Colin-on-Cars - Stellantis moves into Algeria

The automotive march into Africa has taken another major step with the launch of six Fiat model lines onto showroom floors ahead of the the Tafraoui - Oran plant construction phase that will be completed by August 2023.

Fiat is a part of the Stellantis Group stable and Olivier François, Fiat brand CEO, says: “We celebrate the return to Algeria of Fiat: an iconic brand with one of the five longest automotive traditions in the world. Since 1899 our brand's mission hasn’t changed: providing accessible, intelligent answers to each customer’s mobility needs.

“The 500 Hybrid will be the first Fiat to be built here followed rapidly by the Doblò and, in a few years, a brand-new model - now still in the hands of our designers - will also be produced in Algeria.”

“Supporting the Fiat project and hence, the development of the automotive ecosystem in Algeria has an historical symbolism that reflects the long-lasting good relations between the two countries. By combining our efforts, this project will become a benchmark in terms of integrability and complementarity. Currently, we are conducting a study in the factory which is likely to open up great horizons to go beyond the primary ambitions,” says Ali Aoun, Minister of Industry and Pharmaceutical Production.

Today, Algeria is positioned as one of the key contributors to Stellantis Middle East and Africa (MEA) Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan. This launch of Fiat brand will pave the way to achieve Stellantis MEA ambition to reach 1-million vehicles sold in the region by 2030 with 70% regional production autonomy bringing us closer to customers’ needs.

The Tafraoui - Oran plant construction phase will be completed by August 2023 and production for the first Fiat 500 is planned by end 2023. By 2026, it will create nearly 2,000 new local positions, reach a localisation rate of more than 30%, a production capacity of 90 000 vehicles a year and ultimately produce four Fiat models..

“Stellantis is committed to Algeria and will provide its extensive global and regional know-how in terms of manufacturing and commercial performance. We are bringing this expertise at the service of the Fiat project in Algeria to deliver state-of-the-art manufacturing and best-in-class commercial services to ensure the best customer experience in the market. I would like to thank the Algerian authorities, our local partners and the teams who are working extensively to make the Fiat Project in Algeria possible!” says Samir Cherfan, Chief Operating Officer, Stellantis Middle East and Africa.

The upcoming carlines:

Fiat 500 Hybrid

- The iconic city car was the first step in Fiat’s electrification journey and today is the first hybrid vehicle in Algeria.

- Available in the hatchback version, powered by a 1,0-litre 3-cylinder engine which delivers 70 HP, it reduces CO2 consumption and emissions by up to 20%.

- The “Dolcevita” opening edition will come in the three colors of the Italian and Algerian flag: Rugiada Green, Gelato White and Passione Red. 

Fiat 500X

- The compact SUV with Italian style, offering peace of mind and safety at the wheel.

- State-of-the-art connectivity is provided by Uconnect 7" HD LIVE touchscreen, with Apple CarPlay integration and Android AutoTM compatibility.

- Available in two versions: entry level and top of the range with a 1.4 petrol 140 HP engine complete with dual-clutch transmission. 

Fiat Tipo

- The Fiat family mover is the ideal car for families, looking for a functional car to meet every day travel needs.

- Tipo is a car to go anywhere, from city centers to trips out of town.

- It is available in the sedan body and equipped with a 1.6 etorq 110 HP automatic transmission. 

Fiat Doblò

- Versatile, spacious, flexible and fit for everyone’s needs, the Doblò offers innovative and ingenious solutions to improve everyday driving.

- The vehicle suits all the demands of professional workers, with a touch of Italian ingenuity.

- It comes as a van equipped with a 1.6 HDI 90 HP engine with manual transmission.

- With a load capacity up to 1 ton, it is perfectly suited for any daily mission. 

Fiat Scudo

- The Scudo is a stress-free partner for any worker.

- As a van for true professionals with the comfort of a car, it comes with a 2.0 HDI 150 HP manual transmission engine.

- With a load capacity up to 1.4 tons, it offers modularity at its best with no compromise.

Fiat Ducato

- Ducato embodies 40 years of leadership and success in the LCV sector.

- A model that combines excellent characteristics of scope, volume, efficiency, flexibility technology, onboard comfort, safety and performance. With an eye for style.

