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| Copyright © NISSAN |
Nissan Motorsport celebrated its fifth successive outright victory in the Toyota 1 000 Desert Race, round three of the Absa Off Road Championship, in Botswana last weekend when Hannes Grobler and Francois Jordaan drove their Proudly South African Nissan Navara V6 to a comfortable victory in the three-day event which ended in Gaborone on Sunday afternoon.
Grobler, winner of the Desert Race in 1986 and from 2002 to 2004, overcame a poor 50-km prologue result on Friday, when he finished 16th after he and Jordaan took a wrong turn and lost about four minutes, to head the field home at the end of day two on Saturday.
It was another of the veteran motor sportsman's typically spirited fightbacks through the field, that had the thousands of excited local motor sport fans who almost swamped the many spectator points chanting his Motswanan nickname, Mantshwabisi.
"I seem to be finding myself too far down the field at the start these days, but I always love a fight and this was a great race," said Grobler. "I didn't enjoy the dust, but the chase was exciting for us and I hope for the spectators too. The support we had from the fans out there was tremendous."
At the end of the first of two 430-km loops, the Nissan pair enjoyed a 15-minute lead over Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin's Toyota Hilux and an 18-minute lead over the Ford Ranger of Rob Gurney and Graeme Stainbank.
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Grobler was in total command on day three, when the field took on Saturday's loop in reverse direction, and gave the younger competitors a valuable lesson in patience over the rougher, slower parts of the route (that caught out so many) and in high-speed driving across the longer stretches of sandy Botswana desert.
Team-mates Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford were second quickest in Friday's prologue, but they were to damage the front suspension and clutch of their Proudly South African Nissan Navara when they slid off the road in a 90-degree right-hander just 25 km into Saturday's route.
They had to be towed to the designated service point at Mantswabishi for repairs, incurring a five and a half hour penalty that dropped them to 21st place at the end of the day.
Vos and Pitchford started Sunday's 430-km route in 42nd place, one place ahead of Woolridge and Skjoldhammer, and struggled in the dry, dusty and mostly windless conditions. "We were held up for long periods by the thick dust kicked up by the many slower cars in front of us. Overtaking was dangerous and we made very slow progress through the field," said a disappointed Vos. "We should have been right up front fighting Hannes for the lead!"
At the finish in Gaborone the Nissan pair had to settle for 12th place, four hours behind team-mates Grobler and Jordaan. Twenty-four of the original 31 production vehicles entered completed the grueling event, one of the toughest Desert Races in its 26-year history.
Nissan privateers made a valuable contribution towards the manufacturers' championship. Mark Corbett and Juan Mohr in their Century Property Developments Hardbody finished 4th after looking like taking a fine second place before taking a wrong turn and losing three places on Sunday morning.
Next Round of ABSA, round four "Ford Motorite Limpopo 400" will be taken place on 14th July.
