Next to the categories of motorcycles (100+), the SSVs (125 participants) and the cars (100 participants) which were fully booked a long time ago, the race have now also achieved our goal of 25 race trucks. This means that the MDC2023 is full - full - full, with 350 competition vehicles and 625 pilots and navigators at the start. Add to this the same number of mechanics, team managers, press and a 250-strong organizational team and you end up with a total of 1500 people. That's going to be a great party, isn't it?

Having said that, the organizers also encourage everyone to register their assistance vehicles in the coming days so that we can form an exact picture of what our mega-bivouacs will look like.
As always, there will be a few cancellations over the coming months, so be sure to get in touch with us if you still want to join and couldn't secure your place yet.

A COMPLETE NEW ROUTE
It has been 3 years since the MDC raced through Morocco. A lot can change in such a long period, even in a desolate environment like the desert. That's why the organization choose to drastically change course with a completely new route! A few days ago, Sports Director Jean-Claude Kaket left Agadir, Morocco with his team to validate those new tracks and write the new roadbooks.

What does that new route look like?
As usual, the race will start on April 21 and 22 with the administrative and technical scrutineering in Agadir, the pleasant seaside city on the Atlantic Ocean that has undergone a complete transformation in the last 2 years.
Stage 1, on April 23, is a prologue of about 50 km, near Agadir. This way you can enjoy the comfort of a hotel for an extra night.
Stage 2, on April 24, starts with a one-off liaison of about 250km to the legendary Plage Blanche followed by a 360km long special to the bivouac in Assa.
Stage 3, on April 25: Assa – Foum Zguid: 403 fast km through the military zone
Stage 4, on April 26: Foum Zguid – Foum Zguid: 275 km / dunes of Erg Chegaga
Stage 5, on April 27: Foum Zguid – Mhamid: 338 km / Erg Chegaga
Stage 6, on April 28: Mhamid – Mhamid: 341 km / Oueds & Erg Chegaga
Stage 7, on April 29: Mhamid – Merzouga: 324 km / Mountains, fast tracks, dunes
Stage 8, on April 30: Merzouga – Merzouga: 205 km / Dunes and WRC tracks

3 loops for extra comfort
The race will stay 1 night in the bivouac of Assa but in the bivouacs of Foum Zguid, Mhamid and Merzouga we stay 2 nights. Both for the assistance teams and for the organization, it requires an enormous logistical effort to break down a bivouac every day and rebuild it at the next location. By decreasing the number of different bivouacs from 6 to 4, in analogy to the Tunisia Desert Challenge, we can give both parties a little more breathing space so that the mechanics also occasionally have the opportunity to catch up on sleep or enjoy a beer.

The race will also abandon the coast-to-coast concept for the first time. The rally no longer ends in Saidia, but in Merzouga. This for several reasons:
No more bivouac on the Plateau de Rekkam, with a risk of temperatures around freezing point, but an unprecedented finish party, with pleasantly warm temperatures, in the middle of the dunes of Merzouga.
No more incidents in Saidia as we have known them in 2019
The details of the different stages can soon be read on our website.

Source Morocco Desert Challenge official press release

The Angolan Rally Raid Championship already has its provisional calendar published, and for now 8 races are scheduled to take place in different parts of the country, offering a set of different challenges to the participants.

The 2022 season will start at the beginning of February, on the 11th with the TT Libongos Rally, in Bengo. Then in March the Dunas Rally in Namibe, in April the Rally TT Cabo Ledo  in the Luanda region and in May the Rali TT  Baia Azul in the Benguela province.
In June there will be a short break, to return in July, again in the Luanda region with the Rally TT Quiçama. All the rest of July and August will be a break before the restart and the final stretch of the competition, which will return on September 9th, with the Rally TT Huambo, followed in October by the Rally TT Porto Amboim. A last race is still foreseen for the month of November, but without date and place known for now.

Rally-Raid Network
Photo: CARR

Info:

👉 for the safety of our participants and the local population
👉 to avoid any conflict with other events/organisers
👉 for air safety
👉 to offer Teams the opportunity to participate in more events with their customers

⬇️ We have decided to bring forward the dates of the 3rd edition of the Baja SSV Morocco ‼️

The new dates are May 1-5, 2023‼️

The Baja SSV Morocco is UNIQUE both in its concept and in its running!

