideshaft and overheating problems, but soldiered on to pick up a win that at one stage looked unlikely.
“We just kept going and it paid off,” said a delighted Martin. “This is a great way to start my off road career.
“The vehicle is great and I learned a great deal.”
There were also great results for off road debutants Fabio Tafani and Jaco Swanepoel. The two former circuit racers finished third and fourth in Class E after running into all sorts of problems with Swanepoel beating the final cut off point by three minutes.
Not so fortunate were George and Sharon Barkhuizen in the Ruwacon Toyota Hilux. They were also forced out with a string of mechanical problems along with Class D runners Cliff and Louis Weichelt, in the Bosal Toyota Hilux, who were sidelined with engine failure.
“Losing the Cronje/Birkin vehicle was a disappointment, but at the end of the day we have to be happy with a couple of class wins,” said Toyota Motorsport manager Wammy Haddad. “All the crews who finished showed a great deal of character and you have to admire the way Fabio Tafani and Jaco Swanepoel battled it out.
“It was a reasonable start to the season, and now we have to build the momentum.”