Valid for South African Rally-Raid Championship

Two days and two consecutive rounds of the 2023 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) awaits competitors when they travel to the northern part of the Free State to participate in the Parys 400, which takes place on 18 and 19 August, and if the first three rounds of the season is anything to go by, Rounds Four and Five will again produce riveting racing action.

Round four and five of the SARRC will both be one-day events starting with a short Pirelli Qualifying Race at 07:30 in the morning to determine the starting order for the main race that will follow soon after. Teams will have to race with precision to keep their noses clean while aiming for the highest possible position and bagging the most points towards the Overall Production Vehicle Championship and the various class championships.

After the dust had settled at the recent marathon event in the Botswana desert, the standings looked somewhat shuffled with desert race winners, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger) taking the overall lead as well as the lead in FIA T1+. The team were also victorious at an extremely wet and muddy Parys 400 last year, and brimming with confidence will hope for a repeat of this result.

They will have support from their team-mates, Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert who had a disappointing start to the season but clawed their way into the top five after earning good points at the TGR 1000 Desert Race in Botswana.

FIA T1+ is loaded with entries as various teams have moved from T1, and international teams are back from more racing in South Africa. 14 teams very competent teams have entered for the Parys 400 double-header, predicting loads of action and fierce rivalry.

Toyota Gazoo Racing will again have their four Toyota DKR Hilux T1+ teams in the field, of which three will be pushing hard for the titles. Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings will be chasing their third victory of the season and will hope to regain the lead. They will, however, be under pressure from team-mates, Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy as only a few points separate them in the overall and FIA T1+ standings.

Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy-Lyle have proved they have what it takes to be frontrunners while the young Saood Variawa (17), with navigator Danie Stassen, quickly got to grips with the Toyota DKR T1+ Hilux in Botswana and will be looking to build on their experience.

The Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota DKR T1+ Hilux) are still making up for lost ground due to them not competing in the opening round while team-mates, Fouché and Bertus Blignaut, have advanced from FIA T1 and will now be competing in T1+. Regulars Chris Visser/Albertus Venter (Red-Lined REVO T1+) and Gary Bertholdt/Henry Köhne (Toyota Hilux T1+) will both aim for good results accompanied by valuable points while Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen (Ford Ranger T1+) are back for more of the action.

Red-Lined International will also be fielding two international teams in FIA T1+. The 19-year old female teenager, Aliyyah Koloc, who completed the Dakar Rally earlier this year and scored points when she finished the Sugarbelt 400 in FIA T1 in May in KwaZulu-Natal with navigator Riaan Greyling, will be in action in the Red-Lined REVO T1+ as will the Dutch crew of Stefan Carmans and Arjan van Tiel who will be competing on South African soil for the first time.
The lone T1+ 4 x 2 entry, in the hands of the wily old fox, Lance Trethewey and Adrian Roets (King Price Xtreme CR 6), and pending route conditions, could pose a threat.

The competition in FIA T1 has been fierce this season with three different teams claiming a victory while all three had a chance to lead the title chase. And after their victory in Botswana, reigning champions, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota) are the new leaders and will aim to maintain this coveted position.

They have opened a marginal gap to the winners of the season opener, Johan de Bruyn/Gerhard Schutte (Red-Lined REVO T1) who will be breathing down their necks with another Red-Lined REVO T1 in the hands of Nic Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel, who took the lead after their class victory at the Sugarbelt 400, currently in third place after not being able to see out the distance in Botswana.

The father and son team of Johan and Sean van Staden (Renault Duster) as well as youngster, Jayden Els and experienced lady navigator, Elvéne Vonk (King Price Xtreme SVR), who won their entry into the Dakar Rally 2024 could also finish on the final podium as only a handful of points separate the teams from third to sixth place.

With no real shot at the title, but with the aim to gain rally-raid experience and compete in one of the world's biggest and most competitive rally-raid championships, the FIA T1 field is packed with regular teams of which various are also visiting international competitors.