- The 2.2 diesel 140 HP manual transmission engine powers a van with best-in-class load capacity: up to 2.2 tons.

African automotive trade and investment will form a major part of the Intra-Africa Trade Fair being held later this year in Abidjan where the Africa Automotive Show will outline some of the plans to grow the entire region as a major market.

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Colin-on-Cars - Dunlop partners with Backdraft Series

This year is Dunlop Tyres South Africa’s biggest track season to date, with yet another motor sport series added to its list of 2023 tyre sponsorships. Dunlop is now the official tyre partner of the Backdraft Production Series, an exhilarating race that forms part of the South African Endurance Series (SAES).

The Backdraft Production Series showcases hand-built niche automobiles, which are open vehicles with two seats and emphasise sporting appearance and character.

This year, contenders will be racing their Backdraft Cobras on Dunlop Direzza tyres, plus enjoying the full trackside tyre support of the ATS Motorsport Dunlop Service Crew. Operating from a fully equipped Dunlop Racing mobile workshop, the service is staffed by a skilled and knowledgeable team and is free to all drivers competing on Dunlop tyres.

Lubin Ozoux, CEO of Dunlop manufacturer and distributor Sumitomo Rubber South Africa, said the iconic tyre brand was proud to welcome the unique Backdraft series into its fold.

“If there’s any category that can showcase the durability, longevity and performance of a vehicle and its tyres, it would be endurance racing. This form of motor sport is the ultimate test of the durability of equipment, and endurance of participants, so the Backdraft Production Series is a worthy partner to showcase the performance attributes of our Dunlop tyres. We love providing drivers with the very best in tyre technology, and we believe that our partnership with the Backdraft Production Series will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase our products and expertise,” he said.

During endurance racing, teams of two or more drivers take turns driving the car throughout the race, competing to cover the greatest distance over a set period of time, typically 3, 4, or 9 hours. The goal is to test the durability of both the car and the driver, as they must maintain high speeds for an extended period of time, maintain focus and work together to ensure that the car remains in top condition. The races are gruelling, with teams facing challenges such as changing weather conditions, mechanical issues, and intense competition from other teams.

The Backdraft Production Series is a single-make or one-make racing series, where all drivers race using identical cars from the same manufacturer, placing a larger emphasis on driver skill and car setup instead of engineering skill and budget. The Backdraft vehicles are powered by a Lexus V8 motor, with no electronic aids such as traction control or ABS.

“This year we’re extremely proud to have collaborated with TR-Tec which boasts a 5,000sq/m production facility in Prospecton, south of Durban, where these amazing roadsters are produced. They feature a wide variety of engines and transmission combinations, plus custom designed interiors. Backdraft also offers a rent-to-race programme, which opens motor sport up to more racing enthusiasts, and this is something we’re delighted to get behind as the Dunlop brand,” said Ozoux.

This latest motor sport series joins the growing list of Dunlop sole supplied race series in 2023. Dunlop is the official tyre partner of four out of seven race categories at South Africa's premier motor sport series, the National Extreme Festival, plus four at the Regional Extreme Festival.

Brian Martin of Backdraft Racing had this to say about their first experience racing on Dunlop tyres: “Since we raced on Dunlop Tyres at the last round of the SAES Championship at Killarney International Raceway we have been impressed by the durability and the performance of the Dunlop Direzza 03G. After 9 Hours of racing those tyres we could probably have done another 9 hours! The Backdraft Production Series is looking forward to a long and prosperous relationship with Dunlop Tyres and Sumitomo Rubber South Africa.”

Ozoux wished all Backdraft Production Series competitors the very best on the track this year. Dunlop Tyres South Africa's sponsorship underscores the brand's commitment to excellence in motor sport, and its dedication to providing drivers with the tools they need to succeed on the track. Dunlop looks forward to working with the Backdraft Production Series and the South African Endurance Series to create a memorable and exciting season of motor sport for all involved.

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Colin-on-Cars - Superb win for Stradale Racing

The expression ‘hot footing it’ became a very real experience for Clint Weston on his way to helping set up the Stradale Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 for it win in the opening round of the South African Endurance National Championship at Zwartkops Raceway at the weekend.

