The week-long Defender Trophy started on a leisurely Sunday afternoon at the South Gate Country Lodge near Polokwane. For Team Front Runner (myself, Michael de Bruyn and his son, 13-year-old son Nathan), this required a five-hour drive north from Johannesburg in Michael’s well-cared-for Defender 110 TDCi following a long flight from the United Kingdom, where I now reside. However, the prospect of meeting up with some old Defender Trophy friends made the long haul more than worth the effort. I was not the only one who had travelled from abroad for the event, though. Young James Birkholtz, who works on luxury yachts in Fort Lauderdale, had flown in to join his dad, Tony.
At the check-in, we were given all sorts of goodies from the event’s generous sponsors, including a spare wheel cover from Melvill & Moon and some braai accessories from the main sponsor, MBT Petroleum. The first thing to do after checking in was to sticker up the Defenders, which took a while as there were loads of sponsors. I used the time to reacquaint myself with some old Trophy legends, such as Chris Ash and Nick
