Added Significance for Toyota Dealer 1000 in Mpumalanga

The Toyota Dealer 1000 in Mpumalanga from October 13 to 15 could turn out to be the most important event of this year's Absa Off Road Championship.

The event's elevation to candidate event for South Africa's inclusion on the FIA Cross Country World Cup calendar in 2006, is reason enough for an elevation in status over and above national championship standing. But, as the penultimate event of the season, the Mpumalanga event is likely to play a major role in deciding some close championship battles in both the Production Vehicle and Special Vehicle categories.

Candidate event status has also meant that the Toyota Dealer 1000 has had to be upgraded from a two-day 400 kilometre race into a three-day 1000 kilometre affair. The South African Motorsport Club (SAM) organising team under chief organiser Willie du Plessis, have unearthed some virgin off-road territory and, as was the case on the recent Ford Motorite Limpopo 400 in the Polokwane area, competitors will be sailing in some uncharted waters.

" Mpumalanga has some of the greatest off road terrain, and some of the finest scenery, you will find anywhere in the world," said du Plessis. "The route will provide for plenty of variety and I have no doubt competitors will find it challenging and enjoyable.

" It is going to be a tough event and I am confident the team of observers from the FIA will go away satisfied that we have the resources to run an event that will be a credit to the world championship."

Behind the aura of possible world championship status, however, teams still have national championships to win in 2005. Some tight battles have emerged throughout the various classes, and the upgrade from a 400 kilometre event to a 1000 kilometre event simply makes matters a little more difficult - and will have forced teams into tactical reviews.

As usual top of the agenda for rival teams in the Production Vehicle category will be trying to beat the Proudly South African Nissan squad with Hannes Grobler/Francois Jordaan and Alfie Cox/Ralph Pitchford in the firing line. The two Nissan teams are also locked in battle for the overall Production Vehicle title, with just 16 points separating the two crews.

It is a situation that puts a little pressure on Grobler/Jordaan, winners last time out on the Ford Motorite Limpopo 400, and Cox/Pitchford. But, such has been Nissan's domination over the last couple of year's, looking for a winner outside the Nissan squad is almost unthinkable.

There are a couple of Class D crews - if the Nissans run into trouble - capable of an overall win. The Class D championship, however, is a close fought affair and the major protagonists will probably be concentrating more on a class victory than thoughts of an overall upset.

Henri Zermatten/Bodo Schwegler (Master Craft Ryobi Mitsubishi Pajero) currently lead the Class D stakes by one point from former Class E champions Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin in the Castrol Toyota Hilux 2.7i. Lurking a further four points in arrears are Manfred Schroeder and Alec Harris in the factory Ford Racing Ranger, and for all three crews the stakes in Mpumalanga are high.

Adding to their problems is the fact that Class D is loaded with other potential class winners. Gavin Cronje/Robin Houghton and Paolo Piazza-Musso/Ockie Fourie, in other Castrol Toyota Hilux 2.7i entries, fall into this category as do brothers Jurie and Andre du Plessis and Arnold du Plessis and Johan Knox (BB Auto Nissan Hardbody)

The Zermatten/Schwegler success is based on sheer consistency, and the pair cannot match the factory Toyota and Ford teams for pace. Mark the elder of the Cronje brothers, and Birkin will be looking for their third class win on the trot and their battle with Schroeder and Harris could turn out to be a feature of the event.

Toyota crews dominate the Class E championship standings, however, class leader Zane Pearce and Hennie Vosloo (Castrol Toyota Hilux 2.7i) are not yet out of the woods. Pearce, who has a 100 percent finish record this season, and Vosloo will be looking over their shoulders where Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst (Tyco Trucks Toyota Hilux) and reigning champions Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn (Castrol Toyota Hilux) are concerned.

Another Toyota crew, the husband and wife team of George and Sharon Barkhuizen, are capable of upsetting an applecart or two, in what is a highly competitive class. The Ford Ranger development pair of Baphumze Rubuluza and Khulile Vakalisa and farther and son Dirk van Reenen have had their moments this season and will be keen to do well, but another Toyota bonanza looks to be on the cards.

An interesting little contest could also develop in Class F where Andre Botha and Richard Carolin (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Chev Silverado) now have some tough opposition now that Mark and Stuart Moffat (Bosal Land Rover) have decided there was no future taking on the factory teams in Class D. The Class F battle will provide a little cameo performance worth watching.

On the Special Vehicle front trying to pick potential overall winners is a risky business. Only Gerhard du Plessis/Ferdie Seegers (Jimco) have won more than once this season, with the remaining four events producing four different winners.

One win and consistent finishes in other events has taken brothers-in-law Terence Marsh and Michael Whitehouse (Nashua Mobile BAT) to the top of the championship where they have a 16 point lead over the father and son combination of Nick and Ryan Harper (BAT Audi) who won the Lesotho Sun 400. Other winners this year include Atang Makgekgenene/Buks Carolin, now on sabbatical, and Gary Bertholdt/Siegfried Rosseau in the Advansoft BAT.

Bertholdt/Rosseau started off with a bang by winning the opening event of the season, and haven't picked up another point since. Sheer pace is not a problem for Bertholdt/Rosseau and brother Bevan Bertholdt and Nick Selemolela, in the Iburst BAT, who have only picked up points on two events, and it appears the racer's red mist has had an influence on disappointing results.

With this in mind the Toyota Dealer 1000 is likely to again be a contest between the sprinters and the stayers. And, given the extra distance, the odds look to favour the stayers with an event like this seldom - if ever - won on the first two days.

There are a couple of other Class A crews - some of them in the sprinter category and some in the stayer class - who add an extra touch of uncertainty to proceedings. Among them are John Weir-Smith/ Des Fouche (Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jimco), Clint Gibson/Marcelle Trethewey (Gibson Plant Hire BAT), Will Battershill/Reg Sutton (Jimco), veteran Giel Nel and Peter Newbery (Bosal LUK ATE Zarco) and father/son combination Rob and Gareth Wark (Superpave Chenowth).

It all adds up to an intriguing situation and a wide-open race. Watching various tactical approaches unfold is going to be fascinating, and this is where the race will be won and lost.

Where Class B is concerned battle will resume between current championship leaders Evan Hutchison and Trevor Ormerod in the Motorite BAT, and reigning champions Marcus Taylor and Marc de Chalain in the JRE BAT. In his first season Hutchison has done a terrific job, and a win in Mpumalanga will put the title issue beyond doubt.

Other Class B contenders include John Thompson/Clinton McNamara (Mormond Zarco), Rudi and Pierre van Graan (Technochair Zarco) and Hendrik and Louis Fourie (Zarco). The smart money, however, will be on the class winners coming from the Hutchison/Ormerod and Taylor/de Chalain confrontation.

A couple of old timers in former multiple champion Richard Schilling and former biker Chris Davies will be outright favourites to win Class S in the Plastotech Aceco. With a combined age they won't admit to, there is no shortage of experience in the Schilling/Davies combination and, on an event like this, they could challenge for a top five placing - if they see out the distance.

At the end of the day the Toyota Dealer 1000 adds up to an event that offers intriguing possibilities in both the Production Vehicle and Special Vehicle categories. That it could herald in a new era in South African off road racing is the cherry on the top of an appetising cake.