Colin-on-Cars - Van der Linde brothers head the fields

South African race fans will be spoilt for choice this weekend with Sheldon van der Linde doing battle in the Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 in the Intercontinental GT3 Challenge in nine hours of frenetic action at Kyalami, while brother, Kelvin, stars in the first electric Grand Prix on African soil on a street course in Cape Town.

Some 33 of the top International and local GT3 and GT4 race car drivers across four iconic motorsport brands will fight for overall and class victory at the Kyalami 9-Hour, the second round of the Intercontinental GT3 Challenge powered by Pirelli this weekend.

Heading the K9H Motorfest support races will be more than 160 entries across seven racing categories which will provide 12 hours of non-stop track action over the three-day event.

Mercedes-AMG, BMW, Audi and Porsche will all be aiming for maximum Manufacturer’s points in this early part of the season – Mercedes-AMG currently leads BMW by 18 points after the first round.

Team WRT will be hunting for their first IGTC victory with the BMW M4 and have sent a second car for Augusto Farfus, Maxime Martin and factory driver Philip Eng to bolster their chances against a strong Mercedes-AMG contingent who were victorious at the opening IGTC race in Bathurst earlier in February.

Heading the Affalterbach quartet is GruppeM Racing’s all-factory line up of Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier and Raffaele Marciello who are highly motivated to stand on the top step of the podium come 10 pm on Saturday.

Engel has won the FIA GT World Cup while Marciello is the current GT World Challenge champion.

Bathurst winners SunEnergy1 can count on the crack team of drivers Kenny Habul and Jules Gounon who will be joined by 33-year-old Swiss Yannick Mettler. Australian Habul is the CEO of SunEnergy1 and won the 2018 Bronze class IGTC Championship while Frenchman Gounon has twice won the Spa 24-Hour.

SPS Automotive Performance will have Luca Stoltz, Irishman Reece Barr and Miguel Ramos in its Mercedes-AMG line-up. Stoltz was the third winner of the Bathurst 12-hour and claimed his first DTM victory in his debut season last year while Ramos is a former Spanish and Italian GT Champion.

Stradale Motorsport needs no introduction to South African motor sport fans and has been nominated to score Manufacturers’ points for Mercedes-AMG. Their driver line-up includes Charl Arangies, - who has won 12 championships in various categories, Arnold Neveling and Mercedes-AMG ambassador Clint Weston who will be watched with great interest from the grandstands.

Audi will have a strong presence with two Tresor Attempto Racing entries for the experienced all-German crew of Markus Winkelhock, Dennis Marschall and Alex Aka in one R8 LMS GT3 and Italian Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Audi works driver Patrick Niederhauser in the second R8 LMS machine.

Marius Jackson, who also needs no introduction to local enthusiasts, has entered a team with the reigning SA Endurance Champion 18-year-old Kwanda Mokoena and Toys-R-Us businessman Mo Mia behind the wheel of a MJR Motorsport Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evo 2.

A lone Porsche entry from Australian-based Grove Racing, driven by the Father and Son pairing of Stephen and Brenton Grove, will be joined by the vastly experienced Porsche factory driver Earl Bamber who has proven his speed at Kyalami in the past and also claimed two overall wins, for Porsche, at the Le Mans 24-Hour in 2015 and 2017.

KYALAMI SUPERCUP

The one-hour race-within-a-race will see three teams take the K9H start and peel into the pits after the first hour.

Heading the entry is the National SA GT AM Champion Sun Moodley in his Bigfoot Express Mercedes-AMG with rival Mikaeel Pitamber in a version of the same car. Pitamber raced in the DTM Trophy last year giving the 18-year-old much-needed experience of GT3 power and aero.

Rounding out the entry is newcomer Joseph Ellerine in his MJR Motorsport-run Audi R8 GT4; the youngster made his GT debut at the end of January, earning a class victory.

K9H qualifying will do away with the previous season’s Pole Shootout and average the three driver’s qualifying times to set the grid. Qualifying takes place on Friday from 15:00 with the K9H starting on Saturday at 13:00.

GTC/SUPACUP

Heading the support races is the opening round of the GTC Championship where Robert Wolk will be aiming for a third back-to-back championship in his InvestChem Toyota Corolla. Backing him up is his teammate Julian van der Watt in an InvestChem-backed Ford Focus ST.

Toyota Gazoo Racing will debut their brand-new Corolla Hatchbacks for veteran racer Michael van Rooyen and last year’s runner-up Saood Variawa joined by team newcomer Nathi Msimanga in a 2022 Corolla sedan.

Andrew Rackstraw debuts his RDSA/Sparco Volkswagen Golf GTi who will face-off against former F1600 rival Josh le Roux’s Chemical Logistics Audi.

In the GTC SupaCup class, Brad Liebenberg (Hype Energy Drink Polo) will take the fight to Volkswagen Motorsport’s Jonathan Mogotsi in a similar Polo GTi.

Damian and Nathan Hammond (Trinity Protection Services Polo) will battle with Calvin and Dominic Dias (Chemi/Liquid Energy Polo), JP Van der Walt’s Platinum Wheels version, Tate Bishop (Angri Polo), Tato Carello (Carello Auto) and Masters driver Stefan Snyders (Telerex Polo).

COMPCARE VOLKSWAGEN POLO CUP

Entering its 27th year, the CompCare Polo Cup is one of the most open championships in the country. Dawie van der Merwe (Nathan’s Motorsport) will square off against Charl Visser’s Universal Motorsport Polo with teen Jagger Robertson (Liqui Moly) also in the hunt for the title.

