BOTY
For the LOVE of Bakkies

Gerhard Groenewald

Coarse Director

Training people for adventure all over Africa 4x4 nature and the responsible use of vehicles in our beloved Africa is about as good a summary you can give of a man that has been living behind the steering wheel of a 4x4 for most of his life. Descriptions like the "adventurer" of Africa echoes similarities with Kingsley Holgate, and to say the least, these two could have been brothers... Gerhard, the man behind the inception of the 4x4 Ecochallenge started 4x4 Training in 1976... A good 47 years back and ultimately led to the establishment of Klipbokkop one of the better training locations in the country that boast of most of the natural challenges one will find in your 4x4 adventures in Africa. Having done and won several 4x4 competitions in his illustrious career, Garhard more than 45 years of 4x4 experience to SA BOTY. Gerhard is the Course Director of the Towing aspects of the SA BOTY competition.

Thorsten Arné Pey

Dynamic Driving Coarse Juror

Thorsten Arné Pey needs little introduction as a former Western Province Clubmans and Western Province Rally Drivers Champion. With his late father, Klaus Pey, a long serving Marshal at the Killarney International Raceway it was inevitable that both Thorsten and Doreen Pey would become marshals for a decade. Thorsten would go on to win the 2000 Western Province Clubmans Championship in his Forsdicks BMW E30 before switching to rallying where he won the 2010 Western Province Rally Drivers Championship in the Forsdicks BMW E36 325i. With a financial background in Forsdicks BMW he was also very successful as driver in the WBMK Gymkhana Championship and currently find himself active as driver of the 0 car on each round of the Western Cape Rally Championship in his Landrover Disco V8.

André de Clerk

4x4 Course Juror

Growing up in the farming community of Thabazimbi – Limpopo Province, we were exposed to the outdoor and 4x4 live on a daily basis. My brother and I used to get stuck on the farm on various occasions. Since a very young age I loved the outdoors and the whole 4x4 fraternity. I have done 4x4 and Defensive driver training for BHP Billiton Mine, Optimum Mine, AFS and various other private learners over the past year and a half. I have trained and assessed about 350 learners on US-254135 (Basic 4WD course). We have been training over 400 learners in the hospitality industry – on behalf of Bushwise Field Guides, in Hoedspruit over the past 10 years. I have been involved with many manufactures in the past years to train either staff or customers on their vehicles to better understand either the technology behind their systems or to better handle the vehicles in off-road conditions. We have developed several 4x4 driver training programmes to assist customers with vehicle specific requirements.

Marius Ras

Towing Course Juror

Marius has been in the sound industry for over 30 years. A qualified sound engineer, he built a formidable sound production company which specialised in retail sales and large scale outdoor sound productions but that was only a small portion of the success he currently achieved whilst he spent more than 38 years doing and living around 4x4 and outdoor excursions. Marius designed a new caravan concept and is now the humble owner of the Mobi Lodge range of caravans. He is also the designer and developer of the Mobi•G golf cart He has accumulated extensive knowledge around the towing of caravans on all road and off-road surfaces as part of the R&D to make the Mobi Lodge range of caravans a great towing companion for most towing vehicles. His extensive knowledge in this department makes him a welcome juror for the second year at BOTY. Marius loves the outdoors, camping, 4×4 and hunting. His passions are boats, motorbikes and his favourite sport is water skiing. Marius is a passionate life student, family man and live the law of love!

Choppie Linstrom

4x4 & Towing Juror

Choppie Linstrom leverages expertise in off-road driving and towing to thoroughly evaluate and provide informed sentiments on the performance and capabilities of 4x4 vehicles and towing equipment as a dedicated 4x4 team player for most of his adult life. Choppie Linstrom a regular face at the Brakkeduine 4x4 Route for the past 25 years. A wonderful place to share our off-road knowledge to the best of our ability with clients and new off-road enthusiasts. I have always had a passion for vehicles, in particular, 4x4's and I have also taken part in a few 4x4 competitions and overland expeditions like being fortunate to come second in the 2022 Spirit of Africa event. I also have a particular interest and vast knowledge on 4x4 systems and drivetrains, matching the different applications to the correct vehicle drive and use experience. I build and modify 4x4 vehicles for my business, because of specific applications. I have 35+ years of gravel road travelling experience, spanning vast distances. Looking forward to contribute at the 2024 BOTY event.

PG Groenewald

4x4, Towing & Dynamic Driving Course Juror

PG is an experienced off-roading enthusiast and expert, with a career that began in 1992 during a memorable trip to Africa. Growing up driving off-road at Klipbokkop Mountain Resort, PG officially entered the field upon receiving a driver's license. As a respected judge at the 4x4 Eco Challenge until 2005 and the current Head Instructor at Klipbokkop, PG plays a vital role in training and developing off-road driving skills. In addition to teaching, PG is actively involved in testing and developing tires and vehicles, merging a professional career with a lifelong passion for cars. A highlight of PG's journey was representing South Africa at the World Drift Summit in Ebisho, Japan 2008.

