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PRETORIA, South Africa – Round 6 of the 2014 Bridgestone 4x4 Club Challenge took place at Rhino Park, east of Pretoria, earlier in July 2014
About 30 crews lined up for the McCarthy 4x4 Club's event as they contended with tough 4x4 obstacles, the stopwatch and a "target time"
Bridgestone says only one team would score full marks on the initial test of steep gradients and slippery turns, but most teams had scored some points. The second obstacle proved more challenging where mud and narrow gates saw most teams score no points at all. The same happened in the third obstacle, and teams were glad to get out of the mud into obstacle four, the Rhino Park’s famous sand pit.
TOUGH CHALLENGES
The tyremaker said: “”The last two obstacles of the day were set in Rhino Park’s infamous 'Die Walle'. This quarry features some hair-raising climbs, mud and axle twisters, but at least most of the teams bagged some valuable points.
“All that was left was to navigate themselves back to the clubhouse where each team’s arrival time was recorded. This was then used to calculate an overall time for each team – and compared to the 'target time', set by the organisers.”
Shaun Niemand and Dominique Cholewka in a Jeep Wrangler bagged the environmental R2000 prize. The team had spotted some strategically placed litter and collected it.
In third position overall – and the first of three teams to qualify for the Club Challenge Final in November – were Henry Barns and Bert van der Merwe in a Suzuki Jimny. Their efforts also saw them make off with an Opposite Lock snatch rope recovery kit.
WINNING TEAM
Second went to Heinz and Blanche Kusel in a beautiful Range Rover Classic V8. The team also qualified for the final, and won a set of Opposite Lock spotlights.
The winning team was Niemand/Cholewka, who added to their environmental prize by taking top honours for the day. The team also won a R10 000 tyre voucher from Bridgestone South Africa.
An 11-part television series, documenting each club event, will be screened later this year on DStv’s Ignition channel. The next event will be hosted by the Lichtenburg 4x4 Club on August 23.