Regular German visitors, Daniel Schröder who teams up with KwaZulu-Natal businessman, Ryan Bland in the WCT Engineering Nissan Navara and father, Jurgen, who has KZN motorcycle rider, Stuart Gregory reading him the notes in a similar Nissan Navara, have had their ups and downs while the Dutch team of Dave Klaassen and Tessa Rooth return for more of the action in the Red-Lined VK50.
In the Class T championship, a third class win for Hendrik and Heinrich du Plessis (Ford Ranger) will go a long way in their chase for a first SARRC title. With Schalk Burger/Henk Janse van Vuuren (King Price Xtreme Volkswagen Amarok) currently third in the class, would like nothing better than victory.

The Parys 400 Round Four starts at 07:30 on Friday, 18 August at the Parys Afridome with a short Pirelli Qualifying Race to determine the starting order for the main race that commences at 09:30. Competitors will then have to complete a 173 kilometre loop twice with the Start/Finish, the Designated Service Point (DSP) and Rally Headquarters situated at the Afridome where the podium ceremony will also take place.

On Saturday, 19 August a new qualifying route as well as a different 190 kilometre loop awaits the teams for Round Five of the SARRC with the action again starting at 07:30 while the flag will drop for the main race at 09:30. Like the previous day, teams will return to the DSP after completing the first loop for a compulsory service break before taking on the second loop.

The Parys 400 can be followed on the RallySafe App available for download, at no charge, from the iStore and Google PlayStore or on Facebook: saccsauto; Instagram: saccs_auto and Twitter: @SACCS.Auto

Source SARRC
Images: Plan C Productions

The battles in the Special Vehicle Category of the South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) have increased in intensity during the season, and although the overall leaders have created a little breathing space for themselves, they are not home safe yet. Anything can still happen at the upcoming Parys 400 that takes place on 18 and 19 August and forms Rounds Four and Five of the 2023 season.

With two full rounds of the SARRC taking place on the weekend, teams will be forced to race according to careful planning and a sensible strategy to be able to finish both events and accumulate as many points as possible towards the Overall Special Vehicle Championship as well as the Class A and Class G championships.

The defending overall and Class A champions, Tim Howes and Gary Campbell (Tim Drew Property Developers BAT Spec 4) opened their scorebook at the opening round of the season with full marks and are currently in the lead, having completed both the following events and scoring points. The team have opened a gap to the rest of the field although another win will ensure less stress with their aim of defending their title successfully.
John Thomson/Maurice Zermatten (Zarco Challenger) missed the first round but bagged a healthy dollop of points winning in Botswana, which moved them into the overall and Class A runner-up position. They are within striking distance of Howes/Campbell and this battle can go down to the wire pending the outcome at Parys.

LC de Jager and Rikus Hattingh (Porter) make a welcome return to the SARRC after missing most of the 2022 and 2023 seasons and will be depending on beginner’s luck.

The only other entrants for the Parys event, the tenacious Makenete brothers, Keith and Andrew will only be competing in Round Five of the championship on Saturday, 19 August.

An interesting situation has developed at the front of Class G where the Moto-Netix Racing team-mates of Glen Theron/Craig Galvin and Ian and his father, Werner Mostert, both in similar Can-Am Maverick vehicles, have earned the same number of points in the class championship while Theron/Galvin are four points and one position ahead of Team Mostert in the overall standings. Another win will lift the spirit of the Mosterts as reigning Class G champions as will a maiden win this season for their team-mates. This situation can result in an interesting approach for both teams at Parys.

Geoff Minnitt/Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick) are currently third in the class championship and they would like to follow their victory in Botswana up with another win. They are close enough to the battle at the front to get involved, and leading the class is very much on the cards for the team.
Ewald van Rensburg/Johan Scheepers, also in a Can-Am Maverick earned the silverware for a victory earlier this season and they would like to make up for not scoring points in Botswana as will team-mates Francois and Neil de Wit.

Both Parys 400 events will consist of a short Pirelli Qualifying Race starting at 07:30 each morning to determine the starting order for the main race that follows on both days at 09:30. After the qualifier on Friday, teams will take on a 173 kilometre loop which they will have to complete twice to be deemed finishers while a different 190 kilometre loop awaits them for the Parys 400, Round Five on Saturday. The Start/Finish, the Designated Service Point (DSP) and the Rally Headquarters will be situated at the Parys Afridome where the podium ceremonies will also take place on both days.

