Bull Run 2018 - The Recce
Posted: Wed Sep 05, 2018 5:49 pm
And so we hit the road again to go and prepare for the 2018 Wegry&Sleep Bull Run in Vanwyksvlei. This will be my 5th Bull Run and the 4th where I am actively involved as part of the organising team. We left Cape Town on a cold Wednesday afternoon at about 14h00, aiming to arrive at Vanwyksvlei around midnight. We do it that way, to maximise on work-hours on both ends, still putting in almost 3/4 of a work day at the office, and kicking off with a full work day at VWV the next morning.
We drove up in 2 vehicles, Gerrie in his trusty old Disco 1 V8 and Allan (Hoppy) and I in my D4D Hilux. Driving up went better than expected with a "quick" (No really, quick but not that quick) cheese burger and chips at the hotel for dinner. Almost an hour later, now in full darkness, we were on the road again, heading out towards Williston. At Williston we filled fuel to the brim. Gerrie measuring 5.8km/l on the V8 and on the D4D I measured 8.7km/l. We travelled at an avg speed of around 120km/h. From there the last push went without hassles and we arrived at our lodgings at about 23h30.
Next morning we awoke to coffee en beskuit, a trip into town to check progress on the preparations of the camp grounds and the faclities, and then we started scouting for a suitable rally route that the participants will be driving on the Friday. Also we checked for nice big open areas where we could set up checkpoints. These checkpoints are manned by our Team Offroad Marshals, and they will get the participants to perform some car/driving related tasks to earn maximum points.
Once we were satisfied that our rally stage was up to scratch, we went to the pan where most of the fun happens. This pan is huge, with lots of space to do all sorts of funky driving stuff. We proceeded to the very back of tha pan, to lay out a 2.5km long high speed track. Then we went closer to the front and made 2 identical twisty race tracks. By this time it was getting dark again, so we went home, to a regte Karoo boerebraai.
Friday we woke up early again and attended a meeting with the local organising committee before heading out for the pan again. This time Allan was driving a V6 Land Cruiser bakkie with some helpers on the back to roll and pack tyres. With 3 cars on the pan 3 way racing was inevitable. As soon as we packed the last tyre, it was off to the drag strip.. where we did some drag racing.. D4D is still as slow as a snail, getting comprehesively beaten by the Disco 1 and the Cruiser. We drove around the high speed track, with the Cruiser setting a fastest lap op 2m04s, followed by the D4D with 2m14s and the Disco with 2m18s.. We also went around the oval track but we decided our aggressive tyre treads were messing up the surface too much, so we stopped.
By late afternoon we had our fill of playing on the pan and went back home.
On Saturday we did some Dust Series venue scouting as the Coooper Tires Dust Series Finals are also being hosted in Vanwyksvlei at the end of Nov. Finalists from all over the country will be attending, so we need to make it good. The scenery on some of the farms we visited were breathtaking. It is a pity we got so busy looking around that we never thought of taking any pictures, but dont despair, after the Finals there will be plenty to go around. There are some rocky mountain climbs, some red Kalahari dunes, a bit of naviation along 2-spoor tracks and a host of other challenges we identified for that event. Best part of it is that this is true "neutral ground" as none of the Dust Series Finalists come from this area.
By the time we got back to town the Kooperasie was closed, and the D4D was seriously low on diesel. The Range on the dash-display said 8km.. Carnavon was 86km away, but we decided, bugger that, we'll see how far we get. We have a recovery kit, and a Disco full of petrol, and while we are being towed, we can take some pictures of a Land Rover rescueing a Hilux. Epic stuff.
That evening we had the best T-Bomes I ever tasted.. expertly braaied on hardekool by Rudi Oberholzer our host. We didnt have a late night, as we were really tired of walking up and down rocky hills all day so we called it a night at about 11pm.
On Sunday we woke up to a cold and windy Karoo morning. Packed our stuff, and said our good-byes. And off we went, GPS counting down the distance to Carnavon and the fuel light coming on as we left the farm gate. 86.6km... Here goes nothing. We drove at about 80km/h and made it to Carnavon easily, with about 10 liters left in the tank. Allan inflated our tyres, and off we went home, driving in rain for long stretches. We stopped in Williston at the Manna Kafee for a bite to eat. Fantastic fare at very reasonable prices. If you are in the vicinity, pop in.