Hot rod racer Jason Loosemore, Karah Hill (Kalex), Dean Venter (VDN Auto Cars) and Mo Karodia (Fast 5 Motorsport) and Anthony Pretorius (Bucket List Racing) are likely to scrap for podiums all year long.

Ethan Coetzee (JRT Racing Experience) makes a welcome return and will face Buksi Komane (Nathan Motorsport), Farhaan Basha (QVWi Motorsport), Bryce Pillay (Techtisa) and Shivesh Bissoon (The Steaming Bean).

Newcomers Jeandre Marais (Syrabix), Roshaan Goodman (Upward Spiral) and Nathan Victor (Summit Racing) will face their baptism of fire on the K9H global stage.

MOBIL 1 V8 SERIES

The thundering Mobil V8s are a crowd favourite and will see the defending champion Mackie Adlem going for title number seven in his Adlem Auto Jaguar XKR. Also Jaguar mounted, Franco Di Matteo (Deltec Batteries) will have his hands full with Terry Wilford (Fuchs Ford Mustang) and Julian Familiaris’ Lube-net Chevvy Corvette.

Warren Lombard (Pepboys Ford Falcon) and Thomas Reib (Mobil 1 Chevvy Lumina) will battle against Steve Herbst (PPG Coatings Chev Corvette), Richard Fuller (Idemitsui Ford Falcon), Sten Jarl (Ford Falcon), Auke Compaan (Hurricane Automotive Mustang) and Sam Dahl’s ArcProTech Falcon).

BMW M PERFORMANCE PARTS RACE SERIES

All told, 59 BMWs will take to the track spread across five classes with the overall winner likely to come from the top A class – but not necessarily the champion elect.

Leon Loubser started his year off with a victory as did Andreas Meier in class B. With six other class A rivals, the front of the pack will be action-packed. Paulo Loureiro, Imaad Modack, Rick Loureiro and Carlo Garbini will try and prevent another runaway while 2022 GTC SupaCup champion Leyton Fourie will continue to make an impression after his strong series debut in January.

There are 13 Class B cars that will chase down Andreas Meier’s BMW Super Touring replica. The chase should be led by Paul Munro, Mansoor Parker, Salvi Gualttieri and Lyle Ramsay.

Class C sees Dawie Olivier take on the likes of champion Nicholas Fischer go up against Hein van der Merwe, Vigen Naidu, Shane Grobler, Neil Pillay, Troy Cochrane, Eugene Gouws and another six competitors snapping at their heels.

No less than 18 class D competitors will slug it out for honours at Kyalami. Riaan Lubbe leads the way and will expect to come under pressure from Trevor Long, Craig and Nicholas Herbst, Farhaad Ebrahim, Andre Diedericks amongst a host of challengers.

Dave Rehse leads the class E battle after one round and will find himself in a tough battle with Cobus Bohmer, Craig Rapp, Dewald Smith, Mike Grobler and Arri van Heerden.

WILD ROSE GIN SA SPORTS CAR SERIES

The two30-minute races for the SA Sports Car Series provides a perfect warm-up for the Kyalami 9-Hour. An eclectic array of open sports cars and GT3 machinery takes to the track, headed by three Ligier-Honda JS53s. 

Mikaeel Pitamber (Rico Barlow Racing), Riaan Botma (Auto Investments) and Trevor frost (Strocam Mining) will vie for the trophies but will be chased hard by the swarm of Porsches, Lamborghinis and McLarens.

Heading the onslaught should be Pieter Zeelie (Speads RS 12) and Franco Scribante’s twin-Hayabusa-powered Chevron B16 and Deon du Plessis’ KTM X-Bow RR.

Izak Spies and Michael Stephen will race a pair of Ultimate Outlaws McLaren MP4-12Cs in class GT A and be chased by Ricky Giannoccaro (G&H Transport Lamborghini Huracan GT3), Sam Hammond’s Trinity Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Nicky Dicks (Curvent Porsche GT3 Cup), Mo Mia (Toys-R-Us Porsche (1 GT3 Cup)) and Franco Di Matteo’s Deltec Ford Mustang.

The GTB class will be a battle between Roy Obery (Haval Edenvale Porsche 997 Cup), Roelf du Plessis (Ultimate Outlaws Chev), Kishoor Pitamber (Creative Ink Ferrari 360) and Richard Fuller’s Idemitsui Ford Falcon.

Philip Meyer (PPLE Group Porsche 924 GTR) will face off with Stefan Puschavez’s Chamdor Installations Porsche 911 RSR and the similar Evapco RSR of Andre van der Merwe.

INVESTCHEM F1600

Single-seater fans will be well catered for with the F1600 and FF Kent races. Antwan and Gerard Geldenhuys should duke it out in their Abacus Divisions Mygales, with Nicholas van Weeley (Magnificent Paints Mygale), airline pilot Andrew Schofield (Flysafair Mygale), Alex Vos (DV Building Supplies Mygale) and Troy Dolinschek (Sujean Mygale) hot on their heels.

Karabo Malemela’s Mygale, Storm Lanfear (AMD Engineering Mygale) Siya Mankonkwana (InvestChem Mygale) and Shrien Naidoo (PX Racing Mygale) keeping the front-runners honest.

In the FF Kent class, look to veteran Ian Schofield (Investchem Mygale) and Duncan Vos’ Swift to lock horns with Rick Morris (Investchem Mygale), Graham Hepburn (Qualipak Van Diemen), Allen Meyer (Investchem Van Diemen) and Ronald van Weeley (Magnificent Paints Van Diemen).

