Parys off road racing fans in for a treat this weekend

The race starts and finishes at the Weiveld Boeresaal with competitors completing a short 15 kilometre Prologue starting at 8:30 to determine their start order for the main race. The
Main Race gets underway at 11:30 over two laps with numerous great spectating opportunities in the area surrounding the Weiveld Boeresaal. Admission is free so be sure to watch the action packed event. To download the entry list, programme and spectator map visit www.tiorcsa.info
This year the Inland Off Road Championship has a fresh look and new name, and is now known as the Off Road North Championship, open for entries to all South African competitors irrespective of which province they live in, and run primarily across South Africa’s Northern provinces.Off road racing fans can expect the same high standard of adrenaline pumping action with the three championship categories contested in 2023.
FIA Category fight set to sizzle at Weiveld 300
Granted recognition as a stand-alone category in the series this year is the FIA Category which boasts the highly modified vehicles fans are used to seeing at international events such as the
Dakar. Reigning national T1 class champions Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar in the Izusa Carriers Toyota Hilux make the step up to the T1+ top class and are always firm favourites giving
Basson’s spectacular driving style. The pair will take on the 2023 season in a T1+ Toyota Hilux, built to the same specifications as Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Dakar 2023 winning vehicle. They will
have to work hard to beat off a number of top running crews including TreasuryOne Motorsport’s Hennie de Klerk and Adriaan Roets in their newly built T1+ Toyota Hilux out for its maiden run this weekend.
2022 Inland Off Road Championship Production Vehicle Category winner Gerhard Heinlein moves up to the FIA category in a purpose built T1 Red-Lined VK56 Evo2 in its distinctive Sirkel-N-
Landgoed livery.
The FIA T1.2 vehicles are reminiscent of the buggies that tackled the Dakar in the 80’s and 90’s although far more high-tech and modified. Dewald van Breda and Henry Köhne in the Potch
Plastics Century CR6 are expected to be strong contenders in the series this year but they will need to stay ahead of the in form pairing of Simon Murray and Achim Bergmann in their locally
designed and engineered WCT HT2.
Top two contenders in Special Vehicle Category back to defend their honour.
Hailing all the way from Underberg in KwaZulu-Natal the Tip Top Milk crew of Trace Price-Moore and Shaun Braithwaite clinched victory at the 2022 edition of the Weiveld 300 and the pair will be hoping to repeat that feat on Saturday in their powerful 6-litre BAT Venom. They will face stiff
competition from the Moto-Netix Racing crew in their Can-Am Maverick winners of the side-by-side class at the 2022 event.
The Moto-Netix team will see a change of duties this year with youngster Ian Mostert, already a South African champion navigator, now taking on the driving duties and
father, Werner Mostert, riding shotgun in the navigator’s seat. Racing in the category will be hard fought with a number of other highly competitive crews set to take the battle to last year’s winners
including Wickus Haasbroek in the hand-controlled, modified Can-Am Maverick.
On paper the powerful Class A and Class G, side-by-side vehicles, should dominate the leader board in the Special Vehicle Category but with a points system designed to allow a competitor from
any one of the classes to take championship honours crews from the more limited Classes P and B
are in with a shot for championship honours.
Returning to the fray will be the ever popular Gearbox Services team of Tony and Mike Gouveia in their BAT Spec 0 and the pair are always strong contenders for championship honours.
Class B vehicles are limited to a 2-litre motor but their lack of power doesn’t dampen their ability to take on challenging terrain and they excel in tight and twisty conditions.
André Claassens of Team Twinstar Precast will tackle the Weiveld 300 with his mother Annemerie Coetzee pointing him the right direction in his Class B Zarco this weekend.
Production Vehicle Category set for spectacular battles in 2023
Contested across five classes vehicles in the Production Vehicle Category range from highly modified vehicles in Class T to near standard road pickups in Class E. Notwithstanding the vast
differences in specifications between the classes the points system allows for competitors from any one of the five classes to take category honours at the end of a season provided they can
consistently finish all six rounds of the championship series.
The 2023 season promises to be a humdinger in the Production Category with a number of top contenders moving up to more powerful vehicles. Crews to watch out for at the Weiveld 300 will be Dolf du Toit and Lood Cremer in the distinctive Propeller Centre Toyota Land Cruiser who will take up the charge against the TFM Makeleaars Toyota Hilux of Tokkie Ferreira and Mac van Loggerenberg.