THE 2024 motorsport calendar ended on a high note when the last event of the season took place at Walvis Bay, featuring the sixth leg of the annual 4×4 Vasbyt.
It can be described as one of the better ones for the 2024 season, Theuns van Zyl from the 4×4 Weskus Vasbyt Club at Walvis Bay says.
“What made this event stand out, was that the regular participants from South Africa rocked up again and showed their skills with their customised Vasbyt vehicles,” he says.
This included crowd-puller Isak Maritz, whose vehicle has the specs and skills to overcome almost any obstacle.
“It is always a pleasure seeing these guys coming from South Africa taking part on local soil,” Van Zyl says.
He says the South Africans indicated interest in events like those at Mariental later this year.
Though these participants are in a different league, they always bring some challenges to the tracks, Van Zyl says.
He, however, lauds the local Vasbyt team as extremely committed to the sport.
This year’s championships will comprise five legs only, unlike the previous years’ six legs, he says.
Some participants have complained that six events put too much strain on their already stretched resources.
Van Zyl says riders are improving each year.
The results are as follows:
Class C: First place: Floris senior and junior Steenkamp, followed by Rico Bothma and Jossie Maritz, with Morne Oosthuizen and Richard Owen in third place.
The D class belonged to Dolf Bothma and Nico Maritz from Mariental, followed by Evan Mans and Chantrice Harper with Nico and Herman Theron in third place.
A total of 20 teams took part last year, of which 17 entrants were Namibian and three were from South Africa.
The first event is slated to take place at Otjiwarongo on 8 March, followed by events at Walvis Bay, Mariental and Otjiwarongo later this year.
The Namib Desert 4×4 club will host only two events, while Trax and Trials will host three.
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