Consistency pays off after two events

With two of the eight events in the Absa Off Road Championship now completed it is evident that consistency will be the name of the game for those Production Vehicle and Special Vehicle crews wishing to walk away with some of the most coveted titles in motor sport.

The Production Vehicle category has, predictably, been dominated by the Proudly South African Nissan off road team with reigning champions Hannes Grobler and Richard Leeke sitting at the top of the championship log with 77 points after finishing second in the Nissan Dealer 400 and winning the Nissan Sugarbelt 400.

Former champions Giniel de Villiers and Francois Jordaan won in the Western Cape but had to be content with third place in KwaZulu Natal and trail their teammates by eight points. The Nissan pair has a seven-point advantage over Neil Woolridge and Ken Skjoldhammer in the Team Ford Racing Ranger.

The biggest threat to the Class T contenders comes from Hugo de Bruyn and his father Jaap who have two Class E wins and a fourth and seventh overall. The Castrol Toyota crew are fourth in the overall championship and trail the leaders by only 16-points.

Fifth placed husband and wife pair, Neels and Zelda van der Walt, have been a model of consistency in the Class E Nissan Hardbody double cab and their two runner-up finishes this season makes them strong contenders for the Class E title.

Reigning Class E champions Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin are sixth overall and the Class D leaders despite a troublesome run on the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 where they only managed to finish ninth overall and third in Class D in the Castrol Toyota Hilux 2.7i.

Duncan Vos and Hennie ter Stege (Proudly South African Nissan Hardbody) are seventh overall and fourth in Class T and with only 42-points they are faced with a stiff challenge if they wish to make up the 35-point deficit on the leaders.

KwaZulu Natal based crew Manfred Schroder and Jack Peckham (Team Ford Racing Ranger) are second in Class D and eighth overall with Henri Zermatten and Bodo Schwegler who are third in Class D in the Playstation / Mastercraft Pajero tied in ninth place overall with Team Ford Racing's development team of Baphumze Rubuluza and Khulile Vakalisa. The Pietermaritzburg based businessmen have put in two solid performances in the diesel powered Ford Ranger and two podium finishes sees them third in Class E.

<pre> Overall points: 1. Hannes Grobler / Richard Leeke Nissan 77 points 2. Giniel de Villiers / Francois Jordaan Nissan 69 points 3. Neil Woolridge / Ken Skjoldhammer Ford 62 points 4. Hugo de Bruyn / Jaap de Bruyn Toyota 61 points 5. Neels vd Walt / Zelda vd Walt Nissan 49 points 6. Mark Cronje / Chris Birkin Toyota 46 points 7. Duncan Vos / Hennie ter Stege Nissan 42 points 8. Manfred Schroder / Jack Peckham Ford 39 points 9. Henri Zermatten / Bodo Schwegler Pajero 36 points 9. Baphumze Rubuluza / Khulile Vakalisa Ford 36 points

</pre> Nissan dominates the Production Vehicle Manufacturers Championship with 309 points compared to the 183 of Toyota and the 138 of Ford.

In the Special Vehicle Championship Mark Corbett and Gavin Kelsey in the Century Property Developments BAT have a 27-point lead over their closest challengers after finishing second overall on the Nissan Dealer 400 and winning the Nissan Sugarbelt 400.

Adri Roets and Deon de Kock (Global DAD WPP) are second overall and the Class B leaders after strong performances in the first two rounds of the Absa Off Road Championship and have eight points in hand over Nissan Dealer 400 winners Atang Makgekgenene and Mike Stangl, who was tragically killed when the Total Jimco rolled down a mountainside during the Nissan Sugarbelt 400.

Former Class B drivers champion Marcus Taylor is third in overall championship and second Class B while his Nissan Dealer 400 co-driver, Carl van der Merwe, and his Nissan Sugarbelt 400 co-driver, Marc de Chalain, are way down the Class B co-driver points log.

Clint Gibson and Mike Brown lead the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 for much of the race but in the end had to settle for second place in the Praesidium Financial Services BAT. Gibson is fifth overall in the drivers' championship and Brown fourth in the co-drivers championship with pair third in Class A.

A fine third overall and the Class B win on the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 sees Gary Campbell (Mighty Mag) joint fifth with Gibson in the overall drivers' championship and third in Class B. Glen Classen and Mathew Ludick (Zarco) had a good start to the season but were classified as non-finishers in KwaZulu Natal and are seventh and sixth respectively in the drivers' and co-drivers championships.

Only three points separate the next three crews with Johan van Jaarsveld and Marlene Lindeque eighth and sixth in the Class B Ysco, father and son Bez and Etienne Bezuidenhout from the Western Cape ninth and eighth in the Class B Adenco Sandmaster and Nick Harper and Andrew Chalupsky tenth and seventh in the Class A BAT.

<pre> Overall - Drivers: 1. Mark Corbett BAT 80 points 2. Adri Roets WPP 53 points 3. Atang Makgekgenene Jimco 45 points 4. Marcus Taylor JRE 42 points 5. Clint Gibson BAT 35 points 5. Gary Campbell Mighty Mag 35 points 7. Glenn Classen Zarco 28 points 8. Johann van Jaarsveld Ysco 27 points 9. Nick Harper BAT 25 points 10. Bes Bezuidenhout Sandmaster 24 points

Overall -- Co-drivers 1. Gavin Kelsey BAT 80 points 2. Deon de Kock WPP 53 points 3. Mike Stangl Jimco 45 points 4. Mike Brown BAT 35 points 5. Mathew Ludick Zarco 28 points 6. Marlene Lindeque Ysco 27 points 7. Andrew Chalupsky BAT 25 points 8. Etienne Bezuidenhout Sandmaster 24 points 9. Michael Whitehouse Jimco 22 points 9. Marc de Chalain JRE 22 points 9. Warwick Goosen BAT 22 points

</pre> The third round of the Absa Off Road Championship, the Toyota 1000 Desert Race, takes place in Botswana from June 11 -13 and good results will be crucial for some of the more fancied teams who have failed to finish in the first two events.

Reigning Class D champions Hein Grobler and Gerhard Prinsloo (GBS Racing Nissan), last year's Toyota 1000 winners John Weir-Smith and Geoff Minnitt (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jimco) and reigning Special Vehicle co-drivers champion Brandon Harcus and Achim Bergmann (Adrenalise Corporate Entertainment BAT) will have to pull out all the stops if they want to mount a late challenge for the respective championship titles.

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