Schutte & Prins Qualify for National Selections in Search for South Africa’s Land Rover G4 Challenge Team
GREAT KAROO, 7 SEPTEMBER 2008. Capetonians Jan Schutte and Tatum Prins today became the first athletes to qualify for the penultimate round of selections in the search for South Africa’s team for next year’s Land Rover G4 Challenge.
They beat twenty eight other contestants during the first, intense and tightly-fought rotation of the four-part Regional Selections which took place at a secret location in the Great Karoo this weekend.
The form and extent of the tasks they faced cannot be published until after the final rotation is complete, but both Jan and Tatum were surprised by the challenges that were presented to them and said that selections had helped them identify skills which they’d need to hone in the next few weeks.
“The ideal G4 athlete isn’t just a powerhouse; he or she also thinks strategically and is a good team player - although these are just two of the many characteristics the judges look for during the tasks and, indeed, the entire event,” said event director Mark Collins.
“Scoring this first round was incredibly difficult and we don’t expect it’ll get any easier as the rest of the participants go through their paces during the next three rotations over the next two weeks,” he said.
Twenty people will attend the Nationals in Lesotho in October – the winning men and women from each round of the Regionals will be joined by the eight next-best scorers and four wild card entrants.
The runners-up in the first rotation were Robin Farrar, Hanlie Booyen, Olivier Feuillet and Nicholas Mulder – but whether or not they will attend the Nationals will depend on how they score against the other runners-up.
“We’re delighted with the results so far,” said Roland Reid, General Manager, Marketing and Sales for Land Rover South Africa, “and if this group is any indication of the strength and talent of South African adventure sports athletes, we think we’ll be able to field and unbeatable team next year.”
He said that the Land Rover G4 Challenge – the greatest adventure race in the world - would benefit the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and that the winner of the event would have the honour of presenting a brand new Range Rover to the Society in his or her home country.
“And we’re certainly hoping that South Africa’s Red Cross will get that car!”
More information at www.landroverg4challenge.com. A South African supporters Facebook group - “Land Rover G4 Selections South Africa” - has been created.
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