Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer of Team Ford Racing steered their SP Ford Ranger to third place on the Limpopo 400 round six of the 2008 Absa Off Road Championship.
“With only 15 production vehicles completing the race, it highlights how gruelling the event was for everyone. The route was extremely rough, the attrition rate high with some crews sustaining injuries,” explained Woolridge.
Woolridge and Skjoldhammer furthered their championship aspirations by finishing ahead of current log leaders Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford.
“Given the difficult circumstances and challenging route, we’re very happy with third place. The points have not yet been verified by MSA but by all accounts we should now be just four points behind the championship leaders with only two rounds remaining.”
In a further illustration of the Ford Rangers strength and reliability Mark Ferguson and Craig West piloted their SP Ford Ranger to another finish, as did the privateers, Kobus van Tonder and Riaan Guelpa in their Ford Ranger SP.
“Given the demanding conditions we were happy to have made it to the finish with no major drama. The SP Ford Ranger’s have proved to be very tough and reliable throughout the 2008 season with Neil holding a 100% finishing rate,” said Ferguson.
Reigning Class E Champions Jack Peckham and Lucio Santoro competing in the Class E Ford Ranger drove a determined race but eventually retired with a broken clutch.
“It’s been a difficult season but we will continue to work on getting the truck just right and hopefully we’ll enjoy a strong finish in the closing rounds of the season,” said Peckham.
“The prestigious SP championship fight is poised on a knife edge at the moment,” continues Woolridge. “We’ve had a fantastic season thus far with excellent reliability and some strong results. We’ll be looking to continue with our current momentum in the last two rounds and hopefully bring the championship title back to Ford Motor Company.”
The penultimate round of the ABSA Off-Road Championship will be run in the Lydenburg area on the weekend of the 10th, 11th October.
Team Ford Racing recognises the following sponsors for their commitment and belief in the team: Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa, Time Freight, Special Steels, Ferguson Investments, Hugo’s Panel Shop – Pietermaritzburg, Eibach Springs, Sign Solutions and Donerre Dampers.