ITOO HISTORIC DEMONSTRATION

Lovers of historic race cars from the Kyalami 9-Hour days of yore will be thrilled with the historic demonstration which includes Colin Ellison’s Chevron B19 and Ford Thunderbolt, Pablo Clark’s collection of BMWs and Ferraris and Evolution2 Motorsport’s BMWs including a classic 635CSi

https://bit.ly/3SkA0PE

Colin-on-Cars - Drama on the mountain

Never quite having the pace to hunt down the leaders, South African Sheldon van der Linde with Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts took the chequered flag in a solid fourth in the BMW M4 GT3’s Mount Panorama debut – in a 12-hour battle that saw just 0,9 seconds between the top two finishers.

SunEnergy1 and Mercedes-AMG defended their Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 crown in epic fashion and made the perfect start to this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli campaign by beating Manthey EMA and GruppeM Racing to victory in Australia’s International Enduro.

Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz and Jules Gounon also belied their status as Pro class underdogs to lead home a top-three covered by just 1, 5s at the end of a thrilling encounter around Mount Panorama where a record-breaking 53 000-strong crowd witnessed the fastest race in the event’s history.

It was also incredibly close thanks to the grandstand finish between Gounon, Matt Campbell and recovering Maro Engel who fought back from a drive-through penalty in the final hour after contact with Gounon at The Chase turned SunEnergy1’s Mercedes-AMG around.

Campbell, along with his fellow Porsche factory co-drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Thomas Preining, took the chequered flag just 0,9 s behind Gounon after failing to work an opening over the final 20 minutes, while Engel – who shared GruppeM’s Mercedes-AMG with Raffaele Marciello and Mikael Grenier – made up 14 seconds in his pursuit of the leaders.

The result saw Habul and Stolz go back-to-back at the Mountain, while Gounon became the first driver to win three 12 Hours – victories achieved across consecutive events. And Mercedes-AMG also equalled Audi Sport’s record after visiting victory lane for a third time.

Team WRT’s #32 BMW completed a top-four solely comprising IGTC-nominated entries.

Sheldon van der Linde

The strength of its driver crew relative to the other Pro entries made this a remarkable victory for SunEnergy1. However, the team – which received support from Akkodis ASP – also benefitted from a stroke of good fortune even before Engel’s drive-through left long-time leaders and pole winners GruppeM with a metaphorical as well as literal mountain to climb.

Engel was the class of the field in the opening stint en route to a five-second lead over Supercheap Auto Racing’s Maxi Goetz at the first round of pitstops. The car dropped back to fifth during the first caution period but had sufficient pace to re-emerge as the fastest front-runner despite an alternative strategy helping SunEnergy1 to spend large parts of the first six hours in the lead.

That was partly thanks to Habul completing his drive-time during the first quarter of the race, which then allowed Gounon and Stolz to keep the pressure on GruppeM, as well as Manthey EMA’s Porsche which was seldom outside of the top-three all day.

Neither of the BMWs spent time in the lead on merit but they were still very much in contention until the #46 M4 shared by Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus was forced into the garage to repair a brake light with two-and-a-half hours left to run.

Ahead of them, the timing of Safety Cars – of which there were only a joint-record five across the 12 hours – left SunEnergy1 on a different strategy to, and swapping the lead with, GruppeM, which looked set to end the race out front. But that all changed in the penultimate hour when a datalogger technical issue necessitated repairs at the final pitstop.

The time lost and SunEnergy1 opting to double stint Gounon’s tyres gained #75 track position, albeit with less grip and a fired up Engel right behind.

The Mercedes-AMG colleagues circulated together for the first 15 minutes of their final stint until Engel spied an opening at The Chase and went for the inside just as Gounon was taking his line. The inevitable contact sent SunEnergy1 spinning across the grass as Engel powered into the lead.

The subsequent drive-through dropped him to third behind Campbell whose 12-second deficit to Gounon was halved as a result of the contact. The incident, as well as the Porsche’s fresher tyres, then helped the 2020 winner home in on the Mercedes-AMG, while Engel’s pace also saw him slash the deficit over the final 30 minutes.

But Gounon hung on to take the chequered flag and his record-breaking third Bathurst victory.

The sister car looked set to complete the top-five before making its unscheduled repairs, which elevated Supercheap Auto’s Triple Eight-run Mercedes-AMG.

With Habul’s Pro entry ineligible to score IGTC Independent Cup points at Bathurst, the class victory went to Jonathan Hui and his Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport co-drivers Kevin Tse, Ross Poulakis and Josh Hunt who finished 14th overall.

Hui, as well as Habul and Stephen Grove, will battle for more Independent Cup points when the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli season continues later this month at the Kyalami 9 Hour (February 23-25).https://bit.ly/3l8ckBA

Colin-on-Cars - Drama on the mountain

Never quite having the pace to hunt down the leaders, South African Sheldon van der Linde with Dries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts took the chequered flag in a solid fourth in the BMW M4 GT3’s Mount Panorama debut – in a 12-hour battle that saw just 0,9 seconds between the top two finishers..

SunEnergy1 and Mercedes-AMG defended their Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 crown in epic fashion and made the perfect start to this year’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli campaign by beating Manthey EMA and GruppeM Racing to victory in Australia’s International Enduro.

Kenny Habul, Luca Stolz and Jules Gounon also belied their status as Pro class underdogs to lead home a top-three covered by just 1, 5s at the end of a thrilling encounter around Mount Panorama where a record-breaking 53 000-strong crowd witnessed the fastest race in the event’s history.

It was also incredibly close thanks to the grandstand finish between Gounon, Matt Campbell and recovering Maro Engel who fought back from a drive-through penalty in the final hour after contact with Gounon at The Chase turned SunEnergy1’s Mercedes-AMG around.