It offers COMPLEMENTARITY to a classic rally raid, such as the Carta Rallye!

As a result, we offer SSV competitors who now register for the 2 events, a PREFENTIAL RATE with a 20% discount on the 2 registrations.
( based on the published prices at the time of registration)
+
A free registration for one of our 2 races in 2024 offered to the winner of our new SSV MOROCCO CUP‼️ The SSV Morocco Cup will combine the results of the 2 races (Carta Rallye- Baja SSV Morocco) in the same year!!

‼️REGISTER QUICKLY ‼️ Offer valid until January 15, 2023

www.bajassvmorocco.com
www.rallye-carta.com

Photo Baja SSV / Actiongraphers

The Parys 400, the final two rounds of the 2022 SA Rally-Raid Championship, will be remembered as the championship finale where competitors and teams were tested to the limit by some treacherous weather conditions, with rain and mud that persisted on both the penultimate round on the Friday as well as the seventh and final round on the Saturday.
It will also be remembered as a season finale that ended an exciting and nail-biting SARRC, where the lead and the standings in the overall Production Vehicle Category as well in the FIA T1+, T1 and the T1.2 that was introduced from the second round, and the Class T championships were in seesaw mode. In the end, minimal points separated the teams and the champions had to work hard for their titles.
Veteran rally-raid driver and multiple Dakar achiever, Giniel de Villiers (Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+) overcame a few set-backs during the season to claim his fourth Overall Production Vehicle Drivers’ Championship title with the team owning the overall podium. De Villiers made use of the services of stand-in navigator, Rodney Burke, for the final two rounds as his regular navigator, Dennis Murphy, had to withdraw due to a broken arm.
This resulted in Brett Cummings, the defending overall navigators’ champion reading the notes for Henk Lategan in a similar DKR Hilux T1+, claiming the title for the fourth consecutive year. Lategan/Cummings, who were in a season long battle with De Villiers/Murphy for the overall and T1+ titles, won round six at Parys, but could not finish the final round. Lategan trails his team-mate by 13 points on the overall standings with another Toyota Gazoo Motorsport team, Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle, who finished third after their first full national SARRC season.
In the Overall Navigators’ Championship, Murphy dropped to the runner-up position and ended a mere three points ahead of Vacy-Lyle.
Behind them, the NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger team of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer, who won the final round of the Parys 400, finished fourth overall, four points off the podium and five points ahead of yet another Toyota Gazoo Motorsport team, Shameer Variawa/Danie Stassen who blotted their perfect 2022 scorecard by not being able to finish the final round.
Also in the overall top ten were the new FIA T1 champions, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar who finished sixth, four points ahead of their #TeamHilux Rally-Raid team-mates, Johan and Werner Horn (DKR Hilux T1+) who missed the season opener and were seventh. Behind them the teams are somewhat scrambled due to the musical chairs situation.
Chris Visser (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO) also missed the first race and made his mark during the second half of the season together with Albertus Venter. He is eighth overall of the drivers followed by the new T1.2 champion, Lance Trethewey (King Price Xtreme CR6) and the German driver, Daniel Schröder (Nissan Navara) who dropped down on the overall standings due to the team missing the final two races as Schröder competed in the Roof of Africa in Lesotho.
In the Overall Navigators’ Championship, Burke, who scored points next to Trethewey in the beginning of the season, finished eighth, followed by Leonard Cremer who saw the season out next to Trethewey. Venter rounds off the top 10 of the navigators.
In the various class championships, competitors received an additional five points for starting a race and together with the seat hopping, the final standings make for interesting reading. De Villiers is the 2022 T1+ Drivers’ Champion albeit only winning the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race. Lategan, who has five class victories behind his name, finished second. Woolridge rounds off the T1+ podium, one point ahead of Botterill while Variawa finished fifth; Horn sixth and Lance Woolridge seventh after a disappointing season where the team could only score points at the final two races.
Looking at the T1+ Navigators’ Championship, Cummings defended his title successfully and with some breathing space, but a real battle for positions brewed behind him. Dreyer finished as the runner-up, only one point ahead of Vacy-Lyle and Murphy dropped off the podium to fourth place, a single point ahead of Stassen with Werner Horn in sixth; Lance Woolridge’s navigator, Elvéne Vonk, in seventh and Burke in eighth place.
Basson/Pienaar secured the T1 title going to Parys and added more points to their tally that included three class victories. Visser/Venter shot up the standings during the second half of the season and finished second after winning twice and finishing second in the class on three occasions. Their Red-Lined Motorsport team-mates, Johan de Bruyn/Gerhard Schutte (Red-Lined VK56) won round six and complete the T1 podium.
In the T1 Drivers’ Championship, Philip Botha (Red-Lined Motorsport VK56) finished fourth followed by Gary Bertholdt (Toyota Hilux), who made use of the navigating services of Philip Herselman and Juan Möhr, in fifth place. Bertholdt beat Schröder by one point with the rest of the top 10 covered by only seven points. Thomas Bell (Red-Lined Motorsport) is seventh; six points ahead of both Richard Leeke (Leeke Motorsport) and Nicolas Pienaar (Super Energi Race Fuels Red-Lined VK56) with newcomer, Fouche Blignaut (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) a single point further back.
Ryan Bland, who sat next to Schröder, is fourth of the T1 navigators followed by Roelof Janse van Vuren who missed the season opener next to Botha, fifth. Wade Harris, who navigated for Bell, finished sixth; Möhr is seventh; Pienaar’s navigator, Carl Swanepoel, is eighth, one point ahead of Fouche’s brother, Bertus and Zaheer Bodhanya, regular navigator to Leeke, completes the top 10.
Regular participation was the name of the game in the new FIA T1.2 for 2x4 vehicles where team Trethewey/Cremer earned the title. Ernest Roberts/Henry Köhne (JCP Steel Supplies CR6) finished as the runner-ups with their team-mates, Malcolm and Frans Kock, third. Brian Baragwanath (Century Racing CR6) also made use of the services of Burke with the team only competing in the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race in Upington – and won – to finish fourth. Simon Murray/Achim Bergman (WCT HT2 Toyota Hilux Turbo) got underway at the third round and finished the season in fifth place.
The battle for the Class T honours was between the young driver, Jayden Els, who turned 18 in 2022, together with his navigator, Armand du Toit (King Price Xtreme Renault Duster) and the father and son duo of Johan and Sean van Staden (KEC Racing Renault Duster) with Els/Du Toit being crowned the champions ahead of the Van Staden pair. Christo Rose/Arno Olivier (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger) finished third followed by another family, Hendrik and Heinrich du Plessis (Ford) who made their debut at round four and five. Bernard and his wife, Minette Johnstone (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger) finished fifth.
Toyota is again the winning Manufacturer followed by Ford; Nissan, Century; Renault; Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz.
The 2022 SARRC was dealt a few curveballs including a race that was cancelled due to a tropical storm and atrocious weather conditions that forced drastic changes at the Parys 400. The thrilling season was also characterised by competition at the highest level and deserving champions predicting an even tougher 2023.

