It was a family affair when former South African champion Karl-Heinz Sullwald and son Quintin won the Special Vehicle category on the Eastern Cape 500, round two of the Absa Off-Road Championship, which ended in Port Elizabeth.

The Sullwald?s, in a Sullwald Racing Zarco, ground down the opposition to finish around three minutes ahead of former SA champion Terence Marsh and Pieter Groenewald in the Regent Racing BAT. KwaZulu-Natal crew Glen Gibson and Gary Campbell, in the Absolute BAT, were a further minute off the pace in third place. Marsh and Groenewald won the opening event of the season, the Nissan Dealer 400, and take an early lead in the overall and Class A championship. The father and son combination of Nick and Ryan Harper, in the Atlas Copco BAT, trailed in a further 15 minutes behind Gibson and Campbell with Hermann Sullwald and Paul Helberg rounding out the top five. The Friday prologue to determine start positions for the race were dominated by Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen in the Atlas Copco Porter. They finally dropped out with a broken axle and the Sullwald?s continued to make steady progress. The Sullwald?s, who last year won the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana, Marsh/Groenewald and Gibson/Campbell did not produce any heroics on a route that was tight and highly technical. It was not a day for heroics and late afternoon rain in the Longmore Forest region made conditions all the more tricky. ?It was a great race for us,? said a delighted Sullwald senior. ?Quintin did a fantastic job under trying conditions and it was a tough day.? On a good day for the Sullwald family Herman Sullwald and Paul Helberg, in a second Sullwald Racing Zarco, finished fifth. They edged out, by nine seconds, KwaZulu-Natal pair Don Thompson and Don Blakey in a Zarco who had an eventful weekend. Thompson and Blakey also won the recently introduced Class P ? after starting from the back of the field. The pair were involved in a road accident in the Transkei on their way to the race, and missed the Friday prologue to determine start positions. In working their way through the Special Vehicle field they were helped by a number of retirements. David White and Bodo Bertholdt (Ruwacon BAT), the early Class P leaders, were late casualties. Other Class P casualties included reigning Class S champions Richard Schilling and Chris Davies (Aceco RS), Nic Goslar/Richard Carolin (Mens Health Clinic Raceco) and Johan and Etienne Bezuidenhout in the Adenco BAT. Class A flyers Shameer Variawa and Siegfried Rousseau (Total Porter) and Class B winners Louw de Bruin and Rudi Britz (Ruwacon) were two crews, in higher classes, to finish behind Thompson/Blakey. De Bruin and Britz took Class B ahead of reigning champion Jan Kraaij and Tiddo Voogt in the Keymax BAT. Thompson and Blakey were eventually the only finishers in the newly introduced Class P. Veteran Giel Nel and Deon de Kock (LUK Africa Zarco Truggy) were third in Class B to continue their good start to the season.