Spectators and enthusiasts can follow the Parys 400 on the RallySafe App that can be downloaded from the iStore and Google PlayStore or on Facebook: saccsauto; Instagram: saccs_auto and Twitter: @SACCS.Auto

Source SARRC
Images: Plan C Productions

The South African Rally-Raid championship one of the biggest Rally-Raid series globally

The local South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC), which consists of seven rounds per season, has grown exponentially in numbers, with an anticipated combined total of 24 teams that will be lining up in FIA T1+ and FIA T1 classes in the Production Vehicle Category at the upcoming Parys 400 double-header is indicative of it being the single most populated local Rally-Raid championship in the world.

The Parys 400 forms the fourth and the fifth rounds of the 2023 SARRC and takes place on 18 and 19 August in the Parys area in the Free State. And while the battle for all the various championship titles will continue in all fury, the FIA T1+ and FIA T1 not only attract the greatest number of entries, but the high level of competition and the fierce battle for the titles reach new heights as the season progresses.

It is anticipated that a total of 15 teams will enter in FIA T1+ for the Parys 400 double-header, while at least nine teams will line up in FIA T1, and with the season at the halfway mark, these numbers add to the excitement of the championship. The large number of visiting competitors is a further indication of the high level of competition in the SARRC.

The SARRC has been the breeding ground for the international stage with various local manufacturers and competitors playing an important role in the outcome of results of races across the globe. Looking at the gruelling 2023 Dakar Rally that took place over 16 days and 8 500 kilometres in Saudi Arabia, a total of 58.5% of the vehicles in the car category were designed, developed and built in South Africa with the Midrand manufacturer and constructors, Toyota Gazoo Racing, Century Racing and Red-Lined Motorsport, pushing their vehicles with star-studded, experienced and competent teams into the field.
The efforts were greatly rewarded with the defending Dakar Rally champions, Nasser Al-Attiya and his French navigator, Mathieu Baumel, claiming a back-to-back victory in the locally built Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux DKR T1+. They were backed-up by the two South African Toyota Gazoo Racing teams, the Dakar Rally veteran Giniel de Villiers and navigator Dennis Murphy and Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings, who also posted outstanding performances by rounding off the overall top five.

Five SA built Toyota Hilux vehicles finished in the Top 10 in FIA T1+ while there was also a podium finish for another SA race car constructor, Century Racing with Mathieu Serradori/Loic Minaudier finishing third in FIA T1.2 for 4x2 vehicles. Century Racing started the 2023 event with a staggering 10 CR6 vehicles with the SA team, Brian Baragwanath/Leonard Cremer, like their French team-mates, competing in the new Century Racing CR6-T bi-turbo vehicles. Baragwanath/Cremer were leading the class and were seventh on the overall standings until they flipped and damaged their car during the penultimate stage and had to eventually settle for 15th place in FIA T1.2.

There were more good results for teams in Century Racing vehicles who finished 10th, 14th 18th and 19th. Red-Lined International also proved that they are rated as one of the leading race car builders with teams competing in FIA T1.1 by winning the class and filling four of the top five positions in the class and claiming a 100% finishing record.

The regular SARRC competitor German, Daniel Schröder and his navigator from KwaZulu-Natal, Ryan Bland won the class in a WCT Engineering Nissan Navara VK50 (ex-Red-Lined International) and were followed by another regular SARRC competitor, UAE based Thomas Bell and SA navigator, Gerhard Schutte (Red-Lined VK56). Two more Dutch teams rounded off the top five in the class in their Red-Lined International vehicles, with regular competitors in SA Dave Klaassen/Tessa Rooth (Red-Lined VK56), who will be in action at Parys, finishing fourth.

The SA Rally-Raid Championship has gone from strength to strength and has quadrupled since the inception of the FIA Class in 2016 with the T1+ and T1 classes now representing 70 – 75% of the field.