Source SARRC
Images: Andre Schoeman

In the Special Vehicle Category, Trace Price Moor/Shaun Braithwaite (TipTop Milk BAT Venom) added another overall and Class A victory to their wins the previous day with Lood du Preez/Chris Visser Jnr (Farmers Meat Stryker) finishing second overall and in Class A. It was another real challenge for the open-wheel vehicles in Class A, Class P and Class G in the treacherous conditions with these vehicles not having the luxury of a windscreen, wipers and windows.

After making their SARRC debut at Round Six of the Parys 400 the previous day and finishing third in Class G, Gideon Jacobs/Richard Vardy Jnr (Moto-Netix Racing Can-Am Maverick) took it one step further to claim the top step of the Class G podium while they added more silverware to their collection finishing second overall in the Special Vehicle Category. They were followed by team-mates, Glen Theron/Craig Galvin with the outgoing Class G champions, Cecil and Elardus Larney, rounding off the class podium and finishing fourth overall.

There was disappointment for the father and son team of Werner and Ian Mostert (Moto-Netix Racing Can-Am Maverick) who could not reach the finish while the only Class P starters, Quintin Lessing/Noel Acton (Century CR-T) could also not complete the race.

The 2022 Parys 400 will be remembered as the wettest race in almost two decades and brought back memories of the Carnival City 400 in 2003, while it was more than likely the first time in the history of the modern racing series that organisers were forced into the extreme changes to the race and routes. Although it was a challenging way to round off the 2022 SA Rally-Raid Championship, it definitely added to a highly successful and memorable season.