Campbell, along with his fellow Porsche factory co-drivers Mathieu Jaminet and Thomas Preining, took the chequered flag just 0,9 s behind Gounon after failing to work an opening over the final 20 minutes, while Engel – who shared GruppeM’s Mercedes-AMG with Raffaele Marciello and Mikael Grenier – made up 14 seconds in his pursuit of the leaders.

The result saw Habul and Stolz go back-to-back at the Mountain, while Gounon became the first driver to win three 12 Hours – victories achieved across consecutive events. And Mercedes-AMG also equalled Audi Sport’s record after visiting victory lane for a third time.

Team WRT’s #32 BMW completed a top-four solely comprising IGTC-nominated entries.

Sheldon van der Linde

The strength of its driver crew relative to the other Pro entries made this a remarkable victory for SunEnergy1. However, the team – which received support from Akkodis ASP – also benefitted from a stroke of good fortune even before Engel’s drive-through left long-time leaders and pole winners GruppeM with a metaphorical as well as literal mountain to climb.

Engel was the class of the field in the opening stint en route to a five-second lead over Supercheap Auto Racing’s Maxi Goetz at the first round of pitstops. The car dropped back to fifth during the first caution period but had sufficient pace to re-emerge as the fastest front-runner despite an alternative strategy helping SunEnergy1 to spend large parts of the first six hours in the lead.

That was partly thanks to Habul completing his drive-time during the first quarter of the race, which then allowed Gounon and Stolz to keep the pressure on GruppeM, as well as Manthey EMA’s Porsche which was seldom outside of the top-three all day.

Neither of the BMWs spent time in the lead on merit but they were still very much in contention until the #46 M4 shared by Valentino Rossi, Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus was forced into the garage to repair a brake light with two-and-a-half hours left to run.

Ahead of them, the timing of Safety Cars – of which there were only a joint-record five across the 12 hours – left SunEnergy1 on a different strategy to, and swapping the lead with, GruppeM, which looked set to end the race out front. But that all changed in the penultimate hour when a datalogger technical issue necessitated repairs at the final pitstop.

The time lost and SunEnergy1 opting to double stint Gounon’s tyres gained #75 track position, albeit with less grip and a fired up Engel right behind.

The Mercedes-AMG colleagues circulated together for the first 15 minutes of their final stint until Engel spied an opening at The Chase and went for the inside just as Gounon was taking his line. The inevitable contact sent SunEnergy1 spinning across the grass as Engel powered into the lead.

The subsequent drive-through dropped him to third behind Campbell whose 12-second deficit to Gounon was halved as a result of the contact. The incident, as well as the Porsche’s fresher tyres, then helped the 2020 winner home in on the Mercedes-AMG, while Engel’s pace also saw him slash the deficit over the final 30 minutes.

But Gounon hung on to take the chequered flag and his record-breaking third Bathurst victory.

The sister car looked set to complete the top-five before making its unscheduled repairs, which elevated Supercheap Auto’s Triple Eight-run Mercedes-AMG.

With Habul’s Pro entry ineligible to score IGTC Independent Cup points at Bathurst, the class victory went to Jonathan Hui and his Harrolds Volante Rosso Motorsport co-drivers Kevin Tse, Ross Poulakis and Josh Hunt who finished 14th overall.

Hui, as well as Habul and Stephen Grove, will battle for more Independent Cup points when the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli season continues later this month at the Kyalami 9 Hour (February 23-25).

https://bit.ly/3l8ckBA

Colin-on-Cars - Gas powered Volvo trucks for local users

Volvo Trucks is now launching a new, stronger gas-powered truck that can run on liquified biogas and can carry out demanding, long distance transport tasks, while reducing overall CO2 emissions. The range will also be available for order by South African customers.

Five years ago, Volvo Trucks launched its trucks that can run on liquified biogas, often called bio-LNG, which is a renewable fuel that can be produced from many types of organic waste, including food scraps. The fuel can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 100%.

“Biogas is a great complement to electric transports, helping hauliers with their sustainability ambitions and aims towards climate neutral transports,” says Waldemar Christensen, MD of Volvo Trucks South Africa. “That is especially true for Southern Africa, where fleets need to travel long distances to deliver cargo across the region for which bio-LNG trucks, with their larger 225kg fuel tanks and a range of up to 1 000km, would be ideal.”

The gas-powered trucks, the Volvo FH and FM are getting a new power level of 500 hp, joining the previous 420 and 460 hp engines. The gas engines also get major technical upgrades that makes them up to 4% more fuel efficient, which together with a new 10% larger gas tank, contributes to a longer range.

The efficient gas-powered trucks have a performance comparable to their diesel equivalents. Fuelling up is almost as fast as a diesel truck.

Eric Parry, Sustainability Solutions Manager at Volvo Trucks South Africa, points out that there is no single solution that can solve climate change. 

“The strengthened gas-powered line up fits well with Volvo Trucks three-path strategic roadmap to reach zero emissions: battery electric trucks, fuel cell trucks and combustion engines that run on renewable fuels like biogas, HVO or even green hydrogen,” explains Parry.

In South Africa, the first Volvo electric trucks will arrive in March 2023. However, LNG and Bio-LNG infrastructure, supply and dispensing are still a major challenge in the country.

“Several technical solutions are needed because the availability of energy and fuel infrastructure differs greatly between countries and regions, and also because the requirements for each transport assignment can vary,” comments Parry. “However, locally we are in a position to work with customers and suppliers to bring bio-LNG vehicles in as needed.”

Facts about Volvo’s gas-powered trucks:

- Product models: Volvo FH, FM and FMX (on request).

