The Red-Lined Motorsport team will be out in force on the Battlefields 400, round two of the South African Cross Country Series (SACCS), in KwaZulu-Natal on May 12 and 13. The team will be fielding three new Nissan Navaras built under the guidance of Graeme Thornton at the Red-Lined Motorsport workshop in the Kyalami Business Park. Two FIA Class cars are earmarked for team principal Terence Marsh and Tony Ndoro and an international crew, Saudi Arabian driver Essa Aldossary and Dubai co-driver Ali Obaid, with Luke Botha and Andre Vermeulen out in a Class T car.
Marsh and Ndoro will be competing in the Red-Lined Motorsport and Nissan SA celebrity challenge with other well-known sports and entertainment personalities joining Marsh in the Nissan Navara at future events. Kwese television sports channel will also be shooting a documentary insert of Ndoro’s experience as a navigator.
The Red-Lined team will use the Battlefields 400, based in Dundee, as a “working test” session before Marsh and team-mate Riaan Greyling tackle the Taklimakan Rally China from June 10 to 24.
“We are looking forward to welcoming an international team on the Battlefields event and will use the race to gather as much information as we can on the Nissan Navaras before the Rally China,” said Marsh. “Rally China is also known as the Oriental Dakar, and the 6 500 kilometre event stretches over 13 days in the Taklimakan Desert in north-west China with nine different bivouacs.
“We will be part of a three-car Nissan Navara team with our partners, Knight Racing, and Riaan and I cannot wait for what is going to be a new adventure and a test of endurance and stamina.”
The downside of Rally China is that Marsh and the Red-Lined team will miss the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race from 23 to 25 June. The iconic event is round three of the cross country series, and will be the first time in 16 years that Marsh has missed the only marathon event on the SACCS calendar.
“Missing the Desert Race will be a disappointment but it is time to look at other challenges,” said Marsh. “There are exciting times ahead for Red-Lined Motorsport, and building and fostering international relationships is a major part of our future plans.”
Race headquarters, the start/finish and the designated service park (DSP) for the KwaZulu-Natal event will all be located at the Battlefield Country Lodge and Sports Resort on the outskirts of Dundee. Public entrance to these areas and spectator points along the route is free of charge.
The weekend will offer enthusiasts a full house of cross country racing. Apart from the SAACS national Auto and Moto championships, the event also includes round two of the KwaZulu-Natal regional championship for cars, and an invitation race for KwaZulu-Natal motorcycles and quad competitors.
Enthusiasts can also follow the race from home or the office via the RallySafe app for Apple and Android devices. The app can be downloaded free of charge and plots the position of the cars during the race via maps and timing information