The Sasol Nissan factory team got back to winning ways when Duncan Vos and Ralph Pitchford cruised to victory in the Production Vehicle category on the Nissan Sugarbelt 400, round three of the Absa Off-Road Championship.

Vos and Pitchford, in a Sasol Nissan Navara, produced a commanding performance to finish five minutes and 59 seconds ahead of the Ford Racing Ranger pair of Neil Woolridge and Kenny Skjoldhammer. Third were Eastern Cape 500 winners Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin, in a Castrol Toyota Hilux, with the pair, who won the Friday prologue to determined grid positions, trailing in one minute and 29 seconds behind the Ford.

Two other Toyota crews rounded out the top five overall and the Super Production Class. Fourth were Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn (Micaren Exel Toyota Hilux) with Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst fifth in a Castrol Toyota Hilux.

"Duncan drove a fantastic race," said Pitchford who was back in the vehicle with Vos, the reigning South African drivers champion, after missing the last event because of an overseas commitment. "You had to concentrate every centimetre of the way.

"It was a tough, tough race but Duncan was terrific and the car was just as good."

Vos and Pitchford took control soon after the start when Cronje and Birkin picked up a puncture 10 kilometres into the route. The Toyota crew were then hampered by a fuel starvation problem ? which cured itself ? but were playing catch up for the rest of the race.

Steadiness personified

Local hero Woolridge and Skjoldhammer were again steadiness personified with their third podium finish of the season. Over the last loop Woolridge/Skjoldhammer were under intense pressure from Cronje/Birkin but were always in control of the situation.

Solid performances saw Kobus van Tonder/Riaan Guelpa (Unifreight Ford Ranger) and Mark Ferguson/Craig West (Ford Racing Ranger) finish sixth and seventh. Ivar Tollefsen and Francois Jordaan (Sasol Nissan Navara) were handily placed when they rolled and dropped back.

They eventually finished eighth ahead of circuit star Anthony Taylor and Robin Houghton in the second Castrol Toyota Hilux. Taylor/Houghton managed to twice roll the Hilux but persevered to make it to the finish and pick up points.

Early disaster

There was early disaster for the third Sasol Nissan Navara in the hands of former SA champion Hannes Grobler and Juan Mohr. They hit a rock 10 kilometres into the race and broke a ball joint.

That put them out of the running but in true Grobler fashion he refused to throw in the towel. The pair made running repairs, limped into the designated service area where the damage was repaired and they finally made it to the finish ? albeit around three hours behind the frontrunners.

The other major casualty was another local hero in Alfie Cox. The off road legend and Hennie ter Stege were forced to retire when their Motorite Ford Ranger picked up major suspension damage.

There was a high rate of attrition in Class D with the likes of the Zermatten brothers, Henri and Maurice, in the Ryobi Nissan Hardbody and Cliff Weichelt/Jimmy Goch ( N1 4x4 Toyota Hilux D4D) falling by the wayside. Coetzee Labuscagne and Johan Gerber (Raysonics Nissan Hardbody) kept plugging away to score their second win of the season ahead of Chris du Plooy and Henk van Vuuren in the RFS Toyota Hilux.

Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (Team Barberspan Toyota Hilux) also scored their second win of the season in Class E. They came home ahead of Ford Racing Ranger crew Jack Peckham and Lucio Santoro, with the Megaworld 4x4 Toyota Hilux driven by Deon Venter and Ian Palmer third for their best result so far this season.