Sugarbelt 400 final summary

FORD END NISSAN'S OFF ROAD DOMINATION

Ford factory pair Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer pulled off a major coup today when they won the Nissan Sugarbelt 400, and in the process ended Nissan's domination of the Production Vehicle category of the Absa Off Road Championship.

Former South African champions Woolridge and Skjoldhammer, in the Ford Racing Ranger, finished three and a half minutes ahead of another set of former national champions, Hannes Grobler and Francois Jordaan in the Proudly South African Nissan Navara, to win the second round of this year's championship. Woolridge and Skjoldhammer also won the Special Production Class in what was a repeat of their victory in last year's Sugarbelt 400.

Ford's cup was filled to overflowing when reigning Class D drivers champion Manfred Schroder, partnered this weekend by Jack Peckham, finished third overall and first in Class E in another Ford Racing Ranger 2,5 diesel. It was a tremendous performance from Schroder and Peckham with both Ford crews making full use of local knowledge.

Fourth overall and third in the SP Class were Castrol Toyota Hilux pair Bevan Bertholdt and Robin Houghton, with Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr fifth overall in the Century Property Developments Nissan Hardbody. The Nissan is a Class D car running in the SP Class.

"It was almost the perfect race," said a delighted Skjoldhammer. "The prologue was disappointing but in the race everything fell into place. It was very slippery in the opening stages so we concentrated on staying out of trouble.

"As the route dried out we started pushing harder and once the lead Nissans ran into problems it was game, set and match in our favour. The vehicle ran like clockwork in the race, but the SP Class is going to be very competitive over the rest of the season.

The Nissan's of Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford and Grobler/Jordaan set the early pace before running into problems. Vos and Pitchford battled with a slipping clutch while Grobler/Jordaan lost time after going off the road.

Late in the race it was Vos and Pitchford who went off the road, and Grobler/Jordaan lost more time pulling their team-mates out of a ditch. That was the end of the Nissan challenge with Woolridge and Skjoldhammer taking control of the race on the third of four loops that made up the route.

Bertholdt and Houghton struggled early on with a sticking throttle cable with Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin, in a second Castrol Toyota Hilux running in the SP Class going out with a blown engine. As usual a traditionally tough event took a heavy toll, and there was a high attrition rate with highly fancied crews falling by the wayside.

A lone class win for Toyota came via Cliff and Louis Weichelt, in the Bosal Toyota Hilux, who had a great weekend to walk away with Class D honours. The pair set the fastest time in the prologue and set the Class D pace throughout the race.

Special Vehicle report:
Hutchison/Bergman Win Nissan Sugarbelt 400

Former quad racer Evan Hutchison and Achim Bergman, in a Motorite BAT, scored their first overall and Class A victory when they won the Special Vehicle category on the Nissan Sugarbelt 400 which ended in Eston today.

Hutchison and Bergman had a clean run on what was the second round of the Absa Off Road championship, and finished 15 seconds clear of privateers Will Battershill and Reg Sutton who came up with a tremendous result in a Jimco. Provisional results saw off road motorcycle legend Alfie Cox and Hennie Ter Stege, in a second Motorite BAT, take third place ahead of local pair Clint Gibson and Mike Brown, in the Absolute BAT Chev.

Fifth were reigning South African champions Terence Marsh and Mike Whitehouse, in the Nashua Mobile BAT, with Nardus Alberts and Colin Hunter next up in a Wrapsa BAT making its race debut. Seventh overall and Class S winners were reigning champions Richard Schilling and Chris Davies, in the Plastotech Aceco, who overcame power steering problems to bounce back after a non finish in the opening event of the season.

The Class B honours went to brothers Rudi and Pierre van Graan, in the Technochair Zarco Lite, who were ninth behind the Class A BAT of Nick and Ryan Harper. The van Graan brothers were around three minutes ahead of Jan and Hendrik Kraaij, in a BAT, who rounded out the top 10.

"It's a fantastic result for us," said Hutchison. "We didn't have any major problems the whole weekend and the car was awesome.

"After the disappointment of dropping out of the opening event, this was just the result we needed."

Battershill and Sutton were also models of consistency, while Cox and Ter Stege had an adventurous time of it. The pair had to overcome a coming together with another competitor, and a lack of traction.

"It was very frustrating," said Cox. "We were on a charge but just could not get past some of the slower competitors. Discipline among some of the slower competitors is poor and very unsporting."

As usual the route was a tough one with a high attrition rate. Among those who fell by the wayside was Nissan Dealer 400 winner Brandon Harcus in a singleseater Motorite BAT. Harcus set the fastest time in the prologue to determine start positions for the race proper, but was an early casualty with a broken tie rod end.

Other fancied runners to fall by the wayside included Colin Matthews and Jannie Erasmus in the Century Property Developments BAT, local crew and former Class B champions Marcus Taylor and Marc de Chalain in the JRE and Bez Bezuidenhout and Johan de Bruyn (Adenco Sandmaster) who won Class B on the Nissan Dealer 400.

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