Over two days in the Northern Cape town of Van Wyksvlei, the champions for the 2019 Cooper Dust Series were crowned. Competitors not only had to deal with the varying terrain, the competitors from other regions and the variety of challenges and obstacles, they also had to contend with the boiling, sweltering, searing (any more adjectives? Anyone?) heat. Temperatures topped 40°C on most days, and luckily cooled down to the mid 30’s at night.
But the weather still played second fiddle to the competition that was so hot that only 24 points separated the top 5, with first and second spot coming down to 4 points only. Out of a maximum of 1200 points on offer, this was as close as you could come with one more or less duck hunted successfully or one more or less golf ball placed in the minefield to determining who got the bragging rights.
In the end, Charles Muller with his Lexus V8 Hilux from the Western Cape proved that to keep on trying wins out in the end. As one of only 3 teams that have competed at all 4 Dust Series finals to date, he came to Van Wyksvlei determined to lift the trophy, and his perseverance paid out in the end.
But Brydon Webster of the Eastern Cape, with as near a stock standard Pajero as possible, gave him a good run for his money – proving that knowing your vehicle and driver skill plays a bigger part in this series than engine capacity and tyre size. And this is what we want to keep on building going forward.
Oom Willie Mostert in his Suzuki rounded out the podium and he was definitely a contended, but he will be the first to admit that one mistake cost him in the end. And for the rest of the top 10 – it is the same story – one obstacle or challenge where one mistake or one misstep prevented you from scoring more, seriously influenced your placing.
This is a good testament to our belief that we have the mix for our final right. The competition can hinge on being perfect against being near perfect – and major modifications did not dominate proceedings. Marcus Oshry – after blowing the head gasket on his Hilux on the way to Van Wyksvlei – came and competed with a showroom Hilux single cab with less than 1000 km on the clock and finished fourth.
Below you will find the full table with all the scores for the weekend.
Thank you to all the teams that came to compete and made the weekend enjoyable for us as organisers as well. Thanks for making the trek and braving the heat and always doing it with a smile.
A big thanks to the organisers from the different regions for putting on the competition on a national scale so that we can truly say that this is the biggest, multi-regional, amateur countrywide 4×4 competion in South Africa, and we can look forward to big things for 2020.
And lastly, thanks to Cooper Tires for supporting us in growing this competition. You guys have been awesome.
Planning has already started for 2020 – and dates will be published soon. Check your calendars and make sure you do not miss out, because 2020 will be the biggest year yet for the Dust Series.
| Number | Navigation | Dune Charge | Duck Hunt | Time Trial | Day 1 | Quarry Trail | Gymkhana | HST | Minefield | Day 2 | TOTAL | ||
| 1 | Charles Muller WC | 018 | 200 | 100 | 90 | 100 | 490 | 132 | 64 | 97 | 100 | 393 | 883 |
| 2 | Brydon Webster EC | 022 | 200 | 75 | 30 | 99 | 404 | 135 | 64 | 96 | 180 | 475 | 879 |
| 3 | Willie Mostert WC | 027 | 200 | 100 | 160 | 0 | 460 | 110 | 65 | 91 | 140 | 406 | 866 |
| 4 | Marcus Oshry EC | 015 | 200 | 100 | 20 | 100 | 420 | 127 | 68 | 99 | 150 | 444 | 864 |
| 5 | Divan Viljoen MP | 010 | 200 | 100 | 110 | 0 | 410 | 129 | 66 | 94 | 160 | 449 | 859 |
| 6 | Herman Neethling SC | 023 | 200 | 0 | 40 | 100 | 340 | 135 | 66 | 91 | 170 | 462 | 802 |
| 7 | Ross Currie EC | 006 | 200 | 100 | 40 | 60 | 400 | 98 | 63 | 91 | 130 | 382 | 782 |
| 8 | Rieger van Rooyen WC | 016 | 200 | 100 | 70 | 0 | 370 | 126 | 67 | 91 | 110 | 394 | 764 |
| 9 | Danie Lotter WC | 024 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 0 | 350 | 135 | 65 | 71 | 140 | 411 | 761 |
| 10 | Andre Joubert KZN N | 019 | 200 | 100 | 70 | 0 | 370 | 128 | 66 | 85 | 110 | 389 | 759 |
| 11 | Wimpie Olivier GP | 028 | 200 | 100 | 10 | 0 | 310 | 127 | 64 | 67 | 160 | 418 | 728 |
| 12 | Jean Thirion EC | 004 | 200 | 100 | 50 | 0 | 350 | 126 | 64 | 75 | 100 | 365 | 715 |
| 13 | Tiaan Smith WC | 005 | 200 | 100 | 130 | 0 | 430 | 108 | 58 | 28 | 90 | 284 | 714 |
| 14 | Tiaan Erasmus SC | 008 | 200 | 75 | 40 | 100 | 415 | 0 | 60 | 67 | 140 | 267 | 682 |
| 15 | Louis Jordaan WC | 014 | 200 | 100 | 10 | 98 | 408 | 110 | 65 | 0 | 80 | 255 | 663 |
| 16 | Michal Swanepoel EC | 001 | 40 | 100 | 40 | 92 | 272 | 110 | 67 | 86 | 100 | 363 | 635 |
| 17 | Reenen Kritzinger WC | 025 | 200 | 100 | 30 | 2 | 332 | 0 | 62 | 91 | 80 | 233 | 565 |
| 18 | Gerda Swanepoel FS | 012 | 40 | 0 | 70 | 97 | 207 | 120 | 65 | 86 | 80 | 351 | 558 |
| 19 | Ben Olivier LP | 017 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 131 | 63 | 88 | 110 | 392 | 492 |
| 20 | Dries du Toit WC | 002 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 114 | 65 | 91 | 130 | 400 | 475 |
| 21 | Rudolf van Rooyen KZN N | 013 | 140 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 240 | 0 | 63 | 92 | 80 | 235 | 475 |
| 22 | Reo Blood WC | 007 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 115 | 65 | 83 | 110 | 373 | 473 |
| 23 | Carel van der Westhuizen FS | 020 | 40 | 0 | 120 | 0 | 160 | 127 | 62 | 88 | 0 | 277 | 437 |
| 24 | Hannie van Rooyen WC | 003 | 40 | 100 | 20 | 100 | 260 | 0 | 63 | 0 | 110 | 173 | 433 |
| 25 | Ernst van der Walt MP | 021 | 40 | 50 | 30 | 0 | 120 | 50 | 63 | 73 | 110 | 296 | 416 |
| 26 | Henco Spangenberg FS | 011 | 40 | 0 | 20 | 18 | 78 | 0 | 64 | 89 | 130 | 283 | 361 |
| 27 | Stefan Bosman SC | 026 | 100 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 98 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 198 |
| 28 | Johan van Zyl WC | 009 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0,00 |