The Toyota Gazoo Racing SA (TGRSA) 1000 Desert Race, the second round of the South African Rally-Raid Championship that takes place over three days, from 24 to 26 June, and almost a thousand kilometres in the Upington area in the Northern Cape, has drawn a star-studded field in the Production Vehicle Category, as the already high level of competition has been lifted another bar with the inclusion of a class for vehicles that will revel in the desert conditions.
The TGRSA 1000 Desert Race returns to the arid area of Upington for the second consecutive year where teams will face the gruelling conditions of the longest and toughest race as well as the only marathon event on the SA Rally-Raid Championship calendar. And to add to the intrigue, new vehicles with different crews will also be on the start line at the Upington Expo Centre where all the action will start from.
There will be three FIA Classes with T1.2 for 2x4 vehicles added to T1+ and T1 meaning that seven more teams will be vying for the overall laurels, all in 2x4 Century Racing CR6 vehicles that are perfectly suited to the desert racing conditions. And one of these teams, Brian Baragwanath and Leonard Cremer, are the defending winners and will aim to retain their title. They will face stiff competition, not only from the other CR6 crews, but also from the defending champions, Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA DKR Hilux T1+) and their team-mates and former winners, Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy.
De Villiers brings his experience of 19 consecutive appearances in the Dakar Rally without a single retirement to Upington and a victory will suit the team perfectly. A maiden win of this epic marathon event is still missing on the racing profiles of Lategan/Cummings who would like to get this monkey off their back. There will be two more TGRSA DKR Hilux T1+ in action – Shameer Variawa/Danie Stassen will put their Dakar Rally experience to good use while the multiple national rally champions, Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy-Lyle, will compete in the desert race for the second time.
The NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Rangers in the hands of the two Woolridge brothers, will also line up in the FIA T1+ Class and the cards might just fall right for Lance Woolridge/Elvéne Vonk, who finished third last year, and Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer who were 10th. Both teams have competed in a number of marathon events and proved that they have what it takes to win this tough event.
It will be a first outing this season for the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner in the #TeamHilux Rally-Raid DKR Hilux T1+ and their experience combined with their new vehicle could earn them the perfect start to their season.
The 2019 desert race winner, Chris Visser, has now acquired a Red-Lined Motorsport REVO in Class T1 and with Albertus Venter in the navigator seat, the team will be looking to better their fourth place of 2021. More Red-Lined Motorsport teams who will be participating in the TGRSA 1000 in the FIA T1 Class with the trusty VK56 vehicles, are Philip Botha/Roelof Janse van Vuren; the international driver, Thomas Bell together with Wade Harris and newcomer Johan de Bruyn and experienced navigator, Gerhard Schutte while Nic Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel (Super Energi Race Fuels) are now also participating in a Red-Lined VK56.
The experienced Gary Bertholdt (Toyota Hilux) has teamed up with another desert race expert, Juan Möhr, who will be competing in his 22nd desert race and the team will put desert racing experience to good use.
More Toyota Hilux T1 teams include the consistent Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) and the Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus, who will make their debut in the SA Rally-Raid Championship with their baptism of fire the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race.
Hennie de Klerk/Adriaan Roets (TreasuryOne VW Amarok); Schalk Burger/Henk Janse van Vuuren (King Price Xtreme Mercedes-Benz) and Richard Leeke/Zaheer Bodhanya (Leeke Motorsport) will also be on the start line as will the German father and son in two Nissan Navaras – Jürgen Schröder, will make use of the navigating services of Achim Bergmann and Daniel Schröder will have regular navigator KZN businessman, Ryan Bland, in the hot seat.
The 2x4 Century Racing CR6 vehicles in the new FIA T1.2 Class, could cause an upset and will have many eyes on them in the Northern Cape. The 2021 TGRSA 1000 overall winners (Baragwanath/Cremer) will be joined under the Century Racing banner by two French couples, Jerome and Anne Galpin who completed the Dakar Rally Classic earlier this year as well as Yannick and Valerie Panagiotis who also participated in the same category.
The class will be bolstered by two JCP Steel Supplies CR6 vehicles – Ernest Roberts/Henry Köhne are no strangers to desert conditions and successfully completed their first Dakar Rally earlier this year while the 2021 Class T Drivers Champion, Malcolm Kock, will tackle the race with Jaco van Aardt in the navigators’ seat.
The King Price Xtreme CR6 might be relatively new to the multiple Special Vehicle Drivers Champion and category winner of this event last year, Lance Trethewey, but completing kilometre after dusty kilometre of desert racing is nothing new to him and navigator Rodney Burke. The CR6 will also be the weapon of choice for Dewald van Breda and Johann du Toit.
Four teams have entered in the Class T championship of the quality Production Vehicle Category for the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race. Another finish for the two Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger teams of the Johnstone couple, Bernard and Minette, as well as Christo Rose/Arno Olivier will mean more points to their championship tallies so far this season while the young driver, Jayden Els and Armand du Toit (King Price Xtreme Renault Duster) will be tackling their first marathon even. The experienced Johan and his son, Sean van Staden (KEC Racing Renault Duster) will also be competing in Class T.
The entry list for the Production Vehicle Category of the 2022 TGRSA 1000 Desert Race certainly indicates one could lose a bet on the outcome of the event, and the desert race record books might just have a different look to it after the weekend of 24 to 26 June.
Spectators are welcome to attend the three day event with all the action taking place from the Upington Expo Centre where Race Headquarters, the Start/Finish as well as the Designated Service Park (DSP) will be situated. The TGRSA 1000 Desert Race can also be followed on the RallySafe App that can be downloaded, free of charge, from the Google Play Store or the iStore.
Source: SARRC
Images: Andre Schoeman