First and second places were covered by just eight seconds after 209 laps and four hours of hard, hot racing.

Charl Arangies and Clint Weston brought their Stradale Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 home ahead of the hard-charging Stuart White/Xolile Letlaka Into Africa Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo. White was catching Arangies at two seconds per lap after the final safety car but ran out of time to challenge for the win.

After his initial stint in the car, Weston said everything was running perfectly and the only problem he had was hot feet from the transfer from the engine through the bulkhead in the footwell.

In their first-ever endurance race, rookies CJ Blackman, Jean Paul Briner and Anthony Hoare won the Index of Performance in their Tradecor Steel Backdraft-Lexus Roadster.

Practice and Qualifying:

Stradale Motorsport consistently set the pace during the four free practice sessions but when the clock ran for qualifying it was Jeffrey Kruger who blitzed the time sheets in his Auto Investments Ligier JS53-Honda.

Kruger had not driven the car all day until, with five minutes of the session remaining, he did one out lap and two flying laps before the chequered flag fell, locking out pole on his first lap and lowering the target by half a second on his second and final lap in a breathtaking display to set a time of 59.334 seconds around the 2.4km track.

Charl Arangies was the only other driver to set a sub-one minute lap, 0.543 seconds behind the Ligier, locking out the front row of the grid.

Michael Stephen, entered to run only the first hour in his Ultimate Outlaws McLaren MP4-12C slotted into third ahead of Mikaeel Pitamber/Gavin Cronje’s MP17/Rico Barlow Ligier JS53-Honda.

Paul Hill (Kalex Aston Martin Vantage GT3) also entered in the one-hour race followed in fifth ahead of the Hein/Henk Lategan/Verissimo Tavares BBR Porsche 992 GT3 Cup. Mo Mia/Lee Thompson (Toys-R-Us Porsche 991 GT3 Cup) were just 0.019 seconds behind, setting up a tantalizing Stuttgart fight.

Capetonians Byron Mitchell/Peter van der Spuy took eighth on the grid in their Dolphin Racing Juno-Nissan followed by the defending SA Endurance Champion Kwanda Mokoena, teamed with Andrew Rackstraw in their MJR/Amandla Coal Audi R8 GT4.

Volkswagen Motorsport’s Daniel Rowe/Keagan Masters claimed the Class D initiative in their factory-entered Polo SupaCup ahead of Jurie Swart/Karah Hill’s Kalex VW Polo SupaCup.Andrew Horne/Gerald Buys (Xena Chemicals Nash-VW) showed their intent by taking the Class E pole from the leading Backdraft of Benjamin/Crisjan/Ben Morgenrood.

Class E and Index Champions Harm/Barend Pretorius (Team Pesty Backdraft) were next up from Mark Owens/Mags Govender and the rest of the Backdraft entries.

During FP2 the Into Africa Lamborghini suffered a small pit lane fire– quickly extinguished – but the damage took the rest of the day to repair, and the team missed out on qualifying, relegating the pair to start from the back of the grid.

Race:

The first hour of the race was frenetic as the lead changed three times; Kruger was quickly swallowed up by Stephen in the McLaren but it was Stuart White who made the biggest impression, taking 18 minutes to carve his way through from the back of the grid and into the lead.

Once the one-hour cars had pitted, the race was a straight fight between the two GT3 cars. During a fortuitous safety car period, Stradale called Weston in for a splash and dash fuel stop so when his two hour stint was up, Arangies could jump in with enough fuel to take the lead around the 95-lap mark when the Into Africa car pitted.

Luck and timing plays a part in endurance racing, and Letlaka found himself two laps down on the leader thanks to pitting under racing conditions and coming out just as the safety car was deployed.

Once White was back in the car, he cut his deficit to one lap and as the race entered its final hour, he fought hard with Arangies, passing the Mercedes, only for Arangies to re-take the position.

White attacked again and made the move stick on the second time of asking. When a final safety car was deployed with 20 minutes remaining it seemed a challenge for victory was on the cards.

When racing resumed with 11 minutes left on the clock, the gap was down to 15 seconds and while White threw everything into the final minutes, lapping two seconds a lap faster than Arangies at times, the clock counted down to zero and the chase was over.

