The Sun City 400, the 5th round of the Absa Off Road Championship takes place this weekend at the Pilanesberg.

Toyota Motorsport manager, William Hadda had this to say of the event:

“The Sun City 400 is never an easy race”It is tough on the crews and the vehicles but recent results have lifted the confidence of the entire team. We also have a slight lead in the manufacturer’s championship so there is plenty of incentive for the factory crews and privateers to do well.”  read more »

The 2009 Absa Off-road Championship starts in less than a month and we at the MoA Blog are looking forward to observing progress of the very capable Castrol Toyota Team as well as privateers.

The 2009 Castrol Toyota team for 2009 remains the same as last year, with pairings Mark Cronje/Chris Birkin and Anthony Taylor/Robin Houghton. Mark Cronje is in for a busy season as he also races on the Rally Championship in a S2000 Toyota Auris.

This year's season kicks off with the Adenco 400, previously known as the Western Cape 400. Adenco Construction is an electrical company based in the Cape. They are first-time sponsors in the Absa Off-Road Championship.  read more »

Toyota scored two class wins and a string of other encouraging results on the Adenco 400, the opening round of the Absa Off Road Championship, in Darling in the Western Cape two weekends ago.

The class wins went to Cliff and Louis Weichelt (N1 4x4 Toyota Hilux D4D) in Class D and Deon Venter and Ian Palmer (4x4 Megaworld Toyota Hilux) who took the Class E honours. Toyota crews also finished second and third in Classes D and E respectively.  read more »

Round four of the Absa Off Road Championship, Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race, took place over the weekend.

Toyota achieved the following:

• two vehicles in the top five
• won the Manufacturers award
• and, a class win.

For the second year in a row Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin, in a factory Castrol Toyota Hilux, were in a position to win before having to settle for second place overall and in the Super Production Class.  read more »

Round 5 of the Absa Off Road Championship, the Sun City 400, happened this past weekend carrying along with it a bit of drama for the Toyota teams.

Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn came out third overall in what turned out to be quite a challenging race. They finished with a flat front tyre.  read more »

The Toyota team experienced quite a bit of drama at this past weekend's Limpopo 400, the 6th round in the Absa Off Road Championship.

Mark Cronje/Chris Birkin and Anthony Taylor/Robin Houghton, both factory Castrol Toyota Hilux entries, had numerous mechanical problems during the race. Cronje/Birkin ultimately took fourth place after their shock absorber broke 30 km from the finish line.  read more »

Toyota took the South African Manufacturer's Championship at the RFS Magalies 400, this past weekend at Tarlton International Raceway. This marked the final event of the Absa Off Road Championship this year.

Duncan Vos/Robert Pitchford of the Nissan Navara team ultimately won the South African Production Car championship on a count out.  read more »