Tearing up Pilanesberg
FLAGGED: VICTORY FAVOURITES LIKELY TO BE CHALLENGED BY THREE CREWS
Heading up the Special Vehicle field will be Evan Hutchison/Danie Stassen.
The South African Cross-Country Championship will return to one of its best showcase venues this weekend, with the Sun City 400 race in the Pilanesberg bringing the spectacle of high-speed roading within easy reach of Gauteng motorsport enthusiasts.
Going to Sun City, the Toyota Gazoo Hilux team of Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy will be seen as the overall victory favourites, with their only competition in the FIA class the Elf Renault Duster of Johan van Staden/Mike Lawrenson, the Century Racing FIA Buggy of Mark Corbett/ Rodney Burke and the Red-Lined Nissan Navara of Terence Marsh/ Jacob Moshokoa.
In Class T Johan/Werner Horn (Malalane Toyota Hilux) currently top the standings, marginally ahead of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer and Lance Woolridge/ Ward Huxtable in a pair of Puma Lubricants Ford Rangers.
Some of the crews that may interfere in the title fight will be Henk Lategan/Barry White (Puma Lubricants Ford Ranger), Chris Visser/Philip Herselman (Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux), Jason Venter/Vince van Allemann (4x4 Mega World Toyota Hilux), Malcolm Kock/Pieter van Wyk (Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux), Deon Venter/Jaco van Aardt (4x4 Mega World Toyota Hilux), Luke Botha/ Andre Vermeulen (Red-Lined Nissan Navara) and Dana Vos/ Cornel Burger (BMX X3).
Jannie Visser/Chris Visser Junior (Toyota Hilux) will be the team to beat in Class S, challenged by crews like David Huddy/Gerhard Schutte (Nissan Navara), Otto Graven/Bobby Brewis (Toyota Hilux), Heine Strumpher/Henri Hugo (4x4 Mega World Toyota Hilux) and Richard Leeke Junior/ Henry Kohne (Ford Ranger).
Heading up the Special Vehicle field will be Evan Hutchison/ Danie Stassen (King Price Extreme BAT Viper), Marius/Jolinda Fourie (BAT) and Stefan van Pletzen/Jaco Pieterse (Live Lesotho Chenowth).
Taking them on will be crews such as Coetzee/Sandra Labuscagne (4x4 Mega World Porter),John Telford/Victor Ntsekhe (Calcamite Hellcat), Werner Kennedy/Thinus Venter (Live Lesotho Aceco) and Nic Goslar and Andrew Massey (Zarco Magnum).
Others to be watched include Keith Makenete/Ferdie Pieterse (BAT), Visser du Plessis/Elvéne Coetzee (King Price Extreme Porter), Talha Moosajee/ Zaheer Bodhanya (TyreRack Jimco), plus Andrew Makenete and Taelo Mochebelele (Zarco).
Race headquarters and the designated service park will be located within the Sun City complex, with the start of the race close to Tweelaagte village, 30km to the west. – Off Road Correspondent