Source: SARRC
Images: Andre Schoeman

The Parys 400, the seventh and final round of the South African Rally-Raid Championship that took place on Saturday, 12 November, turned out to be yet another extremely challenging event as torrential rain and a flooded route resulted in changes to the race that was the final title decider of the season.
With Round Six the previous day already shortened to a 12 kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race and one 98 kilometre loop, the final championship decider on Saturday followed after more torrential rain that drenched the route. According to competitors, the extremely wet conditions of the weekend after persistent heavy rain leading up to the event, made it almost impossible to race, and the organisers had no choice but to shorten the race distance for the final event to a 12 kilometre qualifier and an 86 kilometre loop, which included a 16 kilometre de-controlled section.

With only 27 starters in the Production and Special Vehicle Categories after the sixth round the previous day, teams set off on the qualifier with Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger) posting the fastest time followed by Shameer Variawa/Danie Stassen (Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+); the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid DKR T1+); the second NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger in the hands of Lance Woolridge/Elvéne Vonk and Giniel de Villiers/Rodney Burke (Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+) who rounded off the top five with only 19 seconds covering the five frontrunners while the leading 12 teams finished within the same minute.

In the Production Vehicle Category, the FIA T1+ title was still to be decided with the defending champions, Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+) claiming the victory the previous day ahead of their team-mates and title challenger, De Villiers accompanied by Burke, who was the stand-in navigator for the injured Dennis Murphy, for the final round. Lategan/Cummings completed the Pirelli Qualifying Race in ninth place and with the leading 10 teams drawing for their starting positions, the defending champions were off in second place, just behind their team-mates, Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy-Lyle with De Villiers/Burke pulling away in fifth place while the winners of the qualifier started from fourth.

A drenched and extremely slippery and muddy route was not something to look forward to, and competitors had their hands full to keep their vehicles on the road and to make the best of the atrocious conditions.

A first overall victory and FIA T1+ win of the season eventually went to Gareth Woolridge/Dreyer who edged out De Villiers/Burke, but the runner-up result was enough for De Villiers to claim the overall and FIA T1+ title. There was, however, disappointment for Lategan/Cummings who were forced to retire due to alternator issues and the power steering belt dislodging due to the wet conditions.

The third place went to Chris Visser/Albertus Venter (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO) who were the FIA T1 victors. It was once again a tight battle at the front with a mere 98 seconds separating the first four teams at the finish. Botterill/Vacy-Lyle rounded their season off finishing fourth overall and third in FIA T1+ while the FIA T1.2 victory went to the newly-crowned class champions, Lance Trethewey/Leonard Cremer (King Price Xtreme CR 6) who were fifth.

The Horn brothers finished sixth overall followed by Johan de Bruyn/Gerhard Schutte (Red-Lined Motorsport VK56) who added a runner-up result in FIA T1 to their victory the previous day. The new FIA T1 champions, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) pulled out a stuck Woolridge/Vonk and were eighth, rounding off their season on the third step on FIA T1 podium while Thomas Bell/Wade Harris brought their Red-Lined Motorsport REVO home in ninth, just ahead of their team-mates, Philip Botha/Roelof Janse van Vuren (VK56) who completed their SARRC season with yet another finish to keep their scorebook unblemished.

There were also finishes and points in the bag for Nicolas Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel (Super Energi Race Fuels Red-Lined VK50) who were 12th followed by Woolridge/Vonk with Johan van Staden and his son, Sean (KEC Racing Renault Duster) claiming their second consecutive Class T victory. Their title rivals, Jayden Els/Armand du Toit (King Price Xtreme Renault Duster) could not complete Round Six the previous day, but a runner-up result in the class championship at the Parys 400 final, gave them the championship title.

Jürgen Schröder/Stuart Gregory (Nissan Navara) and Richard Leeke/Rikus Fourie (Leeke Motorsport) also completed their 2022 season with finishing results.

The miserable conditions took its toll on Variawa/Stassen as well as Gary Bertholdt/Juan Möhr (FIA T1 Toyota Hilux) and the Blignaut brothers, Fouche and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid).