Third place went to the BBR Porsche 992 GT3 Cup car of Lategan, Tavares and Lategan. Henk Lategan flew directly from the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge to arrive in time to take the final stint. From desert to tarmac took a few laps to adjust to, and besides a clash with the Brandon Dean/Jarryd Wary Backdraft which caused the Porsche to spin in turn two, Lategan Jr was all smiles at the finish.

Lee Thompson and Mo Mia brought their Toys-R-Us Porsche home in fourth overall after a terrific scrap with the BBR car in the first hour.

Kwanda Mokoena and Andrew Rackstraw opened their 2023 account with fifth place. Mokoena was lucky, for he ran out of fuel on the last lap of his stint, with just enough in the reserve pump to bring the car back to the pits.

Daniel Rowe and Keagan Masters took class D honours and sixth overall after a trouble-free race in their factory-run Polo, although they had to do an extra pitstop compared to their Bucket List rivals.

Christopher Pretorius/Gavin Rooke brought their Polo home in a fortunate seventh, as a driveshaft broke on the last lap. Pretorius managed to limp home to claim second in class.

Index of performance and Class E Champions Barend and Harm Pretorius won their class and ended eighth overall after nursing their car over the final 90 minutes with clutch issues.

Byron Mitchell/Peter van de Spuy brought their Juno home in ninth overall. The car suffered a sensor issue that caused the car to default into limp mode when it detected a high water temperature but mysteriously righted itself again each time it happened. Van de Spuy had a spin and beached the car on a kerb which triggered a safety car, losing several laps in the process.

With a combined age of 198 years, Tony and Brian Martin and Trevor Graham brought their factory Backdraft home in 10th overall and second in Class E ahead of the 11th-placed endurance rookie Index winning trio.

The final classified runner was the PPLE/Adapt Backdraft entry of Mark Harvey, Phillip Meyer and Dean Wolson who stopped on the back straight with five minutes to go, a failed alternator the cause of the loss of power.

The next round of the SA Endurance National Championship takes place at Red Star Raceway on 28 and 29 April.

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Colin-on-Cars - Simola Hillclimb gains new backing

Since inception, the size, status and relevance of the annual Simola Hilclimb has grown exponentially along with the speed, ferocity and technical innovation of the vehicles that clamour for inclusion – with all available slots taken up well before the event itself.

This motoring and motor sport lifestyle event has been given a further boost for this year’s 13th edition, as a record number of vehicle manufacturers are set to join the action. The 2023 Simola Hillclimb, which takes place from 4 to 7 May, will see six manufacturers supporting the event with official entries, with four of the brands also signing up as event partners.

“For the past three years we have been working exceptionally hard to expand the manufacturer support and participation in the Simola Hillclimb to broaden its appeal for spectators and competitors, and give the vehicle brands an unrivalled platform to highlight their latest products,  performance and heritage,” says Ian Shrosbree, managing director of the Knysna Speed Festival which runs the Simola Hillclimb.

“Moving away from having a manufacturer as a title sponsor from the 2021 event onwards allowed us to engage with other brands, and we have been encouraged by a steady growth in involvement each year,” Shrosbree says. “We are delighted to have six manufacturers lined up for this year, which elevates the profile and status of the Simola Hillclimb to even greater heights.”

Suzuki

Suzuki Auto South Africa is a Tier 1 partner for 2023, marking its third consecutive year of sponsoring the event.

“The Simola Hillclimb provides a platform to showcase Suzuki’s fun, exciting and passionate personality that stretches beyond our repertoire of providing affordable, fun and sporty compact cars and motorcycles,” says Brendon Carpenter, Brand Marketing Manager at Suzuki Auto SA.

“Globally, the Suzuki brand has a very strong heritage and enviable reputation of building crazy, and often record-breaking, high-powered hillclimb monsters such as Monster Tajima’s Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak and the Suzuki SX4 Pikes Peak Special,” Carpenter says. “The Simola Hillclimb gives us an opportunity to dabble in the South African motor sport scene, and has become a highlight on our annual event calendar.”

Along with its Tier 1 sponsorship, for the second year in a row Suzuki will feature two standard Swift Sport entries competing in the standard production class. The company will also display the latest addition to its SUV line-up, and fans can look forward to demonstration runs with its newest motorcycle offerings.