- Power levels: 420, 460 and 500 hp.

- Fuel: bio-LNG (liquified biogas) or LNG. A small amount of diesel or HVO is used to ignite the gas.

- Range: up to 1 000 km.

- Engine technology: By utilising the diesel engine's high efficiency, the same drivability as a diesel truck is achieved, making it possible to run with high loads and cover long distances.

- The new gas powered Euro6 step E engines are up to 4% more fuel efficient** than the step D engines.

- The gas engines have been completely updated and the increased efficiency is obtained by new injectors and pistons for lowered friction, together with a new turbo, variable oil pump, and Crank Case Ventilation that handles unfiltered oil.

https://bit.ly/3wLwOma

Colin-on-Cars - Smart moves for truckers

The South African truck market ended 2022 on quite a high note despite supply chain constraints, economic instability both locally and internationally and cost pressures from rising fuel prices and interest rates and UD Trucks showed an 11,6% growth for the year.

For them – and for all the other truck companies in the country – the growth was just cause to celebrate and to look ahead into 2023 which, UD Trucks plans to do by investing in smart logistics solutions to help make fleet owners more efficient and productive

As honourable as this might be, it comes at a time when hundreds of trucks are on our roads and there only because the ruling ANC government has completely failed as has the once mighty rail network. Although not counted in the market growth, many of these trucks are operated by get-rich-quick hopefuls using badly maintained second-hand rigs.

The carnage on South African roads continues unabated with little apparent interest from politicians and lawmakers – unless it is a photo opportunity.

On the other side, the truck distributors, their dealers and big business does what it can to foster a new generation of operators, owners and drivers who have safety, efficiency and cost of operation top of mind.

As UD Trucks Southern Africa's Managing Director, Filip Van den Heede explains: It's not just about pure growth numbers, but aligning the business growth aspirations with our purpose, a Better Life, and even more important, meeting customer expectations.

The COVID-19 crisis and global supply chain constraints weakened an already fragile economy in the last two years, however, UD Trucks Southern Africa managed to keep the business buoyant while growing significantly in emerging markets.

“Our founder Kenzo Adachi’s vision to ‘make the trucks the world needs today’ was actually a vision for smarter logistics. The world today needs less CO2 harmful emissions released into the environment, which is why we launched the Quester and Croner Euro 5 models in 2022, and the Quon in 2019: ahead of local government regulations and manufactured in South Africa since then.

“Through these vehicles, which are much more fuel efficient, are fitted with SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) technology we have reduced CO2 emissions as well as total cost of ownership. To date, we have produced and sold close to 1 000 Euro 5 units in South Africa, consistently staying one step ahead of local regulations and market demands.

“Later this year the Quon range will receive further upgrades that will improve vehicle safety. With innovation that puts people first, these safety enhancements are set to support a sustainable future. The new Quon safety features, including the traffic eye cruise control helping us achieve Vision Zero – a future with no injuries, deaths or minor injuries from road collisions, and safety for drivers, communities, and other road users.”

“There are many challenges facing both industry and customers and one of the most significant is the rising cost of doing business. Consequently, we focus on providing solutions that will improve efficiency and profitability through our smart logistics approach.

Filip van den Heede

“UD Connected Services helps us achieve this end goal, and our pioneering approach has resulted in enhancements set to limit fuel theft, provide a recovery solution, as well as ensure safety through alcohol detection. In a world of digitalisation, the logistics industry will benefit significantly from these additional features.

“A reliable and knowledgeable workforce is key to innovation, and in 2022 we trained more than 2,000 delegates across our dealer network to improve their skills. Through this process, we guarantee our customer’s uptime and ensure they receive reliable trustworthy service. Additionally, we went the extra mile and provided training to Diesel apprentices.”

UD Trucks SA will also open over three new dealerships this year, increasing its dealer footprint to 40 locations across the country.

https://bit.ly/3DsEWM1

Colin-on-Cars - Thinking caps on

The thinking caps are working overtime in the auto industry in the quest to provide motoring solutions using the least amount of fossil fuels and generally being more enviro-friendly.

While recycling has been a long-used concept, a consortium of 19 industrial companies and research institutes, including the BMW Group, Evonik, Thyssenkrupp, the Fraunhofer Institute, and the Technical University of Munich, has set itself the goal of developing new processes for using sustainable materials for circular automotive production.

The core of the ‘Future Sustainable Car Materials (FSCM)’ initiative launched by BMW is to develop process routes and material concepts for large parts of the value chain, thus enabling a circular economy in vehicle production.

"We are pleased to contribute our specialty chemicals expertise to this pioneering consortium of industry leaders and internationally renowned research institutions to develop circular plastics solutions for the automobiles of tomorrow," says Lauren Kjeldsen, member of the Executive Board of Evonik Operations GmbH and head of the Smart Materials Division.

According to the principle of the circular economy, materials must be kept in the value chain after they have reached the end of their useful life so that new objects, such as automotive parts, can be produced without the use of fossil resources. It is particularly challenging to keep these materials in the cycle while maintaining the same quality and safety properties.

"Our mechanical recycling experts work closely with recyclers to prepare methods for cleaning up plastic parts, such as separating paint at the end of useful life,” says Patrick Glöckner, Head of the Global Circular Plastics Program at Evonik. “We also work with compounders to develop solutions for using the highest possible proportion of recycled plastics in new automotive parts."

On the other side of world, in San Diego, California, solar carmaker, Aptera, is about ready to launch the first in a series that will make the power of the sun a reality.

