Superteam Western Cape summary

Disappointing Nissan Dealer 400 For Kopanong Hotel Superteam

The Kopanong Hotel Superteam had a disappointing outing on the recent Nissan Dealer 400, the opening round of the Absa Off Road Championship with only one of its three cars making it to the finish to pick up the Class S win.

Reigning Class S champion Nic Goslar with one-off co-driver, Graydon Ilderton, was again a model of consistency and was the only Class S finisher in an event that saw his rivals fall by the wayside one by one with broken gearboxes, blown clutches and destroyed engines.

Much was expected of 2003 Toyota 1000 Desert Race winners John Weir-Smith and Geoff Minnitt in the totally rebuilt Kopanong Hotel Superteam Jimco but their challenge got off to a bad start in the Prologue when a puncture cost them time.

Weir-Smith and Minnitt started 29th in the main event and set about systematically carving their way through the field into sixth place in the Special Vehicle category but then disaster struck. The BMW 540 V8 engine started losing oil pressure and upon further inspection it was found that an engine oil seal was leaking. The pair decided to limp back to the pits, stopping often to top up the oil, and retired at the end of lap one to avoid damaging the engine.

Overheating problems, which Superteam technicians believed they had overcome but, again plagued the Class F Chevrolet, crewed by Andre Botha and Beans Heydenrych who only managed to complete 4km before the V8 engine gave up the ghost.

"We're delighted that Nic and Graydon won Class S but it was a disappointing outing for the rest of us," said Andre Botha. "In the case of the Jimco it was an inexpensive oil seal that let John and Geoff down but in Beans' and my case it was a rather expensive exercise and it we'll have to look at other ways of solving the overheating problem before the next event."

-msa-