Source SARRC
Images: Andre Schoeman

South African Rally Raid Championship Rounds 6 & 7 Report

Double race win as Red-Lined rules FIA T1

Red-Lined Motorsport racing together with the Penta Group ended the 2022 South African Rally Raid season on an extreme high in treacherous conditions at Parys in the Free State on Saturday. Not only did the team win both events, but the lads had a podium lockout on the Friday and then followed it up with a 1-2 on the Saturday, to wrap up an incredible weekend for all.

“All I can say, is what a weekend!” an elated Red-Lined team boss Terence Marsh commented. “We honestly could not have scripted it any better ourselves. “Not only did we win both days, but we dominated the Parys double header event with all three Red-Lined products on Friday’s podium as well as all five cars once again coming home on both days of what was another treacherous SA Rally-Raid outing.”

It all started with Friday's round 6 which was run in pouring rain and in wet and muddy conditions that demanded the race to be eventually shortened. That did not deter Rally Raid rookie Johan de Bruyn and his seasoned notes man Gerhard Schutte from storming to a sensational maiden FIA T1 victory in their PentaSure VK56.

The Red-Lined cup quite literally flowed over in the pouring rain. Chris Visser and Albertus Venter chased home close behind in yet another FIA T1 podium in their Dragon Energy REVO. Nicolas Pienaar and Carl Swanepoel’s Super Energi Race Fuels VK50 made it all three Red-Lined product offerings in the top three on a dream podium for the team.

Penta VK56 duo Philip Botha Roelof and Janse Van Vuren meanwhile made it yet another finish in their ever-growing 100% finishing rate. Dubai desert man, Thomas Bell and local navigator Wade Harris had to dig their TBR REVO out of the mud in a heroic effort to see all five entries home in yet another 100% finish for the team.

“What can I say except thank you to Red-Lined Motorsport for an incredible race car as always and to my hugely qualified navigator Gerhard for being on point all the way,” circuit racing refugee Johan de Bruyn explained. “It was wet and muddy, but huge fun and a wonderful way to wrap up my maiden season and our time with the VK56. “We now step up to our new Red-Lined REVO next year. “We cannot wait!”

It was however nowhere near over for the Red-Lined team, which repeated its incredible Friday result with another spectacular showing in Saturday’s round 7, which was once again raced in the most treacherous of wet and muddy conditions. This time it was Visser and Venter who reversed the order to pilot their Dragon Energy REVO home to a brilliant win over the PentaSure VK56 men of de Bruyn and Schutte.

The sand man, Thomas Bell and his wing man Wade Harris were the third car home in the day's stage which produced Tom’s best result yet on that muddy SA soil. However once combining their qualifying time they would drop to a close fourth place overall for the day. Bell and Harris finished ahead of fifth placed Pienaar and Swanepoel, with Botha and van Vuren coming home sixth. The Penta boys quite incredibly went on to record another 100% finishing ratio for the championship for the second year in a row with their overall record now sitting at 54 consecutive stages and 22 race events since their rally-raid debut.

“What a perfect way to end our 2022 SA Rally-Raid season,” Chris Visser reported. “We had a great year developing the Red-Lined REVO into a FIA T1 race winner. “Now it’s time to move on and we look forward to chasing overall honours with the all-new Red-Lined REVO+ in 2023. “Thanks to the team for a splendid year, it's onward and upward from here!”

“We honestly could not have asked for a better weekend,” Terence Marsh concluded. “In our world it is just not possible to write a story like this one! “Parys brought our fifth podium on the trot and another victory for the REVO, a first national win for Johan and Gerhard and their VK56, a first ever podium for Nicolas Pienaar and Carl Swanepoel, and then a first top ten overall for Thomas Bell and Wade Harris!”

“Add five out of five finishes on both days and three cars on the Friday podium with the Team Award to boot on both days. “This is the stuff dreams are made of! “We could honestly not do this without our incredible management and technical team, and I am extremely grateful to everyone at every level for all the hard work and dedication throughout 2022.”

“Now we can look ahead to a brand-new Red-Lined era in 2023 with huge confidence and optimism for the new season and the adventures that lie ahead us. “Bring on 2023!”

