Cross Country Series concluded

The 2017 South African Cross Country Series will come to its conclusion on the West Rand this weekend, with the Atlas Copco Gold 400 to host a full entry of Production Vehicles, Special Vehicles, motorcycles and quadbikes.

At the front of the field, already-crowned overall 2017 champion Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz should be the team to beat in their works Gazoo Toyota Hilux.

Their closest adversaries in the FIA class should be the RedLined team’s three Nissan Navara bakkies, manned by Thomas Bell/ Patrick McMurren, Luke Botha/ Andre Vermeulen and Shameer Variawa/Zaheer Bodhanya.

The class will be rounded out by Johan and van Staden/Mike Lawrenson (Elf Renault Duster) and Mark Corbett/Rodney Burke (Century Property FIA Buggy).

Brothers Johan and Werner Horn (Malalane Toyota Hilux) are the favourites to clinch the Class T title.

Taking them on in the race will be crews like Lance Woolridge/Ward Huxtable (Puma Lubricants Ford Ranger), Jason Venter/Vince van Allemann (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux), Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Puma Lubricants Ford Ranger), Henk Lategan/Barry White (Puma Lubricants Ford Ranger), Chris Visser/Philip Herselman (Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux), Brian Baragwanath/Kabelo Ledwaba (Pirelli Ford Ranger) and Jacques van Tonder/Mariska Leeuwner (Ford Ranger). Jannie Visser and son Chris (Toyota Hilux) will be the team to beat in Class S, chased by people like David Huddy/ Gerhard Schutte (Nissan Navara).

The Special Vehicle title will be settled this weekend, between Evan Hutchison/Danie Stassen (King Price Extreme BAT Viper) and Marius/Jolinda Fourie (PHB BAT).

Able to interfere will be Stefan van Pletzen/Jaco Pieterse (Live Lesotho Chenowth), John Thomson/Maurice Zermatten (Zarco Magnum), Keith Makenete/ Ferdie Pieterse (BAT) and Sandra Labuscagne/Jaco Jonk (4×4 Mega World Porter).

The Class P championship should produce a straight fight between John Telford/ Victor Ntsekhe (Calcamite Hellcat) and Nic Goslar/Andrew Massey (SA Clinics Zarco).

Chasing them will be Werner Kennedy/ Thinus Venter (Live Lesotho Aceco).

Info

• Race headquarters, the start/finish and the designated service park will be located at the Kloof Country Club, in Glenharvie in Westonaria, with free public access to these areas.
• Catering will be provided by the Glenharvie Combination School and there will also be free public entry to numerous spectator areas.
• The qualifying race on Friday will start at 2pm and the main race, to be run over two laps of 160 kilometres, at 8.30am on Saturday.
• There will be a 20 minute compulsory service halt and regroup after the first lap and the race will restart at noon.
• The event will also include the final round of the SACCS Moto championship and the final round of the Northern Regions championship.
• Glenharvie is within easy reach of Johannesburg and major centres on the West Rand, but cross country fans can also follow the race from home or the office via the RallySafe app.
• The app can be downloaded free of charge for iOS and Android devices and follows the race via detailed maps with times and complete results.