A gutsy performance in Saturday’s Atlas Copco Battlefields 400 in KwaZulu-Natal saw Thomas Rundle and Juan Mohr (Barden Tyre Services Racing Nissan Navara) finish a fighting fifth among the Super Production vehicles and retain their overall lead in the championship after three rounds.
It was a tough event, held for the first time in the Dundee area not far from the historic battle sites of Rorke’s Drift, Isandlwana and Blood River and the rate of attrition was high. Just 11 of the 22 starters in the national championship Production Vehicle category completed Saturday’s 350-km route, with the retirement rate even higher among the Special Vehicles, with only 15 out of 31 surviving.
Rundle and Mohr were hoping to follow up their successive second place finishes in the opening two rounds of the championship with a maiden win, but they were forced into survival mode after problems with the Nissan’s ‘fly by wire’ throttle in Friday’s 72-km prologue saw them finish 19th among the production vehicles in the time trial that determines the start order for Saturday’s race.
“We were having a good run in the prologue and had experienced no problems at all when we arrived at a river crossing about 5 km from the finish with no throttle,” reported Rundle. “It took us around 45 minutes to discover that some wires on the throttle body had pulled out. As soon as I pushed them back in we were on our way.
“Unfortunately for us this meant we had the worst possible start position for the race – in the mass start at the back of the field and in overall 50th place among the combined field of production and special vehicles. We were the 19th production vehicle and had 31 specials ahead of us.”
The pair pushed hard on the first of the four loops that made up Saturday’s race and by the time they reached the compulsory service stop in Dundee at the halfway stage they had battled their way into ninth place. On loop three the alternator stopped charging and they were forced to make an unscheduled stop at the end of the loop in Dundee, where their service crew fitted a new battery.
“We struggled on the final loop and were very relieved to make it to the finish,” said Rundle. “Under the circumstances we are delighted to have scored 11 valuable points and retain our lead in the championship.”
After three rounds Rundle and Mohr have amassed a total of 49 points and are two points ahead of Michael Whitehouse and Mathew Carlson in another ex-factory Nissan Navara. Former champions Duncan Vos and Rob Howie, who won Saturday’s race, are third with 30 points in a factory Toyota Hilux.
The next round of the championship is the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana on June 24, 25 and 26.
STORY COURTESY OF PETER BURROUGHES COMMUNICATIONS
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