Supervan sets the pace for the Spirit of Amarok

The inimitable Sarel van der Merwe needs no introduction – and yes, he is no saint either – but “the Spirit of Africa competition and perhaps getting older, has made me softer,” says Sarel.

He sits across from me at one of the long tables at Alkmaar Farmstay where the annual international leg (the fourth year) of the Spirit if Amarok is held.

This year the competition hosted 20 teams from 10 countries . We last spoke at the Spirit of Africa in Kosi Bay, 2008 I think it was, and since then a lot of water has run under the bridge.

Yes, says Sarel, “I have now had to cap the number of entries at 500 per year. More than 20 000 people have been involved with the Spirit.

With the international event one also has communication challenges. Most of these teams are not necessarily compatible in terms of our standards.

For the local event and particularly the elimination rounds, there are not many venues that can handle the number of people and repeat use of the stages.

At this event for example we have 26 stages which offer a combination of technical as well as speed tests. And the challenge is to design these stages so that it is safe for the inexperienced teams and also not bore the more experienced teams.”

“We have changed the format. Competitors now in fact, drive against me. I will drive the stage and then add some extra seconds to the time and then depending on whether competitors equal or improve on it, points are earned.

And yes, some of the regular South African teams have become quite capable of equalling my times. On the technical stages I drive slower because we don’t want to damage the bakkies and then we allow some extra time for the competitors during which they will not be penalised.

If they finish a technical stage too early, the penalties can be heavy. Competitors start with 100 points and get penalised for roll-back, being early and for touching the markers.”

To accommodate the speed stages of this international event, Sarel managed to convince some of the neighbouring farms to allow him access on their property so most of the speed stages happen on Killarney Farms.

And yes, one of the Russian teams crashed through one of the fences on a tight left-hander during the competition. Of course one of the rules dictates that, if you damage a vehicle, you’re out.

“The Russians are a spirited and rowdy bunch,” says Sarel “but hell, there is nothing wrong with their Vodka”.

And he laughs because, of course he has, and I have never, drank Vodka. And well, an event like this always has those after-hours socialisations after a day’s competition.

Let’s refer to them as “post-mortem” meetings. “The recipe for this competition has consistently been fine-tuned through the years and we have regular and large corporate involvement to such an extent that we open registration in November and by January we have a waiting list of people who want to participate.”

So when do you plan to retire from this event? “Well, I am strategising about exactly that but the local Spirit of Africa event is securely tied to me on a personal level and you know, I have made so many friends over the years, that it may just be well impossible to give it up completely.”

Says Boudan de Wet, national service manager VWSA Commercial Vehicles, ”Sarel is the Spirit and the Spirit is Sarel – it is quite impossible to imagine someone else – anyone replacing Sarel.

His driving skills are unparalleled and so are his people skills – a very difficult question to answer. But yes, Sarel is the Spirit”. What has been fundamentally one of the largest insights you have gained through the years of this competition?

“That there are many more good people – all races and colours – than bad people out there and we have wasted so much time throughout the years because we focus on our differences rather than our similarities.

What is next? “I would love to do a series just for women also.” Perhaps this I something for the future and of course, I would love to find, train and teach someone who will eventually take over from me.”

Wonderful though, is the fact that Danielle [wife] is also involved with the logistics of this competition. The methodologies of the series are such that we have little or no queries and complaints from competitors and the rest -which well, is a good place to be.”

And here’s a tidbit that most readers probably did not know. Sarel is a qualified accountant but, “I would probably have died if I actually continued with that line of work, he said.”

But, let’s get back to the event. The South African team won the Spirit of Amarok, with Australia in second and Botswana in third. JD Kruger and LD Erasmus (SA) won the individual first place followed by Bennie and Erica Kotze all the way from the Kalahari in second individual place, followed by Lachian and Philip Tombs from Australia. Says JD Kruger and LD Erasmus,

“We have been competing in the Spirit of Africa for six years now. This competition is extremely well organised -plenty of bederfies – good stage layout – last day and the wet tracks were difficult but we really did well.

The reason why this competition is such a wow is because of Sarel and his team – the support from VWSA – Sarel’s unique ability to change stages if and when required without breaking a sweat or causing delays.

Our success is due to the fact that our individual skills complement both of us. And we change rolls depending on what the next stage will demand.

Changes – no, but we did enjoy the tyre change and blindfolded exercises because it levels the playing field to a certain extent. The general recipe though, is just perfect.

We’ll be back!” Bennie and Erica Kotze said, “We are a husband and wife team (first time for Erika) and here and there this did present more challenges but we know one another and it helped.

We would love to do it again, though,” says Bennie. “Love the idea of also involving the navigator more throughout the competition and well, we don’t necessarily have any preferences as to speed versus technical,” says Bennie.

“All indications are that the standard of the teams that competed this year is much higher than previous years so we are really pleased to have finished second overall in the individual competition and well, really chuffed that the SA team won the event.”

We will be back in 2019.” Well, the general consensus among participants was, don’t let competing in the Spirit of Africa be just another bucket list item.

Save and enrol, it will prove to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and you will probably not just do it once. No sir, this stuff is addictive!

For the Sippel’s, owners of Alkmaar Farmstay, this was a first – a first of having to, among other things, accommodate and feed 130-plus people for a week.

But you know, this couple’s middle name is raakvat and of course Sarel’s wife Danielle, is another raakvatter. So, why not, let’s do it again in 2019!