With the South African National Cross-Country Series (SACCS) at the halfway mark, the upcoming Atlas Copco 400, the fourth round of the series that takes place on 3 and 4 August in the Bronkhorstspruit area on the outskirts of Gauteng, will be a nail-biting affair as teams cannot afford to lose their valuable positions gained after almost 2 000 kilometres of tough racing so far this season.
The fact that only a few points separate most of the teams adds to the current tricky situation. It is a matter of sticking to game plans and tactics with the main aim to finish the race successfully and adding more points to the scoreboard.
In the Production Vehicle category, defending champion, Giniel de Villiers (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux) will aim for a fourth victory that will put him in a comfortable position with less pressure towards the end of the season in both the overall standings and the FIA Class Drivers Championship. His navigator, Dennis Murphy, who joined him from the second round, has also built up a little cushion of points in the Navigators Championship although it is still a little too close for comfort.
Behind De Villiers/Murphy, red-hot battles between the FIA Class and Class T teams for the best overall standings will continue at Bronkhorstspruit, a brand-new event on the SACCS calendar. A fourth Class T victory will look good on the scoresheet of Class T leaders Lance Woolridge/Ward Huxtable (Ford NWM Ranger). It will make up for the fact that they did not finish the final day at the recent Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race and can strengthen their second place in the overall standings.
They will, however, be under immense pressure from a bunch of Toyota teams and will hope for a strong race together with their team-mates, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer, who are further down the overall and Class T standings after a slow start to the season. There will be nothing better than another Class T victory for the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (Malalane Toyota Hilux) who scored their first victory of the season on the final day in Botswana. They will be chasing down Woolridge/Huxtable, but also in the hunt will be Henk Lategan/Barry White (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux) who will try to forget having to see a double win in Botswana go up in dust on the last day after scoring their first SACCS victory on the leg one of the event.
Another good result will also confirm Lategan/White’s runner-up position in the FIA Class and that will be perfect for the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team. They will, however, need to keep an eye out for the hard-charging team of Gary Bertholdt/Geoff Minnitt in the Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux as a race victory will be ideal for their sponsors, Atlas Copco, who are also the event sponsors. Although Bertholdt/Minnitt would like the cards to fall into place so that they can better their overall position, they would dearly like to keep or improve on their third place in the Class T standings. They will be smiling if all the pieces of the puzzle fall into place between the maize fields of Bronkhorstspruit.
Time is running out for Chris Visser/Philip Herselman (Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux) who could not finish twice this season and have slipped down the overall standings, but they will defend their third place in the FIA Class and a good result in front of the event sponsors, will lift their spirits. It is not necessarily about results or points for the Red-Lined Motorsport Nissan Navara team of Terence Marsh who teams up with the Dakar Rally legend, Joey Evans in the navigator seat. It is about the thrill and the exhilaration and providing the motorcycle rider, who was paralyzed from his chest down after an accident during an off-road bike race just over a decade ago and having to learn to walk again, with an experience of a lifetime.
Marsh’s team-mates, George Smalberger and Chris Brand will also tackle this new event in a Nissan Navara in the FIA Class as will Johan van Staden/Mike Lawrenson (Elf Renault DE Team Duster) who will hope for a good outing and more points on the scoreboard.
After two good results in Botswana, former SA Quad Champion, Brian Baragwanath and navigator, Leonard Cremer (CR5) will hope for less bad luck and will aim for another podium result in the FIA Class after stepping on to the podium for the first time at the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race. Mark Corbett/Juan Möhr (CR6) will also be on the start line and have proven that they can upset the applecart although they are not in the running for any championship titles this year.
Although the Brazilian champions, Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea in the Ford NWM Ranger do not score points towards the South African Cross Country Championship, a third Class T podium after three outings will look good on their racing CV’s and they aim to build on these results.
In Class T, Jacques van Tonder/Sammy Redelinghuys (Ford Ranger) have a chance to work their way into the top five while Richard Leeke/Danie Stassen (BMW X3) as well as Ramon/Maret Bezuidenhout (Elf Renault DE Team Duster) will aim for results that can add to their points tally so far this season.
Lots of action can also be expected in Class S as only three points separate the first two teams. David Huddy/Gerhard Schutte (Nissan Navara) lead, but they will keep a close eye on Heinie Strumpher/Henri Hugo (Toyota Hilux) who will still be on a high after winning both heats in the desert. The father and son team of Jannie Visser and Chris Jnr (Toyota Hilux) survived the recent desert race and brought home some good points. The experienced Jannie will have another 400 kilometres to teach junior the ropes.
It will be a first outing for newcomer Rory Eland, a regular in the national rally championship, who will listen to the instructions given by Robbie Coetzee in the ex Richard Leeke Ford Ranger. Coetzee has previously competed in the SACCS alongside Keith du Toit, and a finish will be their aim.
The Bronkhorstspruit event also forms the fourth round of the Side x Side Interprovincial Challenge as well as the fifth round of the Northern Regions Championship.
The Atlas Copco 400 starts at 14:00 on Friday, 3 August with a 40 kilometre Qualifying Race to determine the starting order for Saturday. On Saturday, 4 August SACCS competitors will have to complete a 170 kilometre loop twice to be deemed finishers of the Atlas Copco 400. Race headquarters as well as the Start/Finish and designated service point will be at the Soetdoring Function Venue. Spectators will be able to view the racing action from various points along the route with free entry to these points.