The Special Vehicle Category of the 2021 South African National Cross Country Series (SACCS) produced some spectacular action despite it being a small field and after the dust had settled, there were deserving champions and rewarding results for those who showed determination and perseverance throughout the season. The 2019 champions, Lance Trethewey and Adriaan Roets made a committed comeback after taking a break in 2020. Five consecutive race victories and a third place resulted in the duo clinching the overall and Class A championship titles in their powerful King Price Xtreme BAT. They were followed by their teammates, Boela Botes/Jay Pretorius (Porter) who were second overall as well as in the Class A standings.
Newcomers, the Larney brothers, Cecil and Elardus, took on the SACCS in their Can-Am Maverick in the Class G Side-by-Side Championship for the first time and survived the tough journey. They spent many long hours in the field being bush mechanics, but never gave up and their perseverance and consistent participation resulted in them not only taking the Class G SxS Championship title, but they also finished third in the Overall Special Vehicle Championship. In the Class A championship, Trethewey/Roets (186 points) were safe with one race to go and decided to try their hand in the production vehicle category at the seventh and final event. Botes/Pretorius won the final race and secured their runner-up position (133 points) while Lood du Preez/Tiaan Swart (Farmers Meat Stryker) finished third (90) after their season got off to a shaky start including them not participating in the season opener. Clint Gibson/Alaric Smith (Stryker) only competed in the first three events and although they could not complete the first race, two more podium results put them in fourth place (75 points). John Thomson/Maurice Zermatten (Zarco Challenger) also only participated in selected events and closed the season off in fifth place (66).
Sandra Labuschagne-Jonck/Jaco Jonck (Moto-Netix KEC Racing) started 2021 in their Porter and changed to a BAT halfway through the season. It was a testing series for them and they eventually finished sixth (53 points) after only being able to score points at the final two races. The defending champions, Tim Howes/Don Thomson (BAT) are seventh with only three events under their belt (50 points) while the motorcycle riders, Nic Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel (BAT) finished eighth after attempting the final two events of the year (25 points). Irregular participation as well as the chopping and changing of competitors in the Class G SxS Championship resulted in teams not sharing the same position in the standings. All teams made use of the nimble Can-Am Maverick SxS and like in all the class championships, competitors earned an additional five points for starting a race. The Larney brothers won the tough TGRSA 1000 Desert race and finished on the podium once more and their never say die attitude paid off and they won the class championship title (159 points). In the Class G Drivers’ Championship, Bazil and his father, Coenie, both made use of the navigating services of Rikus Hattingh although they swapped seats after the Mpumalanga 400. Bazil (96 points) finished as the runner-up in the standings ahead of teenager Kent Rutherford (84) who finished on the podium twice (84). Dean Bradbury (77 points) is fourth with Geoff Minnitt (65), who will be competing in the 2022 Dakar Rally, fifth. Nico du Rand (57 points) competed in the first three events of which he won the second round. He is sixth with former Class G champion, Werner Mostert (King Price Xtreme) seventh after a dismal season.
The rest of the top 10 drivers in the Class G SxS Championship consisted of Peter Walter (35 points) who won the final race at Parys and Coenie Bezuidenhout and Theo Erasmus who both earned 20 points. The standings look a bit different in the Class G Navigators’ Championship where Hattingh (116 points) finished as the runner-up. Timmy Botes, who navigated for Bradbury, rounds off the podium (77). Gerhard Snyman (55 points) who sat next to Minnitt, is fourth with Du Rand’s navigator, JG Claassen (52 points) fifth while the rookie, Kabelo Mokanyane, who shared the SxS with Rutherford, finished sixth (48). Leon Mostert scored points with his brother Werner, but then missed the final two events due to an injury. He finished seventh (43 points) with Rutherford’s younger brother, Justin, who stood in for Mokanyane and tackled the TGRSA 1000 Desert at Upington with his brother where they finished third, is eighth (36 points). Shaun de Villiers won at Parys together with Peter Walter and finished ninth in the standings (35 points) with Erasmus’ navigator, Edward Odendaal (20 points) rounding off the top 10.
The Class P Championship went to Keith and Andrew Makenete (BAT) who only entered the fray from the halfway mark. Willem du Toit/Victor Fincham participated in the Upington and Vryburg events and finished second with Daniel Retief/Pieter Karsten, third. Source: SACCS / Photos: Nadia Jordaan
