Spirit of Amarok kicks off

The championship tests technical, speed and off-road driving skills on a course designed by racing legend, Sarel van der Merwe. The competition which started in 2015 have always included entries from all over the world and this year again will include competitors from South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Germany, Czech Republic, Denmark, Australia, Russia, Taiwan and China. Competitors will for the first time in the history of the competition use a 3.0-litre V6 Amarok fitted with 4MOTION producing 165 kW which will be available in both left-hand drives along with right-hand drive models.

Each one of the competition stages will be timed and competitors will either be awarded points or see points deducted based on their performance. Each one of the stages was personally designed by Sarel van der Merwe which will also be overseeing the competition and score competitors. The courses will test the driver and navigators and focus on speed and technical driving ability, as well as co-driving skills and teamwork.

‘‘As with previous years, in order to lift the Spirit of Amarok Trophy, teams have to display patience, strength and determination in order to be named the toughest amateur off-road driver in the world. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles is incredibly proud to have started this international-level competition in 2015. With nine countries participating, we look forward to seeing the action that this year‘s event has in store,‘‘ Mark Handley, Head of Sales and Marketing for Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

The competition will commence on 14 August 2019, and will take place near and in Bloemfontein and will conclude on the 17^th of August 2019, where contestants from the top three countries and the top three teams overall will receive medals while the winning team will receive the trophy which is adorned by a wolf after which the Amarok was named.