Donnovin Stanley

4x4 Course Juror

Donnovin Stanley has been the right hand man for Gerhard Groenewald @ Klipbokkop for several years whilst conducting 4x4 courses. Having been exposed to the off-road industry since 2003 at Klipbokkop, he has been actively involved in the training of several hundred of participants of the 4x4 Eco Challenge and the many trainees participating in the Goodyear 4x4 Academy at Klipbokkop. Having been exposed to many different off-road makes and models of vehicles and has first hand experience in the testing of both vehicles and tyres at Klipbokkop since 2015, we welcome Donnovin for his first experience as a BOTY Juror.

Cyril Klopper

4x4 & Dynamic Driving Juror

Cyril Klopper’s career in journalism began in 2007 when he wrote his first article for Top Bike magazine. He was thereafter employed by Weg/go! magazine and contributed freelance articles to various Media24 titles. He is currently a senior journalist at go! Drive & Camp magazine where he specializes in 4x4 trails and off-road vehicles. Experienced Freelance Journalist with a demonstrated history of working in the writing and editing industry. Skilled in Photography, Web Content Writing, Editing, Journalism, and Blogging. Strong media and communication professional with a B.Econ focused in Economics from University of Stellenbosch. Cyril, is gracing us for the second year at BOTY and we are looking forward to hear his insights after experiencing this year`s contestants first hand.

Ferdie de Vos

Boty 2024 Course Convenor

Ferdi de Vos is an award-winning automotive, travel and lifestyle journalist, and an experienced media consultant with in-depth Marketing and Communications experience and extensive PR knowledge. With his intimate knowledge of the automotive industry he provides content to a variety of magazines, online publications, websites and newspapers including the online portal Wheels24 and newspapers Beeld, Die Burger and Volksblad in the Media24 group, the magazines and online portals of Driven, Premier, Inflight and SLOW in the TCB Media group, motorsportmedia.co.za and Bakkie & Car in the MC Media group, and Automobil and Imperial Auto for the Future Group, He also assists with special projects and the development of strategic plans for the publishing groups. His has won numerous industry awards, the most recent being the 2016 SA Guild of Motoring Journalists' (SAGMJ) Motoring Journalist of the Year award. He again won the Bridgestone SA Environmental Award and have also been adjudged the 2016 Photojournalist of the Year and winner of the Digital Media (Motorsport) category. He was 2016 runner-up in the categories Digital Media (Motoring), Newspaper and magazine (Motoring). In 2015 he was adjudged Newspaper Journalist of the Year (Motoring) and runner-up in the Newspaper Journalist of the Year (Motorsport) title. While at Toyota South Africa the in-house magazine Toyota ZONE was judged the Overall Best Corporate Publication in the SA Publication Forum Awards (2012) and as editor of WIEL the magazine won numerous publishing awards (1999-2007). He was also adjudged South African Motoring Journalist of the Year in 1992, 1994 and 1997, the first to win the title three times. Besides his official qualifications he has done numerous courses, including sub-editing (1989) and management (1995) and marketing courses (1991-2006), the Toyota Marketing Course (TWSM) in Japan (2008), as well as Toyota Business Practices (2009) and Performance Management Courses (2011).

Michele Lupini

Dynamic Driving Juror

Once a handy engine and chassis tuner, and a combative racer and rally driver, Michele took up the pen to express his passion for cars, racing and motoring over 30 years ago. He published South Africa’s go-to enthusiast motor magazines Cars in Action and Bakkie - some say against all odds - for a quarter century. In that time, Michele had a hand in nurturing many of today’s SA motoring media leaders. Today Michele keeps himself busy with Auto and a range of motoring media duties.

Hannes Visser

4x4 & Dynamic Driving Juror

Hannes grew up in a motoring and motorsport environment and officially joined the SA motor industry back in 1997. His first few years were spent on the Public Relations side of the fence. During this time, he was responsible for vehicle logistics during several national and international car launches and other motoring related events, as well as the national management of media test car fleets for several manufacturers. During this time, he also contributed to a number of printed publications such as the the Wiel Motor tydskrif, Drive Magazine, Top Car and Gauteng Rapport to name but a few. Motorsport has always been a passion. Besides reporting on motorsport for print publications, Hannes became the co-producer of the national television coverage for several disciplines of motor racing, including a period of 8 years for the National Rally Championship as well as the last 8 years of the SA Rally Raid Championship. But perhaps he is best known for his role as one of the producers and presenters of South Africa’s longest running motoring show on television. La’t Wiel on kykNET is a household name and is celebrating its 20th year on air in 2023. During this time, they have produced nearly 600 episodes. Hannes has been awarded the Television Motoring and Motorsport Journalist titles on several occasions, and has been a Jury member for the SAGMJ COTY on more than 10 occasions. Also attending BOTY for the second year, Hannes will offer tremendous insights from his extensive motoring career.