DULLSTROOM, South Africa – Red-Lined Motorsport's 2019 South African Cross Country Series (SACCS) adventure kicked off to a brilliant start with an overall podium and a full house of finishes for its four privateer Nissan Navaras at the Mpumalanga 400 around Dullstroom. The Red-Lined team, which concentrates more on the adventure than the prize, was delighted with a result headlined by Cross Country racing rookies Ernest Roberts and Riaan Greyling putting their JCP Roofing Navara onto the FIA class podium.
Red-Lined Motoring Adventure is an official marketing partner with Nissan South Africa. The company focuses on building custom off-road race cars and trucks that are marketed and sold around the world. The 2019 SACCS Nissan entries are purpose-built T1 Dakar Navaras powered by a VK50 engine.
"Today was our first-ever South African national cross country race together, and we could not have wished for a better result," said Roberts. "Third behind Dakar legend de Villiers and the other factory Toyota is a dream result. We have invested so much into this and have put our heads down to learn as quickly as we can, so I think we caused a bit of a stir today. I had a huge asset in the highly experienced Riaan sitting next to me for the first time today — he helped us to a faultless run with no punctures or car issues. This really was a perfect start."
Red Lined Motoring Adventure's set up at the start of Mpumalanda 400
Former rally driver Schalk Burger and champion navigator Elvine Vonk were also pleased to finish their cross country run with Red-Lined in the King Price Extreme Navara.
"What a fantastic start," said Burger. "We had a few issues, including a puncture on each loop, and I need to stop boiling the brakes. That sort of 25km rally stage abuse is not so good on these two-and-a-half hour runs. But to finish is a major milestone and all part of the learning curve. We can't wait for more."
It was a similar baptism of fire for the other Red-Lined former rally crew as Namibian duo Jaco van Dyk and Michael Rust likewise impressed with a debut Cross Country finish in the 24-7 Race Fuels Navara.
"We are still trying to understand the pace of cross country, and we pushed too hard and punctured five times," said van Dyk. "It was a tough and technical race with varied terrain from forests to fast open fields, mud and rocks, so we learned so much and are delighted with a debut finish."
Dullstroom was a different challenge for team principal Terence Marsh and Andre Vermeulen, whose brand new latest-specification Red-Lined Navara was only finished the day before the race, but came home a fine 12th overall in spite of starting at the back following some expected new car niggles on the prologue.
"We are beyond happy — that was a great debut for a day-old car," said Marsh. "We had a gear lever issue in the prologue and started last on Saturday, but most important is that this was purely a development exercise for the new car, so to get five hours of racing out of it is exactly what we wanted. We're also delighted with four finishes for the team out of four starts including two debuting teams, a personal best result and one brand new car home out of four starts in a great start to the season for our Red-Lined Navaras. We can't ask for more than that. May the adventures continue."
Contact
Karen Van Wyk
Red-Lined Motoring Adventure Marketing
karen@redlined.co.za
For more information about Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.'s products, services and our commitment to sustainable mobility, visit Nissan-Global.com. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn, and view our latest videos on YouTube.
