Toyota SA went back to its roots returning as the main sponsor of the 4×4 club in South Africa at this year’s Fun Day in the Atlantis Dunes near Cape Town on 1 October.
The weather played along perfectly, starting cool and finishing warm, but not boiling. This event saw entries of over 70 vehicles taking part in eight special stages testing both driver and navigator abilities.
The venue has become very popular for off-road vehicles from motorcycles to quads to the 4×4 SUVs, as well as, some seriously modified vehicles.
Some of the navigator’s duties were to recall as many as 10 items in a hastily seen box, thread nuts onto bolts in a box and tie knots in a length of rope, all while the vehicles were bouncing around on the sand trying to find some grip. Most of the events had a time limit of 2 minutes and 30 seconds, although one cause had to be completed in exactly one and a half minutes with penalties for being early or late.
Some interesting names were given to the stages such as Skaapsteker, Cape Cobra, Bosbok, Loop the loop, Up and over, Dune charge and the garage. The steepness and softness of the dunes prevented many competitors from completing all the stages, but everyone tried their best until their times expired.
On top of this, the sand was super fine making it a mission to even walk up a dune to take pictures. Most of the competitors were driving 2.8 GD Toyota Fortuners and Hilux double cabs. The majority of the vehicles were understandably Toyota’s but there was the usual mix of an odd Land Rover Discovery, Defender, Jeeps, Nissan and, of course, Suzuki Jimnys. Even an elderly Jeep Wagoneer from the 1960s!
Toyota has a special treat for the winner of the event who is invited to join the Toyota team at the next Rust de Winter event which is a full-blown rock crawling test. The same goes for the winner of Rust de Winter, who joins the Atlantis dunes competition. Take a look at what competitors can expect:
Pictures: Car Magazine
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