The impressive field in FIA T1+, which is the FIA Rally-Raid pinnacle and the Dakar Rally winning class, is represented by two manufacturers namely Toyota Gazoo Racing as the world champions under the guidance of Team Principal, Glyn Hall and the NWM Ford Castrol Team led by Neil Woolridge who, in partnership with MSport, will launch their Dakar onslaught at the 2024 Dakar Rally. These two formidable teams are bolstered by three constructors namely Red-Lined International, WCT Engineering and Century Racing in FIA T1+ with privateer teams making up the balance of the field.

For the two Parys 400 events, Toyota Gazoo Racing SA will have a total of four teams in the field with not much separating the multiple former champions, Lategan/Cummings and De Villiers/Murphy in the Overall and FIA T1+ standings. They will be pushed by multiple SA National Rally Champions, Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy-Lyle who have finished on the podium and the 17 year-old Saood Variawa who impressed in his first SARRC outing in Botswana with navigator Danie Stassen.

More Toyota DKR Hilux T1+ vehicles in the hands of Johan and Werner Horn and their #TeamHilux Rally-Raid team-mates, Fouché and Bertus Blignaut will also be on the start line as will Gary Bertholdt/Henry Köhne.

The two Woolridge brothers, Gareth and his navigator Boyd Dreyer who are the current overall and FIA T1+ leaders and Lance partnered by Kenny Gilbert will bring their race-winning Ford NWM T1+ Ranger to the show while Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen will also be flying the Ford Ranger T1+ flag.

Three Red-Lined International teams have entered of which two are visiting teams with all three teams competing with the REVO T1+. Chris Visser/Albertus Venter will represent South Africa while the 17 year-old lady driver, Aliyah Koloc will again team up with Riaan Greyling. It will be a first outing for the Dutch team, Stefan Carmans/Arjan van Tiel.

FIA T1+ caters for 4x4 vehicles fitted with 3.5 litre V6 Turbo engines and 4x4 vehicles with Normally Aspirated V8 engines and known as the big wheel vehicles. The wheel sizes are restricted to 910 – 940mm with a maximum of 350mm suspension travel. In view of the relatively small field of current Class FIA T1.2 4x2 vehicles in SA, SARRC included the T1.2 vehicles in the big wheel T1+ class to effectively explore the required research and development, and to competitively compete in the SA Rally-Raid Championship, although T1.2 is a separate class in FIA events across the world.

The engine capacity for the 4x2 vehicles, however, remains as per the stipulated FIA regulations catering for the Audi 2.9 V6 and the Toyota 3.5 Turbo engines while the Normally Aspirated 4x2 vehicles embody V8 engines of any capacity with the engines being regulated by restrictors and weight.
The 4x2 teams that will be in action with their Century Racing vehicles at Parys include Dewald van Breda/Stompie Mynhard and Lance Trethewey/Adriaan Roets (King Price Xtreme CR6).

FIA T1 class also boasts highly skilled teams representing the manufacturers and constructors and is now considered the entry level to the powerful Production Vehicle category. Teams in the T1 Class are also governed by the FIA T1.1 regulations and are restricted to Ford, Nissan and Toyota 5 litre, V8 engines while the older Nissan 5.6 litre V8 engine is also allowed. They are also differentiated by the smaller maximum 810mm wheels; a maximum of 280mm suspension travel and lower weight.

Four Red-Lined International teams will be in action in FIA T1 of which both Johan de Bruyn/Gerhard Schutte and Nic Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel in similar REVO T1 vehicles have claimed a class victory this season. Gerhard and Rudi Heinlein will be out in the VK56 while the Dutch pairing of Klaassen/Rooth will take on another race on South African soil in the VK50.

The rest of the FIA T1 field is made up by defending champions, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota Hilux); Johan and Sean van Staden (Renault Duster); Daniel Schröder/Bland, Jurgen Schröder/Stuart Gregory (WCT Engineering Nissan Navara’s) and Jayden Els/Elvéne Vonk, who won their entry into the 2024 Dakar Rally, in the King Price Xtreme SVR at the recent TGR 1000 Desert Race.

