BAT team season finale preview

If ever there was determination ahead of this weekend's Carnival City Casino 400, the final round of the SA Off Road Car Racing Championship presented by Absa, it exists within the BAT Racing camp with team principal Brandon Harcus and Gary Bertholdt (Adrenalise Corporate Entertainment BAT) out to upstage the works teams in the Production Vehicle category.

Harcus, who is the brainchild behind the BAT project, which will see one of his locally designed and built vehicles compete in Dakar 2004, seems obsessed with beating the much vaunted Nissan, Ford and Toyota factory teams.

"Whether or not I am obsessed with beating the factory teams is actually of no consequence," said Harcus on the eve of the season finale. "BAT vehicles have won four of the seven rounds of the championship and at the Toyota Dealer 400 in Lydenburg Gary and I qualified on pole by a convincing margin ahead of the Nissan of Hannes Grobler and Richard Leeke so I reckon it's time a Special Vehicle, and a BAT at that, won a race overall."

"Apart from our vehicle, which has won two events this season, there are three other BAT's in with a good chance of setting the fastest time in the Prologue and winning the race overall," added Harcus. "Nissan Sugarbelt 400 winners Gerald Mundell and Billy Bond (Prolong BAT), Toyota Dealer 400 winners Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr (Century Property Developments BAT) and Toyota Dealer 400 runners-up by 49 seconds and newcomers in Class A, Clint Gibson and Mike Brown (Praesidium Financial Services BAT) all have what it takes to win the Carnival City Casino 400 overall."

The Prologue for the Carnival City Casino 400 will comprise one lap of the 6km short course circuit and gets underway at 12h00 tomorrow (November 14) with vehicles starting at three-minute intervals. The main event starts at 08h00 on Saturday (November 15) and consists of three laps of a 138km route of which 70% has not been used on previous events.

-msa/bat-