A small, but quality field in the Special Vehicle Category will take on the 4×4 Mega World 400, the fourth and fifth rounds of the South African National Cross Country Series (SACCS) on October 1 and 2 at Nampo Park outside Bothaville in the Free State.
Class A as well as Class G for the smaller and nimble Side-by-Side (SxS) Vehicles in the Special Vehicle Category have been tightly contested so far this season. Although the 2019 overall and Class A champions, Lance Trethewey/Adriaan Roets (King Price Xtreme) have won all three events this year and are leading the standings, they are not safe enough to relax and three different teams walked away with the laurels in the Class G SxS championship.
The Larney brothers, Cecil and Elardus (Ride Fox Africa Can-Am Maverick), are now leading Class G and are third in the overall standings after winning the recent TGRSA 1000 Desert Race in Upington while Dean Bradbury/Timmy Botes, who won the opening round, are currently second. Nico du Rand/JG Claassen won the second round, but both Bradbury/Botes as well as Du Rand/Claassen, who were in the top five in the Class G championship, will not be in action in the Free State.
This leaves the door open for the Larney brothers to increase the point’s gap, and for the rest of the teams to better their standings. The Mostert brothers, Werner and Leon (King Price Xtreme Can-Am) who are the 2019 champions, are fifth in Class G after not being able to finish the last two events, they will hope for their luck to turn and to jump on the podium.
The teenager, Kent Rutherford, will again team up with fellow scholar, Kabelo Mokanyane (Enza Construction Can-Am Maverick) and will aim for another podium finish to add to their Sugarbelt 400 result. Rutherford has moved to third place in the Class G Drivers’ Championship after finishing third at the recent desert race while Mokanyane is seventh among the navigators (he could not participate at Upington).
Bazil Bezuidenhout will get another chance behind the wheel of the Moto-Netix KEC Racing Can-Am Maverick with Rikus Hattingh reading the notes while Geoff Minnitt/Gerhard Snyman also competing with the trusted Can-Am Maverick, will aim to finish their first race of the season.
In Class A it will be Trethewey/Roets against Both Boela Botes/Jay Pretorius (King Price Xtreme Porter) and Lood du Preez/Tiaan Swart (Farmers Meat Stryker) who only scored once this season, but as the names of a few teams who are ahead of them on the points do not appear on the entry list, they might find themselves in the top five if they can keep it together and score good points.
Sandra Labuschagne-Jonck and husband Jaco Jonck have traded their ageing Porter and will be out in the Moto-Netix KEC Racing, former championship winning, BAT Viper and will aim for that elusive race finish with their new machinery.
Keith and Andrew Makenete have made a welcome come-back and will compete in Class P with a BAT.
On Friday, 1 October at 07:30 the 4×4 Mega World 400 will start with a short 15km Pirelli Qualifying Race sprint to determine the starting order for the main race that will start at 09:30. Competitors will have to complete a 180km loop towards the east of Nampo Park twice to score points as finishers of the fourth round of the SACCS.
The fifth round on Saturday, 2 October will again start with a short 15km sprint to determine the start grid for the main race. The main race starts at 09:30 and a different loop to the previous day will take teams towards the west of Nampo Park. Sections of the loop might have a familiar look to it as it was used in 2020, but competitors will do it in the opposite direction this year. This 180km loop will also start and finish at Nampo Park and will have to be completed twice.
Due to COVID 19 restrictions, spectators are not allowed at the event. Enthusiasts can however follow the action on the RallySafe App that can be downloaded free of charge for iOS and Android devices. Information will also be shared on the Telegram App as well as on social media.
Photos by Nadia at PixelArt