From Williston we pulled back our ears, and first stop was Klawer, then Piketberg, and then home. All in all a very good productive weekend, asd we are satisfied that we will present a top notch Bull Run again this year.
We drove up in 2 vehicles, Gerrie in his trusty old Disco 1 V8 and Allan (Hoppy) and I in my D4D Hilux. Driving up went better than expected with a "quick" (No really, quick but not that quick) cheese burger and chips at the hotel for dinner. Almost an hour later, now in full darkness, we were on the road again, heading out towards Williston. At Williston we filled fuel to the brim. Gerrie measuring 5.8km/l on the V8 and on the D4D I measured 8.7km/l. We travelled at an avg speed of around 120km/h. From there the last push went without hassles and we arrived at our lodgings at about 23h30.
Next morning we awoke to coffee en beskuit, a trip into town to check progress on the preparations of the camp grounds and the faclities, and then we started scouting for a suitable rally route that the participants will be driving on the Friday. Also we checked for nice big open areas where we could set up checkpoints. These checkpoints are manned by our Team Offroad Marshals, and they will get the participants to perform some car/driving related tasks to earn maximum points.
Once we were satisfied that our rally stage was up to scratch, we went to the pan where most of the fun happens. This pan is huge, with lots of space to do all sorts of funky driving stuff. We proceeded to the very back of tha pan, to lay out a 2.5km long high speed track. Then we went closer to the front and made 2 identical twisty race tracks. By this time it was getting dark again, so we went home, to a regte Karoo boerebraai.
Friday we woke up early again and attended a meeting with the local organising committee before heading out for the pan again. This time Allan was driving a V6 Land Cruiser bakkie with some helpers on the back to roll and pack tyres. With 3 cars on the pan 3 way racing was inevitable. As soon as we packed the last tyre, it was off to the drag strip.. where we did some drag racing.. D4D is still as slow as a snail, getting comprehesively beaten by the Disco 1 and the Cruiser. We drove around the high speed track, with the Cruiser setting a fastest lap op 2m04s, followed by the D4D with 2m14s and the Disco with 2m18s.. We also went around the oval track but we decided our aggressive tyre treads were messing up the surface too much, so we stopped.
By late afternoon we had our fill of playing on the pan and went back home.
On Saturday we did some Dust Series venue scouting as the Coooper Tires Dust Series Finals are also being hosted in Vanwyksvlei at the end of Nov. Finalists from all over the country will be attending, so we need to make it good. The scenery on some of the farms we visited were breathtaking. It is a pity we got so busy looking around that we never thought of taking any pictures, but dont despair, after the Finals there will be plenty to go around. There are some rocky mountain climbs, some red Kalahari dunes, a bit of naviation along 2-spoor tracks and a host of other challenges we identified for that event. Best part of it is that this is true "neutral ground" as none of the Dust Series Finalists come from this area.
By the time we got back to town the Kooperasie was closed, and the D4D was seriously low on diesel. The Range on the dash-display said 8km.. Carnavon was 86km away, but we decided, bugger that, we'll see how far we get. We have a recovery kit, and a Disco full of petrol, and while we are being towed, we can take some pictures of a Land Rover rescueing a Hilux. Epic stuff.
That evening we had the best T-Bomes I ever tasted.. expertly braaied on hardekool by Rudi Oberholzer our host. We didnt have a late night, as we were really tired of walking up and down rocky hills all day so we called it a night at about 11pm.
On Sunday we woke up to a cold and windy Karoo morning. Packed our stuff, and said our good-byes. And off we went, GPS counting down the distance to Carnavon and the fuel light coming on as we left the farm gate. 86.6km... Here goes nothing. We drove at about 80km/h and made it to Carnavon easily, with about 10 liters left in the tank. Allan inflated our tyres, and off we went home, driving in rain for long stretches. We stopped in Williston at the Manna Kafee for a bite to eat. Fantastic fare at very reasonable prices. If you are in the vicinity, pop in.
From Williston we pulled back our ears, and first stop was Klawer, then Piketberg, and then home. All in all a very good productive weekend, asd we are satisfied that we will present a top notch Bull Run again this year.
Something to look forward to for the Kaapenaars. 