“We are extremely proud of all the South African competitors who for many years have successfully competed at various levels in the international arena,” the CEO of SA Rally-Raid Championship, Archie Rutherford, said. “The vast number of locally developed and built vehicles that compete across the globe are a true reflection of the high standard of technical expertise and skills levels that are available in South Africa and depicts the confidence and trust competitors and teams have in our product,” he explained.
“Competitors and their race vehicles can, however, only be as good as the technical teams who are part of the backbone of the rally-raid scene and their expertise cannot be underestimated,” Rutherford said. “It is gratifying to be able to witness the growth of the SARRC through the years and to experience the high level of professionalism and proficiency in this field in South Africa,” he concluded.

Source SARRC
Images: Plan C Productions

A double dose of exciting racing awaits competitors on 18 and 19 August when they take on the Parys 400, rounds four and five respectively of the 2023 SA Rally-Raid Championship, and if the first half of the season is anything to go by, this event will also provide two days of nail-biting action in the Free State.
Last year, the double-header event at Parys formed the final two rounds of the championship, but this time the Parys 400 will be followed by two more rounds of the 2023 season in October and November. Moving the event forward by three months also means that less rain is expected and competitors can look forward to drier routes compared to the extremely wet event that forced the organisers to shorten the race last year.
The Afridome, on the outskirts of the quaint resort town of Parys in the northern Free State will be the venue from where the action will take place. The Start/Finish of both events as well as the Race Headquarters and the Designated Service Point (DSP) will be situated at the Afridome from where spectators will be able to follow the race.
Both the Parys 400 events will be one-day events which means an early start each day as the Pirelli Qualifying Race on Friday and Saturday will determine the starting order for the main race that follows later.
Round Four of the SARRC will start at 07:30 on Friday, 18 August when competitors in the Production and Special Vehicle Categories will take on the 32 kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race from the Afridome. This includes a decontrol of eight kilometres (four kilometres to the start of the qualifier and four kilometres back to the DSP).
After the qualifying race, competitors will do a 173 kilometre loop, which they will have to complete twice. This route will take teams in a south-westerly direction towards Koppies before turning at Greenlands Farmers Union from where it will make its way back towards Parys.
The first 50 kilometres consists of fast flowing tracks between the farms with a few tight turns that can catch out the unwary.
From Greenlands, there will be more technical tracks in the mealie fields with washaways, ruts and ditches, and competitors will have to keep up the concentration. They will then cross the Koppies tarred road and will start making their way back on tracks in the fields and veld before finishing at the starting point and completing a 4 kilometre liaison section back to the DSP. After a compulsory service break, they will take on this 173 kilometre loop again.
A new race awaits at Round Five on Saturday,19 August with a 29 kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race that will decide the starting order. The start time will again be 07:30 with the 29 kilometres route consisting of a nine kilometre decontrol section to the start of the qualifying race; a 16 kilometre race and four kilometre decontrol section back to the DSP.
For the race on Saturday, a 190 kilometre loop, which includes 20 kilometre liaison, will again start at the Afridome. It will start with a nine kilometre liaison section to the Start of the main race next to the Koppies tarred road from where the route will take competitors in an easterly direction towards Sasolburg and Wolwefontein before turning and making its way back towards Parys via the Weiveld Silos.
Competitors will quickly get into the swing of things as fast, technical tracks in the veld and mealie fields combined with fast flowing tracks interspersed with more technical tracks with washaways, ruts and ditches awaits. They will then cross the Kromellenboog Spruit before turning at Wolwefontein. Teams can expect a small rocky section near the end at Skietkop Farm and at the Finish of the main race situated near the Start. An 11 kilometre liaison section will take them back to DSP where they will have a service break before taking on the loop again.
The pressure will be on the teams to perform to the best of their abilities to accumulate the maximum number of points towards the championship titles on both days while still looking after their race vehicles as the limited time between the qualifying and the main race on both days will put extra pressure on their service crew.
After the first three events of the season that produced tight and technical tracks, the more open and faster routes of the Parys 400 will be enjoyed by many competitors.
There will be ample vantage points along the route to view the action and route maps will be published on social media and the website in advance of the event. The action can also be followed on the RallySafe App that is available as a free download from the iStore and the Google PlayStore with updated information also available on Facebook: saccsauto

Instagram: saccs_auto and Twitter: @SACCS.Auto

Source: South Africa Rally-Raid Championship
Images: Plan C Productions