Vryburg, North West Province - Toyota Hilux crew Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie have wrapped up the Production Vehicle category of the SA Cross Country championship with a commanding win at the Vryburg Endurance.
The weekend's win, added to their victories in the RFS Endurance, the Sugarbelt 450, the Nkomazi 450 and one of two heats that made up the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana, means they cannot be overtaken in the points standings even if they fail to score in the final round, the Atlas Copco Gold 450 on the West Rand on 30 and 31 October.
Poulter and Howie went to the North West Province needing only a third place to clinch the title, and were virtually home and dry when defending champions and team-mates Anthony Taylor and Dennis Murphy - the only other crew with even a mathematical chance of winning the championship - ran into problems in the qualifying race that determined grid positions.
Poulter said afterwards: "This was a fast and tough event; we lost time on the second loop with two punctures, but otherwise it was a clean run.
LATE DRAMA
There was late drama when the two factory Ford Performance Ranger entries dropped out of contention while running second and third. Former South African champions Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst, who won this race last year, suffered drive train failure while Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable retired with a broken suspension arm.
Their retirement opened the door for Hilux crews Johan and Werner Horn, and Jason Venter and Vincent van Allemann to finish on the podium. The Horn brothers were delayed by a couple of punctures, but Venter and Van Allemann reported a clean run.
Fourth placed Johan van Staden and Mike Lawrenson, in a Nissan Navara, also never had to get out of their car and were well clear of fifth placed Taylor and Murphy who did well to snatch a top-five finish after starting from the back of the field.
A steady run brought Terence Marsh and television's Cave Man presenter Janez Vermeiren home sixth in a second Navara, ahead of former South African champions Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (Toyota Hilux), who were first in Class S for cars up to four litres with solid axle rear suspension.
Youngsters Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (Ford Ranger) rounded out the top eight ahead of Portuguese crew Rómulo Branco and João Serôdio (Nissan Navara) and North West pair Heine Strumpher and Henri Hugo in a Toyota Hilux.
SPECIAL VEHICLES
Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen lost a battle but won the war when they wrapped up the Special Vehicle category championship at Vryburg; second, in their 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 their BAT Venom.
It was a long overdue win for Corbett and Mohr and a maiden success for the CR5, which was designed and built in the team's Midrand workshop.
"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."
15 MINUTES TO SPARE
Corbett and Mohr took over the lead when Trethewey and Minnitt, and qualifying race winners Jimmy Zahos and Zaheer Bodhanya, in a Stryker, dropped out of the race; at the finish the CR5 crew had more than 15 minutes to spare over Hutchison and Stassen. They, in turn, were a little more than three minutes clear of Parker and van Zyl, and the father/daughter Porter crew of former Blue Bulls scrum half Coetzee and Labuscagne and his veterinary daughter Sandra.
Lourens and Carien Booysen, in a BAT, produced an impressive performance in their first endurance race to finish fifth in class, ahead of Andre Fourie and Hendrik Pienaar (BAT) and well clear of Class P winners and championship leaders John Thomson and Maurice Zermatten in a Zarco Magnum.
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.