Parys 400 2022: Special Vehicle Category - The brave warriors with no windscreens

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