Christiaan Otto and Marius Welgemoed have mastered the toughest Namibian dunes in a Volkswagen Amarok to be crowned the 2010 Spirit of Africa champions.
After four gruelling days, Christiaan and Marius' flawless and masterful sand dune driving helped them to amass 1580 points. They received R50 000 for their first place finish.
The winning team were followed in second place by Piet and Madelein Kotze with 1395 points, while third place went to Hennie Moeller and Frank Scholtz with 1385 points.
The Volkswagen Amarok was the official vehicle for the Spirit of Africa competition, and this year saw a record entry of 450 teams, who participated in the elimination rounds in Upington.
It wasn't only a test for the contestants though. Sarel van der Merwe proclaimed: “We decided beforehand to make the 2010 event very tough to prove that the Amarok was not a 'soft' bakkie, but a tougher and smarter bakkie than most of the competition.”
“Amarok passed the ultimate tests, which included Upington temperatures of up to 40 degrees as well as the toughest Namibian dunes, with aplomb.”
According to VWSA, the entrants made complimentary and objective comments about the Amarok's driving dynamics and off-road capability. It goes without saying, then, that the competition will be back with a vengeance in 2011.
True vengeance it certainly will be, with Sarel having promised to make the next event even tougher for both participants and their machines alike.