There is a tight two-way battle at the top of the Special Vehicle and Class A championships with the rest of the field playing a catch-up game.That, just about, sums up the Nkomazi 450, round five of the Donaldson Cross Country Motor Racing Championship, in Malalane on 26 and 27 August.
Reigning champions Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen, in the Motorite BAT Viper, and Australian Dave McShane and his South African co-driver Leander Pienaar (Fox Racing Porter) are the pair fighting it out at the top of the tree with time running out for the chasers.
With only three events left in the 2016 Donaldson series Hutchison/Stassen and McShane/Pienaar find themselves comfortably ahead of the challengers led by Jimmy Zahos/Zaheer Bodhanya (Cobalt Racing Stryker) and Sarel van Biljon/Philip Herselman in the Atlas Copco BAT. After the Lichtenburg 450 the Hutchison/Stassen combination are two points ahead of McShane/Pienaar, with Zahos/Bodhanya trailing the leaders by 26 points and van Biljon/Herselman a further six in arrears.
But there have been surprise developments among the specials brigade. Former champion Shameer Variawa has bought the Cobalt Stryker from Zahos, and will campaign the car for the rest of the season with Bodhanya doing co-driver duty.
Damage to the Atlas Copco BAT on the North West event has also ruled van Biljon and Herselman out of contention for the Nkomazi 450. That leaves Hutchison/Stassen and McShane/Pienaar in the box seats where the championship is concerned.
Coetzee and Sandra Labuscagne (4×4 Mega World Porter) will have been hugely encouraged by their second place on the Lichtenburg 450. It was far and away their best performance this year. Further down the championship order there are a couple of unknown quantities surrounding the Nkomazi 450. These serve to keep the pot boiling and the race should be a cracker with the season at an interesting stage.
After starting the season with three consecutive second places reigning Class P champions John Thomson and Maurice Zermatten have come up with two wins in a row. It has seen them in an almost impregnable position at the top of the championship, with the pair also sitting pretty in fifth place in the overall title race.
Thomson and Zermatten hold a massive 54 point lead over Nic Goslar and Andrew Massey (SA Clinics Zarco) who started off the season with a bang. That puts Thomson and Zermatten in a position of strength and, as usual, the Swaziland based driver and his Alberton co-driver have built up an impressive reliability record.
Missed events and patchy form have hit the other championship hopefuls at one stage or another. Willem du Toit/Bertus Goussard (CR-T), Werner Kennedy/Thinus Venter (Aceco) and Goslar/Massey have all won races this season with the SA Clinics pair the only crew out of the trio who have competed in all four rounds of the championship.
There is also a log jam behind Goslar and Massey with just nine points separating six crews. It is a recipe for drama.
The event is characterised by a new route which this year leaves out the mountain section. There is also a new sponsor on board with RCL FOODS linking up with Malalane Toyota to back a race that has three times won the event of the year award.
The event will be run in conjunction with a round of the Northern Regions Cross Country Championship with race headquarters, the start/finish, and designated service park all again located the Riverview Preparatory school on the outskirts of Malalane. Public entry to these areas and spectators points along the route is free of charge, and spectator guides will be available at race headquarters and Malalane Toyota.
The national qualifying race to determine start positions will start at 11:30 on August 26 and the race at 08:30 on August 27.
There is a tight two-way battle at the top of the Special Vehicle and Class A championships with the rest of the field playing a catch-up game.
That, just about, sums up the Nkomazi 450, round five of the Donaldson Cross Country Motor Racing Championship, in Malalane on 26 and 27 August. Reigning champions Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen, in the Motorite BAT Viper, and Australian Dave McShane and his South African co-driver Leander Pienaar (Fox Racing Porter) are the pair fighting it out at the top of the tree with time running out for the chasers.
With only three events left in the 2016 Donaldson series Hutchison/Stassen and McShane/Pienaar find themselves comfortably ahead of the challengers led by Jimmy Zahos/Zaheer Bodhanya (Cobalt Racing Stryker) and Sarel van Biljon/Philip Herselman in the Atlas Copco BAT. After the Lichtenburg 450 the Hutchison/Stassen combination are two points ahead of McShane/Pienaar, with Zahos/Bodhanya trailing the leaders by 26 points and van Biljon/Herselman a further six in arrears.
But there have been surprise developments among the specials brigade. Former champion Shameer Variawa has bought the Cobalt Stryker from Zahos, and will campaign the car for the rest of the season with Bodhanya doing co-driver duty.
Damage to the Atlas Copco BAT on the North West event has also ruled van Biljon and Herselman out of contention for the Nkomazi 450. That leaves Hutchison/Stassen and McShane/Pienaar in the box seats where the championship is concerned.
Coetzee and Sandra Labuscagne (4×4 Mega World Porter) will have been hugely encouraged by their second place on the Lichtenburg 450. It was far and away their best performance this year. Further down the championship order there are a couple of unknown quantities surrounding the Nkomazi 450. These serve to keep the pot boiling and the race should be a cracker with the season at an interesting stage.
After starting the season with three consecutive second places reigning Class P champions John Thomson and Maurice Zermatten have come up with two wins in a row. It has seen them in an almost impregnable position at the top of the championship, with the pair also sitting pretty in fifth place in the overall title race.
Thomson and Zermatten hold a massive 54 point lead over Nic Goslar and Andrew Massey (SA Clinics Zarco) who started off the season with a bang. That puts Thomson and Zermatten in a position of strength and, as usual, the Swaziland based driver and his Alberton co-driver have built up an impressive reliability record.
Missed events and patchy form have hit the other championship hopefuls at one stage or another. Willem du Toit/Bertus Goussard (CR-T), Werner Kennedy/Thinus Venter (Aceco) and Goslar/Massey have all won races this season with the SA Clinics pair the only crew out of the trio who have competed in all four rounds of the championship.
There is also a log jam behind Goslar and Massey with just nine points separating six crews. It is a recipe for drama.
The event is characterised by a new route which this year leaves out the mountain section. There is also a new sponsor on board with RCL FOODS linking up with Malalane Toyota to back a race that has three times won the event of the year award.
The event will be run in conjunction with a round of the Northern Regions Cross Country Championship with race headquarters, the start/finish, and designated service park all again located the Riverview Preparatory school on the outskirts of Malalane. Public entry to these areas and spectators points along the route is free of charge, and spectator guides will be available at race headquarters and Malalane Toyota.
The national qualifying race to determine start positions will start at 11:30 on August 26 and the race at 08:30 on August 27.