BMW

Following its participation as an entrant last year, BMW South Africa has stepped up its involvement to become a Tier 1 partner for the 2023 Simola Hillclimb.

“We had a very enthusiastic response from the BMW team last year, and we are delighted to welcome the company on board as a Tier 1 partner for 2023,” Shrosbree says.

While the vehicle and driver line-up is still being finalised, fans can be assured there will be lots to look forward to.

“BMW’s presence at this year’s Simola Hillclimb will be a celebration of our heritage in South Africa on Classic Car Friday, as well as a look towards our future and our expanding electromobility portfolio in the King of the Hill Shootout,” says Thilosh Moodally, General Manager: Group Communications and External Affairs, BMW Group South Africa.

Volkswagen

Volkswagen has progressively stepped up its participation in the Simola Hillclimb over the past couple of years, and has signed up as a Tier 2 partner for 2023.

“This event is the most fun one can have in Knysna! It is a showcase of both driver capability and the incredible engineering in our Volkswagen products,” says Mike Rowe, Volkswagen Driving Experience Manager. “We use it as an opportunity to entertain important guests as well as to demonstrate new Volkswagen products and motorsport drivers to the elite motoring fanatics.”

The Volkswagen line-up will include the powerful Polo SupaCup race car that featured in the 2022 event, along with two Golf R entries in the production vehicle class.

“There will be a fourth very exciting car, but we can’t reveal the details yet,” Rowe says.

Honda

Joining the fray for the first time as a Tier 2 partner is Honda Motor Southern Africa.

“This is the first time that Honda will be participating in the Simola Hillclimb, and we are delighted to be a Tier 2 partner for this prestigious event,” says Letitia Herold, Marketing and PR Manager, Honda Motor Southern Africa.

“For King of the Hill, we are entering a highly anticipated new performance car that will be launched just before the Simola Hillclimb. It will be driven by one of South Africa’s best-known racing drivers, so we expect that there will be lots of interest from the enthusiastic spectators. Fans can look forward to demo runs up Simola Hill as well, and we will be involved in the Fan Fest activities too, so there will be lots to look forward to.”

Hyundai

Hyundai South Africa returns as the media shuttle partner for the second consecutive year, supplying the Staria buses to transport the press contingent to designated photographic locations along the Simola Hill course.

More noteworthy for hot hatch fans, though, is the official entry of the Hyundai i30N, which will be driven by Joshua Lowe, Hyundai’s Regional Sales and N-sport Manager.

“Hyundai N products such as the i30N and Kona N closely align themselves to motorsport and were developed to be track stars for the road,” Lowe says.

“We have entered our i30N which we raced in the Johannesburg-based Vilaca Racing time attack series in 2022, where it finished second in the FWD modified class in stock form,” Lowe says. “For this year the vehicle has a few basic modifications for the track, but is essentially what you can expect from the factory vehicle. We look forward to showing the South African public what the i30N is capable of.”

Ford

Fresh from its South African launch, the new V6-powered Ford Ranger Raptor will provide an unusual twist on the performance vehicle theme with the backing of Ford South Africa, and will compete in the unlimited class for sports utility/activity vehicles and bakkies.

“We are excited about participating in the 2023 Simola Hillclimb for the first time with a media partner,” says Minesh Bhagaloo, General Manager, Communications at Ford South Africa. “The Simola Hillclimb is a fantastic event, and fans will get to see the exhilarating Next-Generation Ranger Raptor in action. It is powered by a 292 kW 3,0-litre V6 EcoBoost engine which makes it our most powerful Ranger yet. We are confident that the Next-Gen Ranger Raptor will be a great attraction at this year’s event, and on our media partner’s social platforms.”

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Colin-on-Cars - Storming drive from Van der Linde

The South African flag flew high and proud over the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit near Johannesburg at the weekend when Sheldon van der Linde brought the Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 across the line to claim the marque’s first victory in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli since 2020.

Not only did he do that with team mates Cries Vanthoor and Charles Weerts but, the team’s sister car shared by Philipp Eng, Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin finished in second place a mere 1,7 seconds adrift after a final chase 23 minutes from thed of the 9-Hour race when the safety car was deployed for the first time.

