March 16, 2010 – Pretoria – Round 1 of the ABSA National Off Road Championship, the Adenco 400 will run in the Western Cape on March 19th and 20th , and will again have a family flavour with schools in the Darling area set to benefit financially from the event.
Ford Racing’s Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer will sadly sit out the opening round as a result of unforeseen delays in sourcing parts from overseas as well as a lack of testing opportunities. The Ford Racing pair of Lance Woolridge (18) and Ward Huxtable, DP of the Pietermaritzburg Ford Dealership will also miss the opening event.
“It is with huge regret that we are forced to sit this round out. We have been planning and working towards a strong start, but with limited testing time, a decision was made to rather miss this round and be ready for round two in Mpumalanga,” explains Woolridge.
The Ford challenge will however be bolstered by the consistent Kobus van Tonder and son in-law Freddie Kriel in the Uni Freight Ford Ranger, the pair will compete in the always competitive SP Class.
Etienne Bezuidenhout and Hanro Visser in an Adenco Ford Ranger will also fly the flag for the Blue Oval. Bezuidenhout is the reigning Class B co-driver’s champion and switches from navigating to driving this season.
With Louw de Bruyn and Riaan Greyling moving into the SP Class, the Ruwacon Ford Ranger will be taken over by Gerald le Roux and Willem Pretorius with the Pretoria Motor Club pair an unknown quantity.
The Western Cape based event is sure to attract a number of enthusiastic fans thanks to a spectator friendly route. There are a number of viewing points within easy reach of the Darling Club, access to these areas and to the start/finish area is free.
“We are in an extremely frustrating position however we are pleased to have a number of talented and committed privateers running Ford Rangers this season and we are confident that they will fly the Ford flag high on the Darling event. We would like to encourage all the Ford supporters in the Western Cape to attend and cheer on the Ford teams participating at the season opener,” concludes Woolridge.
