It was a really tough weekend for the crews participating in the Toyota Dealer 400 this past weekend in Mpumalanga. The highest placed Toyota team was Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst, with a podium third position. Visser and Badenhorst were very competitive the entire weekend, and they set the second fastest time in the Friday prologue to determine the start positions. They did suffer problems in the second of two loops that made up the race. However, their result was good despite the loss of power-steering.

“It was tough going over the last stretch,” Visser said, “but it was a good result for us.”

The standard factory Toyota Hilux entry of Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin came home fourth but also ran into problems in the second loop. A mystery electrical fault saw them lose quite a bit of time. “We were looking good for a podium place when the engine would suddenly cut out,” said Cronje. “It was very frustrating and Lady Luck has had it in for us this season.”

Anthony Taylor and Robin Houghton was out of the running early on the first loop after hitting a submerged rock. Severe damage to the front suspension took its toll and they were forced to leave the race.

Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn fought back to finish sixth in the SP Class after an unhappy prologue saw them start from the back of the field.

The list of misfortunes continues, however some good news is that down in Class E another solid performance saw the experienced Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux, in the Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux, virtually make sure of the championship. They took a comfortable second in class with a broken control arm shortly before the end of the first loop of the race their only problem.

If you're looking for more offroad action, check out the Toyota Dealer Rally this weekend.