Steve Fambro, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, explains: “We’ve solved the equation for a more efficient way to travel by harnessing the power of the sun, and we’re excited to introduce our Launch Edition vehicle to the world. Our efforts have resulted in the Aptera vehicle, that can take you where you want to go using the creative energy directly from our sun and efficiently converted into free movement.” 

Aptera’s Launch Edition was created with one purpose in mind — energy efficiency. Its shape, ultra-lightweight, and ultra-strong materials allow Aptera to slip through the air using a quarter of the energy compared to other electric and hybrid vehicles on the road today.

Equipped with roughly 700 watts of proprietary solar technology, Aptera drives up to 60 kilometres a day directly from the sun’s rays.

Aptera’s Launch Edition comes integrated with a solar charging package allowing most people to drive for weeks, even months, without ever having to plug in to charge. However, should this be necessary, any standard power outlet in the world becomes a place to charge your vehicle. When plugged into an  outlet, Aptera’s Launch Edition can charge at 13 kilometres an hour or roughly 240 kilometres overnight.

This is only the beginning of Aptera’s plans to move solar mobility forward. After the company’s Launch Edition production line is up and running, Aptera expects eight different assembly plants to be in operation around the globe by 2028.

“While our delivery timeline is funding dependent, our goal is to begin production by the end of 2023,” Chris Anthony, Co-Founder and Co-CEO said. 

https://bit.ly/3Y9wbi1

Colin-on-Cars - Say what!

The English language is as versatile as it is sometimes abused and the Americans are offered mocked for their adaptions such as 'erb' for herb, lootenant for lieutenant and the like.

Nearly three quarters of Brits (73%) say they have a good grasp of the English language, yet a new survey has revealed nearly half (47%) study the correct pronunciation online via a search engine to check that they’ve got it right.

The survey of 2,000 adults highlighted 45% also still turn to a dictionary or thesaurus to double check the pronunciation of a word or phrase.

The study, which has been commissioned by leading car manufacturer, Hyundai, coincides with its change from the anglicised pronunciation of ‘Hy-un-dai’ to the global pronunciation: ‘Hyun-day’. A change that marks a new era for Hyundai in the UK, with a tongue in cheek multi-channel advert and collaboration with Anglophile Korean Billy as he adapts to UK living and pronunciation. The research reveals the top 25 most mispronounced words, with parliament, tenterhooks, quinoa and cache making the list.

Ashley Andrew, Managing Director, Hyundai Motor UK, says: “Having updated our brand’s image and pronunciation locally, we wanted to explore pronunciation as a topic more broadly and get people talking about those words that we can potentially struggle with in everyday life, such as quinoa and espresso.

“We have teamed up with Seong-Jae, aka Korean Billy, who is well known for his light-hearted YouTube videos into different dialects within the UK, to explore some British words from Korean standpoint.”

The picture differs across the UK, with those in the North East have admitted to having difficulty with pronouncing ‘probably’ (28%), while the North West trip up over ‘zoology’ (19%) and the West Midlands have struggled with ‘quinoa’ (21%).

There’s also a split when it comes to men and women. The survey discovered more than half of men (51%) think by simplifying words, it will make them easier to pronounce. In comparison, more than half of women (51%) will turn to search engines to seek assurance in saying something correctly.

It also appears there is an unspoken rule when it comes to correcting the way friends pronounce words and phrases, even if we know they might be getting it wrong. Just under a third (29%) have revealed they wouldn’t correct someone else even if they know they had said a word incorrectly.

TOP 25 WORDS BRITS HAVE MISPRONOUNCED

- Quinoa (Ki-no-ah)

- Probably (Probly)

- Espresso (Ex-spres-so)

- Affidavit (Affidavid)

- GIF (JIF)

- Meme (Meh – Meh)

- Tenterhooks (Tenderhooks)

- Cache (Cash-ay)

- Coup de grace (Coo-de-GRAH)

- Zoology (Zu-ol-oh-gee)

- Parliament (Parlament)

- Foyer (Foy-ay)

- Mischievous (Mis-chee-vee-ous)

- Antarctic (Ant-ar-tic)

- Arctic (Ar-tic)

- Library (Lie-berry)

- Mange tout (Manj-eh-towt)

- February (Feb-er-erry)

- Jewellery (Joo-luh-ree)

- Sherbet (Sher-bert)

- Prescription (Perscription)

- Almond (Aal-mund)

- Moot (Mute)

- Coupe (C-oo-p)

- Triathlon (Tri-ath-a-lon)

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Colin-on-Cars - Global hub for spare parts

A truck fleet is only as good as its service backup and Daimler Truck has re-organised its spare parts logistics by opening a new global supply hub in Halberstadt, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany.

As the heart of the global supply of spare parts, a completely new logistics hub – the so-named Global Parts Center and, in the future parts deliveries will be made from this central location, eliminating additional transport routes and cutting the time until parts are available.

The new logistics hub will deliver up to 300 000 different items – from the smallest screw to a finished truck cab – to almost 3 000 vehicle dealers in 170 countries around the world. The Global Parts Center thus will make an important contribution to ensuring the international flow of goods.

Thanks to state-of-the-art storage and conveyor technology, all vehicle parts will be available for immediate retrieval in an automated high-bay warehouse and an automated small parts warehouse. Construction is scheduled to begin this year, with commissioning scheduled 2028.

Contribution

Karin Rådström, CEO Mercedes-Benz Trucks, says “Halberstadt and the Global Parts Center will play a key role in the future: Spare parts from our new logistics hub will make a significant contribution to keeping our customers and their trucks up and running, thereby delivering on our ambition ‘Trucks you can trust’.”

