information supplied by: Cross Country Commission (Media) 22 June 2012
Matthews/Smith lead the way at Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race

Gaborone, Friday – Championship leaders Colin Matthews and Alan Smith set the pace in the Special Vehicle category on the Donaldson Prologue at the Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race, round four of the Absa Off Road Championship, here today.

The 60 kilometre prologue determined start positions for the first racing section tomorrow with Matthews and Smith, in the Century Racing CR3, nine seconds clear of former South African champion Evan Hutchison and Danie Stassen in the Motorite BAT Venom. Matthews and Smith are the first Class P crew to lead the overall championship, and today’s result saw the pair continue their propensity for winning Donaldson Prologues.

“We hit a rock 10 kilometres from the end and picked up a puncture, but otherwise it was a clean run,” said Matthews afterwards. “The route was great so we have high hopes for the race.”

After a slow start Hutchison and Stassen picked up their pace and were 44 seconds clear of third placed Marius and Jolinda Fourie in the PHB BAT. Hutchison and Stassen were hampered at the start by a faulty GPS system which sorted itself out, and after that they had a clean run.

The Fouries also reported a clean run but were only 13 seconds clear of the father and son combination of Nick and Ryan Harper in the Motorite Revo 4x4. The Harpers, in turn, were 30 seconds ahead of Mark Corbett and Julien Hardy, in the Century Racing CR4, with one minute and 34 seconds separating the first five.

Former champion Quintin and Kallie Sullwald were sixth fastest in the Elegant Fuel BAT and were followed by Richard Fuller and Dennis Murphy in the Regent Racing BAT. Fuller and Murphy were second in Class P behind Matthews and Smith, but were one minute and 58 seconds behind the flying Century Racing crew.

Naeem Moosajee/Rayhaan Bodhanya (TyreRack Porter), Johan van Staden/Mike Lawrenson (Atlas Copco BAT) and KwaZulu-Natal crew Clint Gibson and Gary Campbell (Gibson Racing Porter) completed the top 10. Van Staden and Lawrenson are championship frontrunners and are looking for their second win of the season.

The biggest losers on the prologue were the du Plessis brothers, Laurence and Gerhard, who were 11th in a Zarco and reigning SA champions Hermann and Wichard Sullwald in the Elegant Fuel Porter who were down in 18th place. The du Plessis were slowed in dust from a slower car, while the Sullwalds picked up an early puncture and had problems changing the wheel.

Third in Class P behind Matthews/Smith and Fuller/Murphy were Swaziland crew John Thomson and Clinton McNamara in a Zarco in their first outing of the season. Showing plenty of ring rust Thomson and McNamara were four minutes and 44 seconds behind Matthews and Smith.

KwaZulu-Natal crew Iain Maclean and Lucas van Dort, in a Zarco Junior, led a small Class B contingent. They were comfortably clear of the Zarco of Johan Steyn and Saun van der Bergh who move up a notch from competing in the Northern Region championship.

The race starts at 08:00 tomorrow morning at Kumakwane on the outskirts of Gaborone. The first racing section will be made up of two loops with a compulsory 20-minute stop at race headquarters in Kumakwane after the first loop. Matthews/Smith lead the way at Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race.pdf (804kB)