With the 2008 ABSA Off Road championship reaching fever pitch, Team Ford Racing are looking forward to the upcoming Sun City 400 event. SP Ford Ranger pilots Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer are currently second in the production vehicle championship fight and are hoping to close the gap on the leading crew with a strong result on the Sun City event.
Woolridge and Skjoldhammer have always been fond of the Sun City event and are therefore confident of their chances ahead of the race, which is set to get underway on 25 July.
“Last year we managed a second place finish on this event, so hopefully this year we’ll be able to go one better and challenge for victory,” says Woolridge. “At the moment I am lying second in the championship log while Kenny is actually leading the navigator’s championship.”
With the title fight so closely poised the Ford Team will be more determined than ever to challenge for victory. The fact that the event is one of the closest to the Ford Plant, which is situated East of Pretoria, will act as added motivation for the team.
“We are always well supported by the Ford fans on this event so that certainly ups the stakes for us,” he adds.
Mark Ferguson and Craig West who joined the Ford outfit at the start of the season have been making steady progress in the sister SP Ford Ranger.
“We’re gaining more and more experience with each event and we hope to reflect our progress with some good results,” comments Ferguson. “Our goal is to have a clean run and maybe pick up some points along the way.”
Luck seems to have abandoned reigning Class E Champions Jack Peckham and Lucio Santoro competing in the Class E Ford Ranger. The pair were heavily penalised on the previous outing after having arrived late for a driver’s briefing.
“It was extremely frustrating,” explains Peckham. “We needed a strong result on the previous outing to get back in contention in the championship race but the penalty cost us dearly. We’re still lying second in Class but we have a hefty task ahead of us which means we’ll need to aim for victory at Sun City.”
The Sun City event sees the championship heading into the closing stages with just three rounds to run thereafter. “We’ve been very happy with the whole team’s performance to date,” continues team manager Woolridge. “We’ve made a great deal of progress with the development of the vehicles which is evident in our consistent performances and the overall reliability of the vehicles.”
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.
