TOYOTA OH SO CLOSE AT BOTSWANA 1000 DESERT RACE

The Toyota 1000 Desert Race, which ended near Gaborone this afternoon after three days and nearly 1 000 km of off road racing, once again lived up to its reputation for being the toughest round of the eight-race Absa South African Off Road Championship.  And, as always, there was drama aplenty and joy for some, heartache for others.

For the Castrol and Innovation Group-backed factory Toyota team it was a case of so near and yet so far.  Anthony Taylor and Chris Birkin brought their Castrol Team Toyota Hilux Double Cab home in second place, 8 min 29 sec behind the factory Ford Ranger of defending champions Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst.

Team-mates Duncan Vos and Rob Howie were eighth in the second Castrol Toyota Hilux, 1 hour 21 min 49 sec behind the winners. 

Those are the bare facts, but, as is often the case in off road racing, there was a lot more to it than that.

Taylor and Birkin dominated the event for all but 17 km of the almost 1 000-km route.  They won Friday’s 60-km prologue (that determines the start order for the race proper), led at the end of Saturday’s two 245-km loops (despite a slow roll after being upended by the root of a tree and losing about three minutes while their team-mates helped them back on their wheels) and were looking at an historic Toyota victory on the 30th anniversary of Toyota’s sponsorship of the race.

Taylor explains:  “As the finish got nearer we were starting to believe that we might make up for the disappointment of losing last year’s race while leading.  Then, about 40 km out, we lost rear-wheel drive and soon after also drive to the right front wheel.  When we arrived at a tricky dry river crossing with a very steep entry and exit, we knew we were in trouble.  We tried to power our way through, but with one-wheel drive it just didn’t work.”

With the stricken Toyota stuck in the middle of the sandy river bed, its crew feverishly worked at replacing the broken front drive shaft while a sympathetic crowd of hundreds of enthusiastic Motswanans shouted encouragement.  

Just 18 minutes after they had arrived at the river crossing they finally powered their way out of the obstacle, but not before their closest rival had passed them.  It was a disappointing short ride in two-wheel drive to the finish, but a great achievement nonetheless to finish second after all their problems.

Vos, three times a previous winner of this event, started the final day in 10th place after experiencing fuel pressure problems on Saturday while leading Taylor after his team-mate’s roll.  Despite the best efforts of the Toyota technicians, who worked late into Saturday night, the problem reoccurred on Sunday’s first loop.  Once a new fuel filter was fitted at the compulsory service stop at the halfway mark, Vos experienced no more problems and had a fast and clean run to the finish.

“No off road race is easy, but this one is particularly tough and requires a special combination of preparation, skill and luck,” said Castrol Toyota team principal.  “We came up a bit short on the luck on this occasion.  It appears that the aviation-type bag fuel tank fitted to our cars has been corroded by the unleaded fuel and the resultant debris has been building up and clogged the fuel supply mechanism.  Once we realised this and fitted new filters, the problem went away, but we’re going to have to find a longer term solution before the next event.

“We’ll have to have a good look at Anthony’s car back in the workshop next week to find out why the drive shaft failed.  If the race had been just 17 km shorter we might have had the win we’ve worked so hard to achieve!”

In a strong showing by Toyota on their own event, three privateer Hiluxes joined Taylor/Birkin and Vos/Howie in the top eight.  Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux were third, Malcolm Kock and Johan Burger were fifth and brothers Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn finished sixth.  Their efforts helped Toyota to win the manufacturers’ challenge for the event and consolidate the marque’s lead in the prestigious overall manufacturers’ championship.

STORY BY TOYOTA