KwaZulu-Natal crew comes out tops at Weiveld 300

Round one of the Weiveld 300, the inland off-road championship, took place from the Weiveld Farmers Hall outside Parys on Saturday 19 February. Heavy rains in the area in the weeks before the event promised slippery and muddy conditions.

The competitors woke to leaden skies and light rain at race headquarters on race morning. Off-road racing crews live by the mantra that the sport is not for sissies. Despite the wet conditions, 39 hardy crews took starters’ orders for the prologue, hoping to set up a good qualifying time and grab a favourable main race starting position. The main racing section was shortened to three laps of eighty kilometres, cutting out some of the impassably muddy sections. As the noon start drew closer, the weather conditions improved, with the sun starting to make an appearance. Twenty-eight crews started the main racing section, gambling on their ability to make it to the finish and pick up their first points of the season. Hennie de Klerk and Adriaan Roets in the TreasuryOne VW Amarok set a blistering pace over the opening lap.

They extended their lead to one minute over Price Moor and Shaun Braithwaite, who had powered the Tip Top BAT into second place; quite an achievement from a two-wheel-drive vehicle in the slick conditions. Philip Botha and Roelof Janse Vuuren maintained a good pace to hang on to third place in the Penta Motor Group VK56, with two of their Red-Lined Motorsport team cars hot on their heels. Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar had slotted into fourth place in the IZUSA Carriers VK56, building up an eight- minute lead over teammates Johan de Bruyn and Gerhard Schutte in the Odor-Cure/Green Jobs VK56.

The two leading Class D protagonists were locked in a battle for the class lead, coming through at the end of lap one hot on each other’s heels. Theuns du Toit and James O’Mahony in the Propeller Centre/N1 4X4 Toyota Land Cruiser had edged the slightest of leads over their fierce rivals, Gerhard and Rudi Heinlein in the Sirkel-N-Landgoed/Point S Tyres-supported Toyota Hilux. The Heinleins took the opportunity to pit and would have expected to have to chase the Land Cruiser down on lap 2. Unfortunately, disaster struck and the Propeller Centre crew ended up stranded in a muddy hole just as they restarted lap 2.

Numerous crews found their way around the stricken Land Cruiser when the Heinleins demonstrated true sportsmanship and stopped to pull their rivals out of the hole.

At that point, both class D contenders were passed by another contender for Class D honours, Keith Smith and Juandré Kruger in the Speedy Vryburg Toyota Land Cruiser. At the end of Lap 2, the top-five positions remained unchanged and the race looked to be the TreasuryOne team’s for the taking.

But, in off-road racing, nothing is ever guaranteed and a spectacular off on the third lap saw the crew retiring as the landing had blown the seal on their power steering. The TreasuryOne Amarok’s early exit left the way open for the KwaZulu-Natal pairing of Trace Price Moor and Shaun Braithwaite. They muscled their way to the top step of the podium and special vehicle category honours for the day in the Tip-Top Milk BAT Spec 1. It was an unexpected outcome for a two-wheel-drive car to take overall honours in such a wet event. Second place for the day and Produc- tion Vehicle Category honours went to Red-Lined Motorsport team members, Philip Botha and Roelof Janse van Vuuren, in the Penta Motor Group VK56.

They were followed home by two more Production Vehicle Category contenders. HUD Racing’s Dave Huddy and Michael Omand picked up third overall and second in the production vehicle category in the HUD Mining Nissan Navara. Gerhard and Rudi Heinlein picked up a well-deserved third in the Production Category and class D win in the Sirkel-N-Landgoed/Point S/Maxxis Tyres-supported Toyota Hilux. The second place in the Special Vehicle Category and the only special vehicle entry to finish besides the overall winners was taken by Rob Wark in the Mighty Mag. Wark recently made a return to racing after an absence of some 20 years and quickly proved that he had not lost any of his driving, setting the pace in Class B and mixing it up with the more powerful Class P entries. 2021 Lightweight Category winners Werner and Leon Mostert had been going well in the first lap when a broken wheel hub on the second lap saw them limp into the pits for lengthy repairs to their JCP Steel Supplies Can-Am Maverick.

Despite this setback, they managed to fix their vehicle and made it home just before the final cut-off to take category victory and open their 2022 champion-ship account. Off Road SA, organisers of the Weiveld 300, wish to thank the landowners who made their farms available for the event and the Weiveld Farmers Union for their hospitality. Local businesses that supported the event to make it possible were ALM Tractor World, Allbulk, Bruyns Equipment, Cairo Hersteldienste, NTT Volkswagen Potchefstroom, Schwim’s Tyres, Shogun Konstruksie, Smith Makelaars, Suikerbos Wildplaas and Valtrac South Africa. The championship now moves to the North West Province for the Barberspan 300 between Sannieshof and Delareyville on Saturday, 14 May 2022.