Clint Weston and the road to Dakar
Clint Weston has, over the years become a dominant player within the motor racing scene here in South Africa after he took his first SA National Championship title in 1998, his second a few years later.
He not only runs and manages the Mercedes-AMG Driving Academy at Zwartkops raceway but he also manages a successful business. One of his greatest passions though is racing and most importantly rallying.
Rallying was his goal as it so formed the link between track and dirt driving in cars. He entered into the National Rally Championship in 2011 in a Toyota RunX and managed to get a podium finish in his second race. In 2013 he won the SA National Rally Championship for class S1600. The bug has bitten again and Clint Weston has his eyes on one of the biggest rallying events in the world, the Dakar 2021. Weston has had his eyes on the Dakar for many years now and has recently decided to take action. There are a few steps that need to be taken for him to achieve his goal of competing in the Dakar. One of the first steps will be taken this weekend at the Bronkhorstspruit 400 which forms part of the 2019 SA Cross Country Series. Clint will be piloting a rally ready off-road vehicle sponsored by King Price insurance. The King Price Xtreme team also consists of Schalk Burger and Elvene Vonk.
Zaheer Bodhanya will be Clint’s navigator this weekend. ” Zaheer has competed in the Dakar before, he knows the demands and I am happy to have him by my side as we work towards the ultimate goal” – Clint Weston.
On Tuesday 30 August Clint Weston took part in testing along with Schalk, Elvene and Zaheer. Clint familiarized himself with the new vehicle that he will be driving. “The testing day went well and I can’t wait to compete this weekend”. “The road to Dakar is long and not at all easy but we have trained hard and we know what must be done. With the right team and nothing but the best equipment I believe that it can be done” – Clint Weston
Clint and Zaheer will be taking part in the up and coming Bronkhorstspruit 400 this weekend. The task ahead is not easy as the weekend consists of a 60km qualifying stage on Friday 2 August, followed by two 180km loops on Saturday. The event forms part of the fourth round of the SACCS and with the star-studded line-up, spectators will most definitely be in for a wild ride as some of the best drivers go head to head over some unforgiving terrain.
The event will start at around 10:00 am on the 2nd August 2019 and will be held at Soetdoring Function Venue, 58 Nooitgedacht Bronkhorstspruit, 1020 South Africa.