Source Red-Lined Motorsport via Motorsport Media

Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer claim their first overall SA Rally-Raid Championship win at rain-soaked Round 7 in Parys, following sixth-place finish at Round 6 the day before
Lance Woolridge and Elvéne Vonk ended fifth overall in Friday’s race, and were among several top crews to get stuck during Saturday’s race, eventually coming home fifth in Class FIA T1+

The 2022 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) drew to a close in dramatic fashion this weekend in extremely difficult conditions, but the Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Ford Castrol Team ended its season on a high as Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (#277) claimed their first overall race win in the mighty EcoBoost V6 powered FIA T1+ Ford Ranger.
Heavy rain leading up to and throughout the race weekend resulted in treacherously muddy conditions over the entire planned race route around the Free State town of Parys. The competitors were scheduled to complete 700km over the two separate race events on Friday and Saturday, but the organisers had to significantly shorten the route on both days as the conditions deteriorated, resulting in a mere 180km of competitive action being completed.
Gareth and Boyd navigated through the slippery and unpredictable farm roads to finish sixth overall on Friday. They went on to make the Saturday race all their own, dominating the short 12km qualifying sprint and producing a flawless drive to record their first overall premier class victory.

“We are thrilled with the win, as Boyd and I have been trying to secure our first win for at least 10 years,” Gareth said. “I’m really glad to finally pull it together in the most difficult conditions we’ve ever raced in.

“It has been a difficult year, with some small technical issues that have let us down, despite Boyd and I having one of our cleanest seasons yet,” Gareth added. “We’ve taken big strides forward with our T1+ Ranger, as we proved at the previous event and this weekend in Parys. So for next year, I think we’re in good shape for even bigger and better things.”

Team-mates Lance Woolridge and Elvéne Vonk (#234) led the NWM Ford Castrol team’s charge on Friday, finishing fifth overall. After setting the fourth-fastest time for Saturday’s qualifying loop, just 14 seconds off the lead Ranger, it looked set to be a thrilling battle for the final podium of this year’s championship.

However, they were among several of the top crews who got stuck around halfway through the race loop. Thanks to the assistance of the #TeamHilux team of Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar, Lance and Elvéne were able to extricate their stricken Ranger from the quagmire – and were rewarded for their never-say-die attitude by coming home fifth in Class FIA T1+ and 14th overall.

“I didn’t think the conditions could get worse than yesterday, but it was manic out there today,” Lance said. “It was so slippery that we had to start braking from 600 to 700 metres away from a turn and then just tiptoe around the corner. We got stuck in a ploughed field where the two Toyotas ahead of us had already gone through, and when I got out the car I sank right down to my knees in the mud,” he added. “Elvéne and I didn’t want to slow the top teams down so we let them all past, then Eben and Leander, who had won their class championship on Friday, stopped and pulled us out, and we had a clean run to the end.”

Although they endured a tough season with several non-finishes, Lance is upbeat about the NWM Ranger’s development and progress. “We’ve worked really hard throughout the year and have had massive performance gains thanks to the extensive development we’ve done with our new T1+ Ranger. The results in the past two events and Gareth’s win today show that it has all worked, and I am exceptionally proud of the team,” he said. “Based on where we ended this season, I hope we can pick it up from here for next year.”

For NWM team principal Neil Woolridge it was a fantastic way to end this year’s championship, despite the atrocious conditions. “It’s been an unbelievable weekend,” he said. “I looked at the weather before we left Pietermaritzburg and knew it was going to be a challenge, but nobody knew it was going to be this difficult.
I am very proud and happy to see both our Rangers finish in these extremely difficult conditions, where so many of our competitors ran into trouble. We didn’t have a single issue with our cars over the entire weekend which is so rewarding, and to take the win today makes it very special for the whole team,” he said. “We’ve spent many long hours, days, weeks and months testing and developing our brand new T1+ Ranger this year, and finally seeing it all come together is amazing. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our NWM team, and also to the support from our partners and sponsors, especially Ford and Castrol.”

Source Ford Castrol Team

The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA (TGRSA) squad is primed to take on the season-closing double-header in the Free State town of Parys this weekend. The final two rounds of the 2022 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) is scheduled for 11 and 12 November, with each day offering a full round of the national championship, with the associated points on offer.

For Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings, the weekend offers the opportunity to seal their fourth SARRC title, as they hold a three-point lead over teammates Giniel de Villiers and co-driver Dennis Murphy in the overall Production Category. De Villiers, however, is a fierce competitor and is sure to make Lategan work hard for the points he needs to clinch the championship. To make matters more interesting, however, Murphy will be unable to compete in Parys due to a broken arm. Seasoned co-driver Rodney Burke will be strapping into his seat for the weekend, adding pressure to De Villiers in his quest to regain the SARRC crown.

