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Team South Africa Wins

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Spirit of Amarok SA Winners
Winners of the 2016 International of Spirit of Amarok winners, Jaacie and Natasha Visagie with Tarryn Knight , Marketing Communications Manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicle and Sarel van der Merwe

Team South Africa has successfully defended its International Spirit of Amarok Trophy. The 2016 competition recently took place north of Upington in the unrelenting dunes and pans of the Kalahari Desert.

Fourteen teams from Australia, Botswana, Namibia, Russia and South Africa participated in this year’s competition with each country except Russia being represented by three teams, each team comprising of two people. The participants contested 30 stages (18 speed and 12 technical challenges) over five days in Amarok Double Cabs. This year’s competition also included night stages.

Team South Africa amassed a total of 4890 points, followed by Team Namibia in the second place with 4263 points. Team Australia (3925) and Team Botswana (2589) finished third and fourth respectively, with new-comer to the competition Russia ending on 1125 points.

“The 2016 competition was very close. The winners were decided on the last day during the last five technical stages,” said Sarel van der Merwe, rally and track racing legend and the host of the Spirit of Amarok competition.

Van der Merwe added: “Australia had a good team which fought hard against Namibia for the second position. Russian teams battled in the early stages because of the driving position but improved once they were familiar with the right hand drive cars.”

The winning pair of the individual category was Jaacie and Natasha Visagie of South Africa. They were followed in the second place by the 2015 winning team, Alywn and Melanie Jordaan of Namibia. Juan Engelbrecht and Eugene Thornhill, also of South Africa, completed the top three.

“The Spirit of Amarok Trophy demonstrates Amarok’s off-road capabilities and provides contestants with an opportunity to test their off-road driving skills. For countries such as Australia and in Southern Africa, it is essential to show and prove how much hard work the Amarok can take,” said Tarryn Knight, Marketing Communications Manager at Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles.

Knight added: “The competition also present contestants with an opportunity to experience off-road driving at its toughest. Five new countries including Argentina and Germany, where Amaroks are produced, have expressed their interest in competing next year. With ten countries looking to compete in 2017, this is sure to become a very interesting event to follow.”

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Alan Straton

Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and Broom Mechanic at MyPE
Passionate about Port Elizabeth and definitely NOT packing for Perth. Alan's ethos is epitomised in the words of Nelson Mandela; "I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society. If need be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die." See more articles by Alan.