Team SA wins the International Spirit of Amarok
Competitors and cars were pushed to their limits in the unforgiving Kalahari.
Team South Africa has once again claimed gold medals and defended their title of international amateur 4x4 precision driving champions in the Spirit of Amarok Trophy, which took place in the Kalahari desert from 13 to 19 August.
Not only does team South Africa walk away with these bragging rights, they’ve also won the N$60 000 main cash prize.
The South African duo of Juan Grant and Marius Henn came out tops as the overall winning team against stiff competition from 20 other teams from Australia, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Grant and Henn walked away with the coveted Wolf Trophy (Amarok’s namesake is the giant wolf in Inuit mythology).
They also received N$30 000 in cash and, of course, the title of the world’s top amateur 4x4 precision driving team, tested by none other than rally legend Sarel van der Merwe himself.
The competition saw each country represented by three teams who showcased their off-road driving skills in the unrelenting dunes and pans of the Kalahari desert - referred to by one of the international competitors as “orange ice”.
Participants contested several speed and technical challenges in extreme off-road conditions over four days in 132 kW manual 4MOTION® Amaroks.
“The Spirit of Amarok Trophy demonstrates Amarok’s impressive off-road capabilities and provides contestants with an opportunity to test their off-road driving skills as well as an opportunity to experience off-road driving at its toughest,” said Jaco Steenekamp, general manager for sales and marketing at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
At the end of the four-day competition, team South Africa amassed a total of 7 212 points to take the gold medal, followed by team Namibia claiming silver with 6 246 points.
Team Russia took the bronze medal with 4 797 points, sneaking onto the podium with 360 points ahead of team Australia.
In the individual competition, Alwyn and Melanie Jordaan from Namibia scored 2 503 points, coming in second behind the Grant and Henn pair with their 2 652 points. South African duo Joggie and Albert Otto rounded off the top three individual team positions with a total of 2 355 points.
“Now in its third year, the International Spirit of Amarok continues to assert its status as the premier amateur 4x4 competition. The Kalahari desert was the perfect place to demonstrate the Amarok brand’s philosophy of 'not just tough - smart',” added Steenekamp.
This year, awards to the total of over N$200 000 were handed to the top team per country, top three countries, most spirited team and the top three driver/navigator teams overall.
“With Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Germany also as determined as we are locally to expand the event to include even more countries from around the world, the International Spirit of Amarok has become a very interesting event to follow,” concluded Steenekamp. - QuickPic
Not only does team South Africa walk away with these bragging rights, they’ve also won the N$60 000 main cash prize.
The South African duo of Juan Grant and Marius Henn came out tops as the overall winning team against stiff competition from 20 other teams from Australia, Botswana, Germany, Namibia, Russia, South Africa and the United Kingdom.
Grant and Henn walked away with the coveted Wolf Trophy (Amarok’s namesake is the giant wolf in Inuit mythology).
They also received N$30 000 in cash and, of course, the title of the world’s top amateur 4x4 precision driving team, tested by none other than rally legend Sarel van der Merwe himself.
The competition saw each country represented by three teams who showcased their off-road driving skills in the unrelenting dunes and pans of the Kalahari desert - referred to by one of the international competitors as “orange ice”.
Participants contested several speed and technical challenges in extreme off-road conditions over four days in 132 kW manual 4MOTION® Amaroks.
“The Spirit of Amarok Trophy demonstrates Amarok’s impressive off-road capabilities and provides contestants with an opportunity to test their off-road driving skills as well as an opportunity to experience off-road driving at its toughest,” said Jaco Steenekamp, general manager for sales and marketing at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.
At the end of the four-day competition, team South Africa amassed a total of 7 212 points to take the gold medal, followed by team Namibia claiming silver with 6 246 points.
Team Russia took the bronze medal with 4 797 points, sneaking onto the podium with 360 points ahead of team Australia.
In the individual competition, Alwyn and Melanie Jordaan from Namibia scored 2 503 points, coming in second behind the Grant and Henn pair with their 2 652 points. South African duo Joggie and Albert Otto rounded off the top three individual team positions with a total of 2 355 points.
“Now in its third year, the International Spirit of Amarok continues to assert its status as the premier amateur 4x4 competition. The Kalahari desert was the perfect place to demonstrate the Amarok brand’s philosophy of 'not just tough - smart',” added Steenekamp.
This year, awards to the total of over N$200 000 were handed to the top team per country, top three countries, most spirited team and the top three driver/navigator teams overall.
“With Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles in Germany also as determined as we are locally to expand the event to include even more countries from around the world, the International Spirit of Amarok has become a very interesting event to follow,” concluded Steenekamp. - QuickPic
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