Bridgestone 4×4 Club Challenge 2014 Episode 5: 4×4 Community

Bridgestone 4×4 Club Challenge 2014 Episode 5: 4×4 Community

They came from Gauteng, from North West, from the Free State, and even from the fairest Cape.

Some had lots of locking bits, fancy mud terrain tyres, and more spotlights than Pollsmoor prison. Others were virtually in the same nick as the day they rolled off the production line. Some were brand new, and others had a few hundred thousand clicks under the belt, proudly boasting some old off-road scars.

However, the crews of this mixed bagged of 40 four-wheel drive vehicles shared one common goal: To conquer 10 tough obstacles at the Heidelberg 4×4 Trail, and to have plenty of fun doing it in a responsible manner.

This was round five of the 2014 Bridgestone 4×4 Club Challenge, hosted by the on-line based 4×4 Community Forum at the tough Heidelberg 4×4 trail

The track was the handiwork of one Sakkie Coetzee, a legendary stalwart of the Isuzu Off-Road Club as well as the community forum. So Sakkie set about creating a really tough course that even had some marshals whisper the words “roll-over” before the event got underway proper.

After a hearty breakfast the field of 40 teams tackled the track just after 8am, starting from three loops. The first loop was a mountain track, and here the teams had to deftly manoeuvre their way through and over some tough, rocky tracks. The organisers decided to add another twist to this loop… the teams had to complete small tasks while they were driving the obstacles, like make a drawing of sorts, and identify – without prior warning – man-made obstacles in the obstacle after they had completed it.

But even though the rocks were big and the challenges tough, most teams did really well here. The next loop proved to be reasonably easy going for most teams too. Here the teams had to negotiate three obstacles down hills and up dales, over rocks and through ditches and mud, lined with narrow ‘gates’. So it was a technical test that required a steady approach.

The 4×4 Community’s men and ladies again demonstrated their skill on this loop as they completed the obstacles with nary a problem.

The last loop proved to be the real tester. Here Sakkie had constructed three very difficult tests. The first was a descent, followed by an extremely tricky turn over a rather large hump, and a slippery climb up another axle twister, with those white poles on guard. Vehicles without differential lockers had a tough time here if the crews did not use the correct line and sufficient momentum to scale that last climb.

Obstacle nine looked really easy on the eye. But a slippery climb, combined with another hump and a tight turn saw experienced crews in vehicles without lockers succumb to the challenge. Former event winners Flip Kotze and Herman Steyn (Suzuki Jimny) had to be recovered by the marshal team at this obstacle – and this top team eventually finished in 30th position after a tough day in the 4×4 office.

But the Mother of All Obstacles proved to be the last one, Obstacle 10 was a seemingly simple climb up and over a heavily rutted ditch with rocks. In normal conditions the correct line would see most 4x4s easily scamper up this climb. In the Bridgestone Club Challenge though, it’s never that easy.

The ‘gates’ through which the teams had to drive had been placed in all the places you wouldn’t normally drive. Especially the 4x4s with no lockers had their work cut out here! But again the 4×4 Community Forum members showed that they certainly have the right stuff – and all the teams eventually completed this obstacle, albeit with wheels lifting all over the show!

Which brings us to the results, and we kick this off with the environmental prize. For this event the cunning organisers had planted a ‘home-made’ snare next to the track. And it was the Jeep Wrangler crew of Werner and Arno Schaap who discovered the snare, removed it, and handed it in to organisers, bagging the team a R2000 reward from Bridgestone.

With the top three driving teams advancing to the Club Challenge final in November, there was a lot at stake for the 40 teams. In third position was defending Bridgestone Club Challenge champion, Danny Daniels, partnered in this event by Theuns Kortenhoeven in the Jeep Grand Cherokee. This team scored a very commendable 920 points and won an Opposite Lock snatch kit.

In second place were Corne van der Merwe and Freddie Siebert, in a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, just five points clear of the Grand Cherokee with 925 points. The Rubi team won a set of Opposite Lock spotlights.

The overall honours on the day belonged to father-and-son team Werner and Arno Schaap, who recorded a brilliant 950 points on the day. This Jeep Wrangler Rubicon team bagged a R10 000 tyre voucher from Bridgestone SA, and is an early favourite for the finals in November, where a Conqueror off-road trailer to the value of R50 000 will be up for grabs.

More information: www.bridgestone.co.za