Toyota will go into this year’s Absa Off Road Championship, which opens with the Adenco 400 in the Western Cape on March 20 and 21, with high expectations.

This year’s Toyota challenge is a powerful one with 12 factory and privateer entries in the SP Class, backed up by strong challenges in Class D and Class E. Numerically, it is the highest challenge in the championship.

“We are confident we can win regularly this season in the SP Class and the other categories,” said Toyota Motorsport manager William Haddad.

The Toyota challenge has, however, suffered a late blow with the withdrawal of driver Mark Cronje. Business commitments have forced Cronje into taking a sabbatical from off road racing, and no replacement has yet been named to join Chris Birkin in one of the two Castrol Toyota Hilux factory vehicles.

The rest of the team is made up as follows:

• Anthony Taylor and Robin Houghton, both hugely experienced, take on ‘senior partner’ status in the Castrol Toyota Hilux squad.
• On the privateer front, Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst (Team Barberspan Castrol Toyota Hilux), and Hugo and Jaap de Bruyn (Micaren Exel Toyota Hilux) are both potential top five finishers.
• Jaco Swanepoel/Keith Solomon (IDM Cement Toyota Hilux), George and Sharon Barkhuizen (AIM Race Data Displays Toyota Hilux) and Chris du Plooy and Ewald van Rensburg (RFS Toyota Hilux) will be in the SP class.
• Christiaan du Plooy and Henk Jansen van Vuuren (RFS Toyota Hilux) make the jump from Class D.
• Gary Bertholdt and Andre Vermeulen leave the Special Vehicle category to campaign in a new Atlas Copco Toyota Hilux.
• On the Class D front the Toyota challenge will come from a highly experienced crew along with two crews who last season made a big impression in Class E, and a newcomer. The experience comes from former Class D driver’s champion Cliff Weichelt who will team up with son Louis in the N1 4x4 Toyota Hilux D4D.
• Dewald van Breda and du Toit (Northam Toyota), the 2008 Rookies of the Year, will be out in a three litre D4D model with Diederik and Danie Hattingh (Transcor Toyota Hilux) also moving up from Class E.
• Reigning champion Jannie Visser and Joks le Roux (Team Barberspan Castrol Toyota Hilux) will spearhead the Toyota Class E challenge. They will be supported by Ramon and Maret Bezuidenhout (Botes Vervoer Toyota Hilux).
• Other newcomers are Pikkie Labuschange/Rikus Erasmus in a second 4x4 Megaworld Toyota Hilux and Heinie Strumpher and Hendrik van der Linden in a Micaren Excel Toyota.