13-05-2025
JAC Motors' T9 bakkie sets new South African 24-hour endurance record
The JAC Motors' T9 2.0L Cti broke the 15-year-old 24-hour endurance record for commercial vehicles with 4 084 kilometres at an average speed of 170.1km/h.
As so often happens in South Africa, there's lots of banter around a braai fire as well as discussions, heated arguments and occasionally, there's even a challenge thrown in which, more often than not, is forgotten when the fires have died down.
This was pretty much the case when adventurer and content creator Danie Botha from Wild in SA and a couple of mates came up with the idea of beating the official South African 24-hour Endurance Record for commercial vehicles.
The challenge
Enter the JAC Motors' T9 2.0L Cti and 4 084 kilometres later at an average speed of 170.1km/h at Gerotek, just outside Pretoria, that record is now held by a Chinese bakkie.
The 15-year-old record was previously held by Isuzu with their KB300 TDi averaging 169.3km/h and covering 4 063 kilometres in 24 hours.
"The idea was to have a bit of fun with the IndyCar races in the USA, while giving the motoring public a glimpse into the thrilling world of endurance racing, unofficially attempting to break a 15-year-old record using just one T9 over 24 hours," explained Botha.
"When the 24-hour endurance challenge idea was pitched, we immediately knew it was a great opportunity to showcase the outstanding reliability and durability of our products," said Karl-Heinz Göbel, the CEO of JAC Motors South Africa.
