17/07/10 Sun City – In a dream result for a new sponsor Kallie and Quintin Sullwald took a flag to flag victory in the Special Vehicle category at the Sun City 400, round four of the Absa Off Road Championship, which ended here today.

The former South African champions, in the Elegant Fuel Racing BAT, dominated the weekend by winning the Donaldson Prologue to determine start positions. The father and son combination then controlled the race from start to finish to score their first win of the season.

For the second year in a row current championship leaders Shameer Variawa and Siegfried Rousseau, in the Total Motorsport Porter, had to be content with second place. It was a great performance from the pair who started 15th on the road and gradually worked their way through the field.

“Halfway through the second loop we stopped chasing and decided to consolidate our championship lead,” said Variawa. “It was a typical Sun City 400 where the slightest mistake could cost you.”

Third were Atlas Copco BAT crew Johan van Staden and James Rossouw who came up with another outstanding performance on the way to winning Class P. Earlier in the season the Pretoria crew made history by becoming the first Class P crew to win a national event overall.

“That was a real off road race,” Sullwald senior enthused afterwards. “A tough route had everything you could ask for, and at the end we were under pressure from Shameer and Siegfried.

“At one stage we thought we had a brake problem. Then we thought we had a flat but it all worked out and this is a dream result for us.”

Fourth place went to Nick Harper and stand-in co-driver Kevin Hume, in the Atlas Copco BAT, who were involved in a controversial incident early in the day. They collided with Production Vehicle leaders Anthony Taylor and Robin Houghton in an incident that put the Team Castrol Toyota Hilux out of the race.

In their best result of the season Naeem Moosajee and Rayhaan Bodhanya (Maxxis TyreRack Porter) started ninth and finished fifth. They were followed by Jimmy Zahos (Cobalt Racing Porter) who finished the race on his own after dispensing with the services of co-driver Pierre Jordaan at the designated service point.

“I wasn’t happy with some of Pierre’s calls,” said Zahos. “I felt the situation was getting dangerous, and told him at the compulsory stop that I would prefer to finish the event on my own.”

There was early drama when Bevan Bertholdt and Danie Stassen, second on the Donaldson Prologue on Friday, failed to make it to the start with an engine problem. Then Nardus and Louis Alberts, in the Wrapsa BAT, managed only a few metres off the start line when a drive shaft broke.

They were soon joined on the sidelines by reigning South African driver’s champion Evan Hutchison and new co-driver Darryl Curtis in the Motorite BAT. They were forced to call it a halt when the power steering broke, and Colin Matthews and Alan Smith (Century Racing BAT) were also casualties on the first of two loops that made up the race.

The early demise of Bertholdt/Stassen, the Wrapsa and Motorite entries and the Matthews/Smith car played into the hands of the crews who started behind them. An early charge by Swaziland crew John Thomson and Clinton McNamara, in a Zarco, also fizzled out with the pair dropping back with brake problems on the second loop.

A second loop charge lifted van Staden/Rossouw onto the podium while Harper/Hume lost time with a puncture. Hume was standing in for Harper’s son Ryan who was injured in an off road motorcycle accident.

Thomson and McNamara finished second in Class P and were followed by veteran Ernest Corbett and son-in-law Warwick Goosen in the Century Racing CR2. Corbett and Goosen won this race last year.

In his first outing this season Cape veteran Bes Bezuidenhout, partnered by daughter-in-law Lindie and having his first outing in 11 months, won Class B in the Adenco BAT. They were the only finishers in the class and were hampered on the second loop by a burst shock absorber.

The next event on the Absa Off Road Championship calendar is the 4x4 Mega World 400 at Carnival City on August 27 and 28.

NISSAN PRIVATEERS WIN SUN CITY 400

Sun City – Former South African champions Terence Marsh and Buks Carolin turned the form book upside down when they won the Production Vehicle category at the Sun City 400, round four of the Absa Off Road Championship, here today.

Marsh and Carolin, in the Regent Racing Nissan Navara, became the second privateer team to win an event this season. The pair started fifth on the road and edged out Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux crew Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen to join two-time winners Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst (RFS/Visser Transport Toyota Hilux) on the privateer roll of honour this season.

Prior to this weekend Marsh and Carolin were lying 12th in the overall championship with their best result and eighth place on the Toyota Dealer 400. But it all fell into place for the veteran crew and they eked out a 23 second win ahead of Bertholdt and Vermeulen that rocketed them into fourth place in the championship.

“That was a tough race,” said Marsh who last won in 2008. “At the designated service point we were worried about a noise from the back of the vehicle, but we later discovered a piece of wire wrapped around a rear hub.

“It was the sort of result we needed and is a huge boost for the whole team.”

The form book took another beating when Thomas Rundle and former SA champion Juan Mohr completed the podium in the ex factory Barden Nissan Navara. In two previous outings this season Rundle/Mohr had failed to finish.

Reigning SA drivers’ champion Duncan Vos and Rob Howie, in a Team Castrol Toyota Hilux, recovered from starting 13th on the road to finish fourth with the top five completed by Kobus van Tonder and son-in-law Freddie Kriel in the Uni Freight Ford Ranger.

There was a controversial incident early in the race, which put leaders Anthony Taylor and Robin Houghton, in the second factory Team Castrol Toyota Hilux, out of the running. Taylor and Houghton had a coming together with Special Vehicle category crew Nick Harper and Kevin Hume (Atlas Copco BAT) that put the Toyota crew out of action with a damaged front suspension.

Marsh/Carolin took the lead late on the first of the two loops that made up the race, and managed to hold off Bertholdt and Vermeulen who were hit by four punctures during the course of the race. Bertholdt and Vermeulen also fought a cat and mouse battle with Rundle and Mohr, and at the finish just over a minute separated the two crews.

Sixth place went to Christiaan du Plooy and Henk Janse van Vuuren (RFS Toyota Hilux) who put together a typically gutsy race. They were only 26 seconds behind two-time winners Visser and Badenhorst who rescued valuable championship points with a storming drive from the back of the field.

A roll on the Donaldson Prologue saw Visser/Badenhorst start from the back of the field. They made up nine minutes on the field on the opening loop, and continued the charge to the finish.

Among the high profile casualties were veteran former champions Hannes Grobler and Hennie ter Stege who were having their first outing in the new diesel RFS BMW. They retired on the first loop with an oil leak.

“We were a bit worried after the prologue, and it was soon evident we were in trouble,” Grobler said. “Rather than blow the motor we decided to call it a day, but the car has a great deal of potential.”

The Class D honours went to Deon Venter and Ian Palmer, in the 4x4 Mega World Toyota Hilux, who were having their first outing of the year. They took control when reigning champions and current championship leaders Dewald van Breda and Johann du Toit (Northam Toyota Hilux) ran into a fuel starvation problem.

Down in Class E there was a second win for teenager Lance Woolridge, in his first season of national racing, and Ward Huxtable in the Ford Racing Ranger. The pair were just behind Gerald le Roux and Willem Pretorius (Ruwacon Racing Ford) after the first loop and then finished strongly to comfortably win the battle of the Fords.

The next event in the Absa Off Road Championship will be the 4x4 Mega World 400 at Carnival City, on the East Rand, on August 27 and 28.