Young Guns fall out despite promising start at Battlefields 400
Local rally team, the Young Guns, was once again dealt a bad hand by Lady Luck and had to bow out of the Battlefields 400.
The Battlefields 400 took place on 4 and 5 May, weaving its way through Kwa-Zulu Natal’s numerous historic battlegrounds.
The race was the second time the Young Guns were competing in their newly-acquired V8-engined BMW X3 SUV which made its debut at the Mpumalanga 400 in March.
They remained the only SUV in the T class which is usually dominated by double-cab bakkies.
Anticipation was high leading up to the event, but the Young Guns were hit with disappointment when, two-thirds of the way into the first 200km loop of the race, their left rear wheelstuds sheared.
This was heartbreaking for them as they had experienced a largely untroubled race before then and were even lying fifth, having moved up one from their sixth-place qualifying position.
The men from Roodepoort were forced to retire from the race as they could not go on after the incident.
Lead driver, Richard Leeke, was disappointed that they weren’t able to finish the race off.
“It was a tough event and with such a high rate of attrition, just being able to soldier on to the finish could’ve netted a good result, and that was our strategy as soon as we had an idea of what the conditions were like,” he sighed. He was however grateful that the incident occurred outside a race section and thus at a lower speed.
“The fact that the wheel studs sheared just after the finish of a racing section was actually a blessing in disguise as if it had happened at high speed it could’ve been a disaster,” Leeke said.
The Young Guns are expected to make their return at the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in June.
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