Coopertyres Dust Series 2018

[Flipside]

Well this was the Gauteng leg of the series in particular.
The Dust Series started in 2016 in the Western Cape and has been expanding to the other Provinces and then obtained sponsorship from Cooper Tyres in 2017 if I understand the history correctly.

Well, a week ago we attended the first of the three 2018 legs in Gauteng on the 2nd of June.

I might have some facts convoluted, but please hold onto your hat, we will straighten this out as we go.

There are three legs per region. I am still working out how many regions are part of the 2018 series.
In any case, the top three scorers in each event (or the next placed participant, if a top scorer already has such a title from a previous event) will be promoted to the Finals which are a National event. The aim is to have 9 or 10 entries per region in the final.

In 2017 the final was held in the Tankwa Karoo. This year, the options for the event are still under wraps.

Anyway, I digress.
We attended the event at Kungwini 4x4 which is a 4x4 venue between Bronkhorstspruit (now Kungwini) and the Bronkhorstspruit Dam.

It was Leeu Koud as we arrived at 06:30 on Saturday morning for a welcome with some coffee and rusks and then every ody gathered for the drivers briefing.

The event was arranged on behalf of the Coopertyres Dust Series by Ashley Chauvet of Chaos Customs. His right hand man and chief marshal was Neppie Nepgen who was one of the final round competitors in 2017.
More to follow.






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[Flipside]

The event was very short notice advertised on Facebook about two and a half weeks before the day and I was made aware of it by a friend who asked me to join him for the day for a fun outing.

And so it started. We submitted our forms and payment confirmation and received the arrangements for the weekend the Thursday morning. This included directions, our info packs and our entry numbers.

My regular navi, Herman, was on light duty following a shoulder op, so I had to use a substitute. Bradley stepped up, eager to experience this thing called 4x4.

The day was to be spread over four different sub events.
After the customary scrutineering, the day started
The first was a basic obstacle course to check if all the entries would be able to attempt the rest of the day.

It seems that all 8 of the entries passed this part of the day and were allowed to continue to the next part.


There were eight entries, and these ranged from a Jimny to a FJ Cruiser and even a custom built CJ2 powered by a Lexus V8 fitted with Patrol diffs. A real monster.

And that is the kicker of the series. It is open class. Any road worthy vehicle is welcome and all compete on equal foot.

The next event was an App driven route drive, similar to Geocaching, but the App on a smartphone controlled/ guided you from waypoint to waypoint. At each waypoint were instructions to follow or tasks to execute. This event took us through the beautiful eco route at Kungwini. There was some game, but mostly beautiful views of the Winter Highveld.

You could only progress to the next waypoint after finding the one waypoint and completing the instructions. Then the previous point disappears and only the next one is available.
This led to some interesting navigation and routes being followed as people got lost or missed their way points.

We managed to find all of the waypoints and returned to the starting point.
Teams left in 10minute intervals, but arrived back in very different intervals.

When everyone was back at base, we were treated to a nice Boerie roll lunch with cold drinks.

After lunch it was time for the serious obstacle event of the day.
No narrow gates. The gates only indicated the start or end of an obstacle and demarcated dangerous no-go areas like dongas or steep / deep edges.

The obstacles were chosen to allow different vehicles different advantages or disadvantages to make up or lose points. And lose they did.

You had to find the best route for your vehicle through the obstacle. This soon turned into a serious challenge with everyone cheering each other on and celebrating the completion of each obstacle by a competitor.

There were a number of “must do” obstacles set up and also a couple of bonus obstacles. The bonus obstacles were not compulsory but could earn you extra points. An opportunity a couple of teams tried to benefit from.

Not completing an obstacle, cost you points though, so it was a double edged sword.

The last of the series of obstacles was again a drive with a twist. The Navigator was given a task to complete, while the driver had to drive a track of extreme obstacles. Some very steep climbs and some off camber hills and descents. There was even a muddy water obstacle in between the rest, which few vehicles managed to conquer.

All day long, the marshals were observing the participating teams and scoring their progress.






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[Flipside]

When all the teams had completed the day, we had a nervous chat to the rest of the teams while the scores were tallied and finalised.

We had a few recoveries during the days events, a damaged rear door on a Disco2 that got too intimate with a tree, a CJ2 that leaned on his Roll Cage when a climb got too steep, and a Hilux that battled with some clearance on more radical obstacles.

All in all a very enjoyable day that tested a variety of skills and especially tested your knowledge of your vehicle and the abilities of both vehicle and driver.

The final results on the day:
3rd place after a tiebreaker: Jeep Rubicon JKU
2nd place: Mitsubishi Pajero SWB (Blister fender)
1st place: Suzuki Jimny.

My take on the event.
I think the event can grow tremendously, it has the makings of a fun and cameraderie building series that will grow the sport and the opportunities to get to new and previously unexplored places.

There are quite a few additional pictures here:
https://www.facebook.com/tiane.kotze.1/ ... 4364841848

I will keep an eye out for the next event’s announcement and post it here.



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[Anthony Forgey]

Nice write up Flip

[Woolf]

Presume it was your Jimny that came 1st

[BushWacker]

Yes, thanks Flip, for good coverage of an event
that should surely draw far bigger participation ...

I’ve include a link to their web page below ...

Kungwini is a good venue for a membership
like ours :
well laid out and maintained
several circuits of varying difficulty
well marked and sign-posted
good camping and facilities.
etc etc

There is a ‘land-lord’ who lives completely alone
and isolated onsite there in a small tent set-up ...
just a small dog to keep him company ...
the porcupines, genets etc even creep into the tent
and eat its food at night !

Dust Series...
http://dustmedia.co.za/category/events/ ... es-events/

Kungwini Trails...
http://www.4x4kungwini.co.za/

[Flipside]

Presume it was your Jimny that came 1st

Yes it was



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[Woolf]

Well done.

[AndreasR]

Very nice write up of this event. Seems an enjoyable day out.

[Mad Manny]

Thanks Flip. Appreciated...

[Mad Manny]

Only Eight entries - clearly their marketing is kak!

[Outlaw Shaun]

Mooi gedoen oom .
Wys jou net , flip is awesome

[Flipside]

The official results were published today.


https://www.facebook.com/10000530367693 ... 899468891/

[Martin de Jager]

baie geluk Flip, het dit sterk oorweeg, maar is besig om my trailer te bou,

[Flipside]

Ok, all you webwheelers,
Time to go have some fun...
The next Gauteng event is announced.

https://www.facebook.com/10000530367693 ... 522586495/