Tresor Attempto’s Audi crewed by Mattia Drudi, Ricardo Feller and Patric Niederhauser completed the overall podium another 1,0 seconds behind.

Tresor Attempto’s second R8 LMS GT3 finished fourth overall in the hands of Alex Aka, Dennis Marschall and Markus Winkelhock thanks, in part, to GruppeM Racing’s gearbox issue that denied Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier and Raffaele Marciello a podium shot.

Instead, it was SunEnergy1 by SPS’s entry that scored the bulk of Mercedes-AMG’s IGTC points in fifth overall. The car shared by Kenny Habul, Jules Gounon and Yannick Mettler won the event’s Pro-Am class, finished third of the Intercontinental entries, and won IGTC’s Independent Cup.

Results elsewhere have also seen Habul and Gounon retain their overall drivers’ championship lead by three points from Van der Linde, Vanthoor and Weerts. However, BMW’s one-two now sees it tied with Mercedes-AMG at the top of the manufacturers’ standings.

WRT was never headed after seizing control from GruppeM soon after the start despite Farfus and Van der Linde swapping second place at Turn 1 on the opening lap. The home favourite was back ahead with the help of team orders after eight minutes before he hunted down and passed Engel through the Jukskei Sweep with quarter-of-an-hour gone.

Farfus was also past the Mercedes-AMG before the first round of stops began just after the hour mark. But although #33 regularly closed in on #32, there was never any serious threat of a lead change between the two WRT entries which remained no more than four seconds apart until roughly half distance when Weerts began gapping Farfus after each entry had cycled through its three crew members.

Behind, GruppeM’s race was slowly unravelling thanks to a radio issue that forced Grenier to communicate with his team using a mix of the pit board and his Mercedes-AMG’s indicators. But far worse was to follow when a gearbox problem restricted the car to gears three, four and five.

That largely accounted for both Audis passing the Canadian in the fourth hour, Drudi doing so in the pits and then Markus Winkelhock on track.

The problem worsened once Engel climbed back aboard and eventually led to the car circulating five or even six seconds off the pace. The team made it to 70% distance in order to be classified and score IGTC points before effectively retiring.

As the evening approached it looked as though Audi might be able to challenge the BMWs. Aka signalled Tresor Attempto’s potential by setting fastest lap while Feller homed in on Farfus. However, as darkness fell so the M4s upped their pace and it wasn’t long before #32 and #33 pulled clear again.

Indeed, the race appeared to be heading for a regulation finish when Van der Linde took over the leading car from Vanthoor who’d established a 20-second lead over Martin thanks, in part, to the race’s fastest lap. That was until Stradale Motorsport’s Mercedes-AMG beached itself down the Mineshaft, which necessitated a Full Course Yellow and subsequent Safety Car period.

Suddenly the top-three were separated by a second when racing resumed with 20 minutes remaining. But while Niederhauser, on old tyres, didn’t have the pace to challenge, Martin did initially hustle Van der Linde before the South African edged clear to claim his second IGTC win on home soil aboard a BMW.

Further back, the combination of pace and fault-free performances from all three of its drivers and pit crew helped SunEnergy1 clinch a well-deserved Pro-Am victory over Grove Racing’s Porsche and the SPS automotive performance Mercedes-AMG.

Habul didn’t put a foot wrong en route to maximum IGTC Independent Cup points while Mettler’s speed saw him set two overall fastest laps early in the race. The result also sees Bathurst winners Gounon and Habul retain their overall drivers’ championship lead, albeit now from Van der Linde, Vanthoor and Weerts.

An early puncture set Grove Racing back, but father-son duo Stephen and Brenton battled hard with the help of Earl Bamber to beat SPS’s Miguel Ramos, Reece Barr and Luca Stolz to second in Pro-Am. Brenton’s opportunistic move on Barr in traffic with just over an hour remaining would prove decisive.

Stradale’s Charl Arangies, Arnold Neveling and Clint Weston also scored their first IGTC points in eighth overall, one place ahead of GruppeM’s hobbled but classified entry, while MJR Motorsport’s Marius Jackson, Mo Mia and Kwanda Mokoena rounded out the top-10.