Behind the two hard-charging Class T1+ Toyota Hilux crews come two more crews from the same squad, driving identical cars. Shameer Variawa and co-driver Danie Stassen are 30 points adrift of De Villiers/Murphy, and only three points ahead of Guy Botterill and co-driver Simon Vacy-Lyle with two rounds to go. While it is unlikely that either Variawa or Botterill will overtake the crews ahead of them, anything can still happen, and with a maximum of 60 points on offer between the final two rounds, neither of the two chasing crews will be holding anything in reserve this weekend.

“This has been a stunning season for us,” says TGRSA Team Principal, Glyn Hall. “Our Class T1+ Hilux has dominated all year, clearly showing why this machine is tough enough to not only compete at the Dakar Rally, but also to have won it twice now.”

With this in mind, the team will be using the weekend’s Parys 400, as the double-header is known, to test a number of final engine upgrades and other components, as they prepare for the upcoming Dakar Rally in January, 2023. An identical Hilux, in the hands of TOYOTA GAZOO Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel won the inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) this year, and the mileage recorded during that championship, as well as the SARRC, may well prove to be invaluable in the development of the latest iteration of the GR DKR Hilux T1+ as the car is also known.

This weekend’s race is likely to take place in wet and muddy conditions, though no heavy rains are predicted over the weekend itself. Even so, the muddy tracks around the town of Parys has proven tough in the past, and the TGRSA crews will have their work cut out for them, with two full races taking place in just two days. This includes a prologue, to determine the starting orders for the main race, on both mornings – followed by two long race loops that brings the total daily race distance close to the 400 km mark.

The action gets under way at 07:30 on Friday morning, when the crews take on a 12 km-long qualifying race. This will be followed by two loops of 155 km each, starting at 9:30. The crews will then have to repair and recuperate, as they’ll be doing it all again the next day, making for a tough finish to a long season. Fans can visit the race and its HQ at the Parys Airfield free of charge, or follow the action on the Rally Safe application, which is available for both iOS and Android devices.

Source Toyota Gazoo Racing SA

Red-Lined ready to close season off in style

Red-Lined Motorsport together with the Penta Motor Group, is on its way to the double-header South African Rally-Raid championship season finale along the banks of the Vaal River near Parys 11-12 November. The team is looking for a good wrap up to the season ending event, hot on the heels of their REVO T1’s maiden victory last time out.

“We are on our way back to the Free State to close off an epic South African Rally-Raid season for Red-Lined Motorsport,” team boss Terence Marsh explained. “The season has lived up to every bit of our adventure expectations and then some. “Especially after Chris Visser and Albertus Venter scored a stunning maiden victory last time out in our Dragon Energy powered Red-Lined REVO.”

Visser and Venter now head to Parys with the target on their back, but they are confident as the team continues to develop the REVO in anticipation of their top class T1+ version’s imminent arrival. “The last few T1 races have been nerve rackingly close and really exciting, so there are no guarantees, “But Chris and Albertus will be looking to end their T1 REVO campaign in style,” Marsh pointed out.

The Penta boys, as Philip Botha and Roelof Janse van Vuren are affectionately known, will meanwhile head to the Free State in their VK56 looking to extend their incredible record of completing every one of their 50 consecutive racing stages started since their debut two years back.

Two more Red-Lined teams, Dubai-based Brit Thomas Bell and Wade Harris in their TBR REVO, and Rally-Raid rookie Johan de Bruyn and veteran navigator Gerhard Schutte in their PentaSure VK56, will also be out and looking to make it yet another 100% Red-Lined Motorsport finishing rate in Parys.

“Our four Red-Lined T1 race cars are locked and loaded for Parys, where the entire team, from our incredible technicians, management team and our racing crews are determined to wrap this season up in style,” Terence Marsh concluded. “Now to see how this one plays out!”

*Red-Lined Motorsport competes with premium strategic partners, the Penta Motor Group, BFGoodrich, Motul, Dragon Energy, PentaSure, OMP, ExpandaSign and Wheel Collision.

Source Red-Lined Motorsport via Motorsport Media