Jörg Howe, General Representative Daimler Truck AG, responsible for Global Communications & External Affairs, added “Our new Global Parts Center is the biggest logistics project in our company's history. In the future, the Halberstadt site will play a crucial role in keeping our trucks running and thus our economy and society. Without trucks, factories stand still and supermarket shelves remain empty.”

About 2 600 Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ suppliers will provide the logistics hub with their parts in the future so Halberstadt will become the heart of the worldwide supply of spare parts for Mercedes-Benz Trucks. Fuso parts supply in Europe will also be handled by Halberstadt in the future.

In a three-stage logistics process, the new location will serve around 20 regional logistics centres worldwide – in, for example, various European countries, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and China – which in turn will supply regional dealers with parts.

In the first stage of expansion, the new building in the East Industrial Park in Halberstadt will have a gross floor area of around 270 000 square metres with around 260 000 square metres of logistics space. Up to 450 qualified jobs will be created on site. After further construction stages and the assumption of additional activities in connection with global parts logistics, up to 600 jobs will be created at the site.

Energy

The new logistics location is planned from the start for CO₂-neutral operation; the energy concept completely dispenses with fossil fuels. Neither natural gas nor oil is required. The location will be heated with electric heat pumps that bring heat into the building via underfloor heating systems. Due to the low heating water temperatures and the storage effect in the industrial floors, a high level of energy efficiency will be achieved.

In addition, it is intended to equip the roofs with photovoltaic systems, which can generate up to 13-million kWh of electrical energy per year. This is more electricity than will be consumed at the site. Surplus energy from the Global Parts Center will be made available to other Daimler Truck locations in Germany. The roofs of the outbuildings will be greened.

Employees will be provided with a large number of charging stations for e-vehicles and e-bikes. Appropriate charging options will also be available for suppliers’ trucks, whose fleets are gradually being electrified.

https://bit.ly/3kfWbcS

Colin-on-Cars - Toyota wins Dakar

Dakar 2023 proved a stunning success for South Africa. Nasser Al Attiyah and Mathieu Baumel’s GR Hilux DKR T1+ stormed to their third Dakar victory for Toyota Gazoo Racing on Sunday as SA cars starred, taking the overall and two class wins. 

South Africans also starred on two wheels, as Argentine Kevin Benavides took a sensational bike win from KTM teammate Toby Price. SA rider Michael Docherty took the rookie bike win, while compatriot and teammate Charan Moore won the no service Malle Moto Original bike class.

Sebastian Loeb

Attiyah and Baumel put in a faultless display to beat Sebastien Loeb’s Prodrive by an hour and 20 minutes with Brazilian rookie sensation Lucas Moraes third. SA crews Giniel de Villiers and Denis Murphy, and Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings fourth and fifth among five SA-built Toyotas in the top ten. Red-Lined cars took a T1.1 class 1-2, and Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar won amongst the T3 SSV rookies.

SA MEN AND MACHINES STARRED AMONG DAKAR’S CARS

Winners, Al Attiyah and Baumel had another perfect run to their third win in a Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux, and Nasser’s fifth Dakar win. Their sheer pace and consistency clearly benefits from their racing all year in the R2R world championship, and Toyota Gazoo Racing’s consistent development in the South African series. Their main rivals race less often.

Once he was finally into the groove, Loeb was relentless and set a record six stage wins in pursuit. The 9-time World Rally champion ended second ahead of a trio of ever-dependable South African Hiluxes. Young Brazilian rookie Lucas Moraes was the find of 2023 and a future Dakar star for sure, alongside legendary navigator Timo Gottschalk in their bright orange Hilux. 

Henk Lategan

SA Dakar legend Giniel de Villiers has now incredibly finished every one of the twenty Dakars he has started. Nineteen of them in the top ten. Fourth this year alongside Dennis Murphy, they came home ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux DKR T1+ teammates and compatriots Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings. Five Hallspeed Toyotas in the top ten is also an immense feather in Hallspeed’s cap.

RED LETTER DAY FOR RED LINED

Dakar 2023 was also huge for South African rally raid carmaker Red-Lined. Its cars dominated the amateur class, as Schröder and Bland took the T1.1 win from Bell and Schutte. All four Red-Lined cars that started the gruelling race finished in the class top 5. Red-Lined Motorsport clearly succeeded in making its gentleman crews’ Dakar dreams come true. 

Century Racing‘s stellar performance fell apart in the final two days. Baragwanath and Cremer’s Factory CR6-T led the T1.2 4x2 class until their penultimate day crash. Ninth placed Frenchmen Mathieu Serradori and Loic Minaudier’s car suffered engine failure on the final day and had to be towed home to 12th by Baragwanath’s machine. An unhappy end to a stunning performance.

Also considered a car crew, South African GR Rally crew Eben Basson and Abertus Pienaar drove a calm and consistent race to take T3 side by side rookie honours. T3 compatriots Geoff Minnitt and Gerhard Snyman’s HBE South Racing Can Am overcame their occasional challenges to come home a fine 12th overall. 

THE CAR RACE IN REVIEW

Carlos Sainz and Lucas Cruz’ petrol-electric Audi hit the ground running to win the prologue and day 1. Attiyah took Day 2 as Loeb tumbled to 32nd, stuck in the desert without spare tyres. Chicherit’s Prodrive hit back to win Day 3 as Al Attiyah moved into a lead he would never relinquish. Loeb was back to win Day 4 before Al Attiyah consolidated his lead with double wins on Days 5 and 6. 