The Kyalami Supercup for entries only contesting the opening hour was won by NGK Pablo Clark Racing’s Mikaeel Pitamber who beat Sun Moodley (BigFoot Express Racing) and Joseph Ellerine (MJR Motorsport).

After races in Australia and South Africa within the space of a month IGTC now takes a well-earned break before resuming at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa on June 29 – July 2.

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Colin-on-Cars - Van der Linde set to pounce

Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier and Raffaele Marciello dominated Kyalami 9 Hour qualifying to claim GruppeM Racing and Mercedes-AMG’s second pole position in as many Intercontinental GT Challenge Powered by Pirelli events – but With home track advantage, Sheldon van der Linde (with Dries Vantoor and Charles Weerts) is ready to take a BMW bite out of that.

But, while it was Engel who starred at Bathurst three weeks ago, this performance owed just as much to the speed of his co-drivers who also topped their respective 15-minute sessions. The trio’s 1m42.617s average was 0.324s faster than the best of Team WRT’s BMWs shared by Vanthoor, Van der Linde and Weerts, while Marciello also comfortably clocked the quickest individual lap.

The second BMW of Philipp Eng, Augusto Farfus and Maxime Martin missed the front row by just 0.028s.

Further back, Earl Bamber set the second quickest time of all but couldn’t prevent SunEnergy1 by SPS from beating Grove Racing to Pro-Am top spot. Their respective Mercedes-AMG and Porsche start sixth and seventh overall just behind Tresor Attempto’s Audis.

Mercedes-AMG took an unopposed pole position at Kyalami last season when heavy rain washed out qualifying, but the German manufacturer fully earned its place up front this time around during a session bathed in sunshine.

Several cars took turns at the top in Q1 before Engel set the session’s best on his final lap. 1m43.167s was enough to beat Vanthoor by just over a tenth and lay the foundations for what would follow.

Mattia Drudi, meanwhile, twice went fastest before finishing eight hundredths shy of the BMW ahead, while Eng was a further tenth back but part of a trio that would battle for a front row grid slot across all three sessions.

Next, it was Grenier’s turn to shine. With fuel consumption ensuring times improved, it was no surprise when the Canadian set the first sub-1m43s lap and then improved again to 1m42.6s. Local favourite Van der Linde wasn’t far behind but couldn’t quite match the Mercedes-AMG’s pace, while Farfus moved WRT’s other M4 up to third provisionally at Ricardo Feller’s expense.

At that stage GruppeM enjoyed a 0.117s advantage over the #32 BMW. But that would eventually extend to beyond three tenths once Marciello set fastest time of the weekend so far. His initial effort was beaten by Bamber but the Swiss regrouped, went again and unleashed a stunning a 1m42.029s that put pole position beyond any doubt.

Behind, Patric Niederhauser threatened to gate crash WRT’s party by jumping ahead of both Weerts and Martin. However, both BMW drivers improved on their second push laps to restore order. Just 0.028s separated #32 and #33 in the final averaged classification.

Tresor Attempto’s #66 Audi was only 0.057s further back and just over a tenth quicker than the sister R8 LMS GT3 shared by Markus Winkelhock, Dennis Marschall and Alex Aka.

Testing and practice pace had marked out Jules Gounon as the most likely candidate for fastest individual time. He ultimately ended up third quickest overall behind Marciello and Bamber, although that mattered little to SunEnergy1 which secured Pro-Am pole from Grove Racing by 0.6s. Credit for that advantage must also go to Yannick Mettler who finished fifth overall and comfortably amongst the Pros in Q1. 

Both of those entries will also battle for IGTC Independent Cup points on Saturday.

The SPS automotive performance Mercedes-AMG finished eighth and ahead of the first South African crew – Stradale Motorsport’s Charl Arangies, Arnold Neveling and Clint Weston.

MJR Motorsport’s Audi, which is also contesting all nine hours in the hands of local drivers Kwanda Mokoena, Mo Mia and Marius Jackson, completed the overall top-10.

Kyalami Supercup pole went to NGK Pablo Clark Racing’s Mikaeel Pitamber who beat Sun Moodley (BigFoot Express Racing) and Joseph Ellerine (MJR Motorsport). Those three entries will only complete the opening hour of today’s race.

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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