FORD MOTOR COMPANY OF SOUTHERN AFRICA ACHIEVES THREE WINS AND TWO SECONDS ON THIS YEARS TOTAL ECONOMY RUN
Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa recently participated in the Total Economy Run. The annual event serves to test the fuel efficiency of vehicles under strictly controlled conditions. This year the event was run in the Gauteng and North Western Province over a 1 003km route.
Ford Motor Company in conjunction with Lazarus Motor Company have become longstanding participants in the event with a history that dates back 31 years. For the 2007 event, nine vehicles, comprising Mazda, Ford and Land Rover were entered.
Ford brought home two class wins and one second place trophy while Mazda had one class win and one second place finish.
Stuart Greig and Wynand Gerber took the Class B victory in their Ford Fiesta 1.4-litre, using just 5.416l/100km and 54.31 litres over the duration of the event. Also driving a Ford Fiesta, Roger Hills and Gordon Stuart claimed top honours in the hotly contested Class I. The Ford Fiesta 1.6-litre TDCi returned impressive fuel consumption figures of 4.501l/100kms.
Tony Barbosa and Les Mackenzie in the Ford Focus 2-litre TDCi claimed second position in Class J using 48.44 litres with a final fuel consumption figure of 5.030l/100kms.
Gordon Noble and Graham Bate piloted the Mazda3 2.3-litre to victory in Class E, on the vehicles debut run, using 66.36 litres and averaging 6.617l/100km. Mazda dominated Class E with Roger Rousessart and Julian Grift taking second place in the Mazda3 2.3 MPS. The turbo charged Mazda used 7.138l/100kms.
Schalk and Susan van Niekerk achieved 66.04litres and 6.585l/100kms in their Mazda5 2.0, and the Mazda BT-50 3.0 CRDi d/c 4×4 and Ford Ranger 3.0 d/c 4×4 XLE achieved 7.894l/100kms and 7.977l/100kms respectively.
The Land Rover Discovery SE 2.7V6 D completed the Economy Run with a credible 9.289l/100kms.
Vehicles, which participate in the Total Economy Run are standard with no alterations or additions added to assist in fuel efficiency. Vehicles are monitored and scrutinized to ensure that all rules are adhered to, while the driver and navigator of each vehicle is accompanied by an assigned observer to ensure that all road and competition rules are complied with.
“We’re delighted to have participated and achieved good results in the Total Economy Run,” explains Ben Pillay, General Manager Communications and Government Affairs, Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. “Ford has proved to be a strong contender over the years and once again yielded strong results. On the Mazda front we entered a variety of new products and are happy to achieve a first and second place.”
“Ford Motor Company would like to thank Lazarus Motor Company for their hard work and preparation ahead of the event. The Centurion based dealership continues to demonstrate an unyielding commitment to the event.” concluded Pillay.
