Vos wins after count-back

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In what is thought to be the closest title fight in the history of off-road racing in this country, Duncan Vos clinched his second successive South African Production Car championship on Saturday on a count-back from Sasol Nissan Navara team-mate Hannes Grobler.

Vos clinched the title when he and Ralph Pitchford won the Four Wheel Drive Club-organised RFS Magalies 400, the final race on the Absa Off-Road Championship calendar, ahead of Castrol Toyota crew Mark Cronjé and Chris Birkin.

The veteran Grobler and Juan Mohr were third and finished just over two minutes behind Cronjé. It was a result that saw Vos and Grobler finish level on points in both the overall championship and in the premier SP Class. In a count-back the title went to Vos by virtue of four wins to three over the course of the season.

There was compensation for Grobler when his navigator, Juan Mohr, clinched the co-drivers' championship. Pitchford missed two events earlier in the season via overseas commitments and that hurt his championship hopes.

There was tragedy, however, for the factory Ford Racing Ranger pair of Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjöldhammer. The former champions went into the event with a four-point lead in both championships, but a broken rear axle weld saw them run into driveshaft problems and they nursed the Ford home in 19th place overall.

"It was very stressful," said Vos after provisional scoring gave him the championship honours. "We knew we had to finish ahead of Hannes, and winning the Friday prologue to start at the front of the Production Car field was crucial. It was a tricky route where to stray of the racing line was courting disaster."

A steady run saw Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst, in a privateer Castrol Toyota Hilux, come home fourth with George and Sharon Barkhuizen scoring their best result of the season with fifth in the Ruwacon Toyota Hilux.

Brothers Henri and Maurice Zermatten, with the Class D championship already wrapped up, capped a fine season with another class win in the Ryobi Nissan Hardbody. They had around 10 minutes to spare over outgoing drivers' champion Cliff Weichelt and Nico Els in the N1 Toyota Hilux, with Chris du Plooy junior and Henk van Vuuren third in the RFS Toyota Hilux.

With the Class E title already in the bag, veterans Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (Barberspan Toyota Hilux) were quite content to take things easy and strolled to fourth place. The win went to newcomers Diederik and Danie Hattingh in a Toyota Hilux who edged out Malcolm Kock and Wayne Brink, in another Toyota Hilux, and Thomas Rundle and Rob Howie in the Barden Nissan Hardbody.

The Hattingh brothers stopped to help Class D crew Coetzee Labuscagne and Johan Gerber (Raysonics Nissan Hardbody) but still had 10 minutes in hand over Kock and Brink. Labuscagne and Gerber finished fourth in Class D.