Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen lost a battle but won the war when they wrapped up the Special Vehicle category championship at the Vryburg Endurance, round five of the Donaldson Cross Country Championship, which ended today.
Second place for Hutchison and Stassen, in the Motorite BAT Viper, was enough to put the title out of reach of race winners Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr (Century Racing CR5) and Lance Trethewey and Geoff Minnitt, in the LTE BAT Venom. Trethewey and Minnitt went into the weekend trailing Hutchison/Stassen by 17 points, but alternator problems dropped them out of the race and blew them out of the championship picture.
It was a long overdue win for Corbett and Mohr and a maiden success for the Century Racing CR5, which was designed and built in the team’s Midrand workshop. It was a victory that lifted Corbett/Mohr into second place in the championship ahead of Trethewey and Minnitt – but even if they win the final event of the season with Hutchison/Stassen failing to finish, the Century Racing crew cannot overtake the new champions.
“From refuel when we were in the lead it was simply a question of staying on the route and having a clean run,” said Corbett. “It was a really good run for us and obviously we are very happy.”
Corbett and Mohr took over the lead when Trethewey/Minnitt and qualifying race winners Jimmy Zahos and Zaheer Bodhanya, in the Cobalt Racing Stryker, dropped out of the race. At the finish the Century Racing crew had more than 15 minutes to spare over Hutchison and Stassen with the result adding to another second on the Sugarbelt 450 and wins on the RFS Endurance and both heats on the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana.
Hutchison and Stassen, in turn, were just over three minutes clear of Parker and van Zyl who halted a lean mid-season spell with their second podium finish of the season. The father/daughter combination of Coetzee and Sandra Labuscagne were fourth in the ChemSystems Porter after a typically steady performance from the former Blue Bulls scrum half and his veterinary daughter.
That saw the pair well clear of Lourens and Carien Booysen, in a BAT, who produced an impressive performance in their first endurance event. Next up were Andre Fourie and Hendrik Pienaar (PHB BAT) who were also well clear of Class P winners and championship leaders John Thomson and Maurice Zermatten in a Zarco Magnum.
Thomson and Zermatten, the Class P champions in 2014, were doubtful starters after problems picked up while winning the qualifying event. They were followed home by fellow Class P competitors Andrew Makenete and Ntaote Bereng (Zarco Magnum), who scored their first points of the season, and Colin Matthews and Rodney in a Century Racing CR-T.
The final event of the season will see the Donaldson series head for the West Rand on October 30 and 31 for the Atlas Copco Gold 450.