The Special Vehicle form book was turned upside down when Jimmy Zahos and Zaheer Bodhanya scored a maiden national series win at the Nkomazi 450, round four of the Donaldson Cross Country Championship, here today.
Zahos and Bodhanya, in the Cobalt Racing Stryker, scored a first podium
finish on the RFS Endurance, the first race of the season, and followed that
up with three non-finishes on the Sugarbelt 450 and in both heats of the
Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana. But it all fell into place for the pair
today, and they breathed new life into their championship campaign as they
came home ahead of Sarel van Biljon/Philip Herselman (Atlas Copco BAT) and
Mark Corbett/Juan Mohr in the Century Racing CR5.
A tight and tricky route took a heavy toll on the Special Vehicle category
with only six cars making it to the finish. In the context of the overall
championship, however, the most significant factor was the retirement of
Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen in the Motorite BAT Viper.
The pair went into the race with a 27 point lead over Lance Trethewey and
Geoff Minnitt, but were forced to retire with electrical problems. After a
tricky race for the pair Trethewey and Minnitt were finally the last of the
classified finishers, but salvaged precious championship points to cut the
deficit to Hutchison/Stassen.
It was also a difficult outing for Zahos/Bodhanya, van Biljon/Herselman and
Corbett/Mohr who all ran into trials and tribulations of some kind or other.
Zahos, who admits he prefers wide open routes as opposed to the tight and
tricky courses, and Bodhanya completed the final 175 kilometre loop with an
engine misfire but were never under any threat from the crews running behind
them.
Punctures and no power steering over the last 60 kilometres of the route
hampered van Biljon and Herselman, while three flats in the last 30
kilometres set Corbett/Mohr back on their heels. After running out of spare
wheels they completed the race with a flat right rear tyre and plenty of
bodywork damage.
A typically steady display from Coetzee Labuscagne and daughter Sandra took
them into fourth place in the ChemSystems Porter for their best result of
the season. The Labuscagnes “kept their wits about them” and had plenty of
time in hand over Class P winners John Thomson and Maurice Zermatten in a
Zarco Magnum.
Thomson/Zermatten completed the top five and were the only finishers in
Class P to move clear in the championship race. Colin Matthews/Rodney Burke
(Century Racing CR3) went into the weekend level on points with
Thomson/Zermatten, but their challenge ended with shock absorber and
suspension damage on the first of the two 175 kilometre loops that made up
the race.
With Richard Carolin and Andrew Massey (SA Clinics Zarco) also among the
non-finishers Thomson/Zermatten, the champions in 2013, are now in a
position of strength in the Class P title chase.
The next event on the Donaldson championship calendar is the Vryburg
Endurance in North West province on September 11 & 12.