Saudi hero Yazeed Al Rajhi’s horrid week improved with a Day 6 win before Loeb benefited from Sainz’ penalty to win Day 8. Al Attiyah led a Toyota 1-2-3-5 from Lategan, Moraes, Loeb, and de Villiers at the rest day. Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer’s Century led the T1.2 4x2’s in eighth, Schröder and Bland’s Red-Lined lead T1.1 as Chicherit sat 16th, Al Rajhi 17th and Sainz 37th, with Peterhansel out.

Week 2 was all about Sebastien Loeb. He took a record six stage wins on the trot in his relentless charge, topped a Prodrive 1-2-3 Tuesday, dominated the marathon on Wednesday and Thursday and moved up to second Friday. He won again on chaotic Saturday as the 4x2 leader Baragwanath crashed. Week 2 also claimed Sainz’s Audi, Zala’s Prodrive, Lionel Baud’s Toyota and Simon Vitse’s MD. 

A BRILLIANT BIKE SPECTACLE

In an incredible bike race, KTM teammates and former winners, Argentine Kevin Benavides, and Aussie Toby Price were tied in the overall lead at 33 kilometres into Sunday’s final stage. Price however slipped to allow Benavides to open up a minute lead by midway. Price duly clawed back a few seconds, but it was not enough to beat the stage and overall winner, Kevin Benavides.

Kevin Benavides

Skyler Howes rode home third for Husqvarna. Pablo Quintanilla ended a close fourth with him, Adrien van Beveren, Luciano Benavides, and second on Sunday, Daniel Sanders all within four minutes. Jose Flormino’s Honda, Lorenzo Santolino’s Sherco and Franco Caimi’s Hero closed off the bike top ten.

Of the South African bikers, 20th on the day 16th overall, overall rookie winner Michael Docherty’s HT Husqvarna ended third in the amateur R2 class behind Romain Dumontier and Paolo Lucci. Iron Mike led the R2 class early on, but a tough third day had him on the back foot. He fought back hard, three times challenging for overall day wins as he clawed back to that much deserved rookie victory.

DOCHERTY WON BIKE ROOKIES, MOORE MALLE MOTO

Michael Docherty

Compatriot and teammate, epic no service Malle Moto Original class winner Charan Moore ended 24th  on Sunday, 29th overall and 12th in amateur R2. Consistently in the Malle Moto fight, he led most of the way but had to fight back after a rough tenth day dropped him back. Malle Moto riders are not allowed backup of any kind and must service their own machines out of small metal box.

Botswana hero Ross Branch started well and ended fourth on day 2 before enduring a disastrous few days including running out of fuel and being stranded in the desert to lose seven hours on Day 4. Ross however fought back back to win two bike stages through week 2 as he brought it home in 26th overall.

Ever consistent Malle Moto hero Stuart Gregory ended a career best 61st and tenth in Malle Moto on his third Dakar finish. South African lady legend Kirsten Landman had a steady, if occasionally exhausting ride to 68th overall and 12th in Malle Moto. SA Dakar rookie, Stevan Wilken finished 69th off his best stage result in 56th on the final day, following a consistent race bar a painful Day 8 tumble.

AN ABSOLUTELY EPIC BIKE RACE IN REVIEW

Charan Moore

The bike race delivered seven different winners in the first seven days. Price took the prologue, Ricky Brabec’s Honda Day 1, and Mason Klein’s KTM Day 2. Sanders, Joan Barreda, van Beveren and Luciano Benavides took Days 3, 4, 5 and 6 as the lead changed consistently. Day 7 was cancelled before Ross Branch bounced back to take Day 8, as Klein led Howes by 40 seconds overall.

Luciano Benavides opened week 2 with a Tuesday win, and Branch took Wednesday as Kevin Benavides led overall, Docherty led the rookies and Moore led Malle Moto. Luciano won again Thursday as Price led Howes by 28 seconds. Ignacio Cornejo’s Honda won Friday and Kevin Benavides Saturday from Docherty to start Sunday’s final stage just 12 seconds behind Price overall.

Kevin Benavides duly took the day to win his second Dakar overall and put KTM back after three years off the top step of the podium. Dakar was cruel as ever, claiming top riders, 2022 winner Sam Sunderland and SA lad Bradley Cox on Day 1, Brabec on Day 2 and Barreda, Mattias Walkner and  Klein in Week 2.

Words: Motorsport Media

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Colin-on-Cars - New season roars in

The new year in South Africa does really get going for the petrolhead fraternity until the Passion for Speed festival at Zwartkops Raceway - scheduled for January 28/28 - where some of finest fast cars will strut their stuff.

Speed is the challenge, but the machine is his weapon. It all started in America with the oval Daytona-type tracks and events in 1950. However, by the sixties big American family cars were racing on road racetracks. The drivers were the heroes of the day. These thunder sound monsters with 350 to 500 Horsepower engines with standard suspension and brakes became the rage.

In South Africa it started in the 7-litre Galaxie (the red monster) which Lee Thompson will be driving followed by the Ford Mustang Commit (Hennie Groenewald), Ford Fairlane Thunderbolt (Mark Du Toit) the Chevs, and Barracudas.

Graeme Nathan will be out for the first time to tame the Chevelle. Franco di Matteo will race the Black Widow in a 1975 Chev Bel-Air. Stiaan Kriel in the black Studebaker Lark. With Hennie Groenewald, Ben Morgenrood Mark du Toit, Lee Thompson, Jaki Scheckter, and Paolo Cavalieri to compete with the big new bangers.

Class B is equally competitive with repeating champion Paige Lindenberg in her grey Ford Fairlane being pushed to the limit by Oliver Broom’s 1965 Ford Mustang and the purple FIA Mustang. Carel Pienaar in his Ford Escort MK1 could just slip by the big bangers.

This is an annual “ONLY FOR THE BRAVE.”

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