information supplied by: Peter Burroughes Communications 20 June 2012
Atlas Copco team takes on the Toyota 1000 Desert Race

The experienced Atlas Copco team of Gary Bertholdt and Siegfried Rousseau (Super Production Toyota Hilux) and the BAT Spec 4 special of Johan van Staden and Mike Lawrenson take on the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race this weekend.

Bertholdt’s regular co-driver, Ralph Pitchford, sits out this weekend’s marathon event, which marks the halfway point of the Absa Off Road Championship, to enable Bertholdt and Rousseau to compete in the Dakar Challenge, a ‘race within a race’ that will qualify the winners for a free entry in the 2013 Dakar Rally in January.

Competitors who have previously contested the Dakar Rally are not eligible for the Dakar Challenge. Pitchford, who has competed in five Dakars and finished in the top six four times with a best result of second, will accompany the team to Botswana to lend technical and moral support.

“We’re very excited at the prospect of competing for a place in the Dakar Rally,” said Bertholdt. “It’s got to be the dream of any serious off road racer. After the good result Ralph and I had in the recent Atlas Copco Timbertrack 400 in KwaZulu-Natal (the pair was second, their best result of the year to date), I’m confident we can give a good account of ourselves in Botswana this weekend.

“The Desert Race marks the halfway point in the championship and I have a bit of leeway to make up,” admitted Bertholdt. With three races behind him, he is sixth in the Production Vehicle drivers' championship, 38 points behind leader Duncan Vos (Toyota Hilux). Pitchford, who missed the opening round when Rousseau stood in for him, is sixth in the co-drivers' championship, 38 points behind leader Rob Howie.

“Scoring championship points is an important objective this weekend and a good result is key if we wish to challenge for the title. It’s a long and hard race, equivalent to two separate rounds of the championship, and we’ll be taking it one day at a time.” Last year he was heading for a top-three finish when broken diff mountings ended his challenge on the final day.

2011 class P champion Van Staden and co-driver Lawrenson are currently leading class A of the Special Vehicle championship. The points are provisional as an appeal by Van Staden against the results of round two, the Toyota Dealer 400 in Mpumalanga in April, is still to be heard. Should Van Staden’s appeal be successful, he and Lawrenson will be leading the overall championship. Van Staden, who finished third in last year’s marathon, will be looking to achieve another podium finish at least with new co-driver Lawrenson.

Race headquarters, the start/finish and the designated service park will again be located in the village of Kumakwane, 25 km west of Gaborone. The weekend’s action gets underway at 12.30 on Friday with the Donaldson Prologue, a time trial to decide the start order for Saturday’s race. Day one of the race itself will start at 08:30 on Saturday with surviving competitors returning to the Kumakwane service park for the overnight halt.

The restart will be at 08:30 on Sunday with the finish back at Kumakwane in the afternoon.

Atlas Copco is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, and has more than 130 years of experience. The group’s global span reaches more than 160 markets with 34 000 employees. The company is a world leader with products and services ranging from compressed air and gas equipment to generators, construction and mining equipment, industrial tools and assembly systems.

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Issued on behalf of Gary Bertholdt by Peter Burroughes Communications, telephone 082 899 0101, e-mail bowtie@iafrica.com. Atlas Copco team takes on the Toyota 1000 Desert Race.doc (33kB)

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