Topic: “This was going to be a fun experience. I just knew it as we started out, early that morning.”
I entered this Racing event as a Newbie and apart from seeing the 1980’s film starring Burt Reynolds and Roger Moore, I had no idea what to expect. Besides from knowing that The celebrities at the Cannonball Run Africa 2012 were entirely of the vehicular kind and of the 43 cars entered, one Audi RS6 would be in the hands of my father and I, all details were kept secret.
The only information that we knew was that it was a four-day challenge run in Gauteng where a fleet of supercars would be competing in a sequence of competitions, and that proceeds would be donated to the QuadPara Association of South Africa. But where would the proceeds come from? Where would we be sleeping? Where did the 1.8km roll of cling wrap come from? All answers would come in due time.
It began in the early hours of Thursday 9 August at the Kyalami Castle, where tea and coffee did their best to warm teams’ hands and bellies, and the idling Aventador, SLS Roadsters and 911 Turbos in the car park did their best to warm the Earth’s atmosphere. We prepared ourselves knowing that from there we’d be given the first of many cryptic clue books which, if deciphered, would lead us from checkpoint to checkpoint. After a short briefing we were off! At each location, we’d be earning points either by a timed track challenge, or by completing other tasks such as searching storage lockers for clues, driving golf carts blindfolded, and eating worms, crickets and cat food. When it came to eating dodgy food we exited left and got fined by the Cannonball Run’s own comedic police force, aka The CHIPS (Cannonball Run Highway Idiots on Patrol), they were always on hand to “fine” competitors for indiscretions such as not eating “lunch”. Spot fines were also dished for not knowing your car’s tyre size or licence disc details. The Clues lead us to our 5 star hotel in