It was victory at last for Guy Botterill/Dennis Murphy (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) who won a fast, dusty and ruthless INGCO Parys 400, the fourth round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship that took place from Stonehenge River Lodge on the banks of the Vaal River, a stones-throw from Parys. It was, however, not a walk in the park for the crew who have finished as the runners-up twice this season as they hit a gnarly rock on the short Castrol Qualifying Race that saw them starting Stage One in 19th place.
The INGCO Parys 400 consisted of a fast 1,5km Castrol Qualifying Race early on a freezing -6˚C on Friday, 16 August that determined the starting order for the first stage of 189 kilometres that followed soon after. With only 31 seconds covering the top five teams after the short stint, the crew had their work cut out for them having to work their way up through the dusty field. The fastest team after the Castrol Qualifying Race was the Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota IMT EVO) in the FIA Ultimate T1+ Class who were followed by three more teams in this class.
Jayden Els and his new navigator, Johann Swemmer (King Price Xtreme SVR) were two seconds further back in second place followed by Chris Visser/Albertus Venter (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO T1+ GTR) with Giniel de Villiers/Elvéne Vonk (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) in fourth place and the leaders of the Adventurer T1 Class, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota) rounding out the top five.
The qualifying race was a clear indication of what was to come, with a fast, flat-out and dusty route punctuated with nasty rocks in places awaiting the crews. As usual the fastest 10 teams drew for their starting positions and it was Els/Swemmer who would open the road followed by the defending champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford NWM Ranger T1+) who were sixth fastest in the qualifying race. Visser/Venter were off in third place followed by Basson/Pienaar and the first of the international drivers, Rients Hofstra/Wade Harris (Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR); the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota DKR Hilux T1+); the Dutch lady driver, Puck Klaassen and Dakar Rally motorcycle rider, Charan Moore who posted the 10th fastest time with the Can-Am Maverick Rotax followed by the two Toyota Gazoo Motorsport teams, Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings and De Villiers/Vonk and the Blignaut brothers in 10th place.
The action was red-hot on the cold morning with Woolridge/Dreyer catching up to Els/Swemmer and hitting a fence in the dust resulting in a flat tyre that cost them valuable time. Their team-mates, Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert, started just outside the top 10 in 11th place, but rolled their NWM Ford Ranger T1+ just over 100 kilometres into the stage and had to call it a day, while Lategan/Cummings also lost time due to a puncture. The gnarly rock as well as a few guinea fowl and a fence post or two also caused some damage and added to the day’s action.
In the end it was an all Toyota Gazoo Racing final podium with Botterill/Murphy bagging the silverware as the winners with a combined time of 05:04:08 after a total of 380 racing kilometres. Lategan/Cummings were a close second, 118 seconds further back after they also lost time due to a puncture with De Villiers/Vonk a mere 21 seconds adrift in third place. The rest of the overall top five also included two more Toyota teams with the Blignaut brothers finishing fourth, 11 seconds behind De Villiers/Vonk and Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) fifth (05:08:37), hopefully getting the monkey off their back after a tricky start to the season.
Woolridge/Dreyer could not make up for lost time and had to settle for sixth place (05:10:37) with Visser/Venter finishing in a solid seventh place (05:12:36). There was also a first result this season for Gary Bertholdt and Danie Stassen (Toyota DKR Hilux T1+) who started Stage One from 14th place to finish eighth (05:15:26). Hofstra/Harris were ninth, 70 seconds behind Bertholdt/Stassen and 57 seconds ahead of Els/Swemmer who rounded out the top 10, with Swemmer also scoring his very first points as navigator after completing his debut SARRC event.
Only five seconds kept Basson/Pienaar out of the overall top 10. The defending champions scored their second consecutive class victory this season when they won the Adventurer T1 Class and finished 11th overall. Five of the six starters in the Adventurer T1 Class managed to complete the INGCO Parys 400, with the championship is still very much alive. Gerhard Heinlein and stand-in navigator Andries Mynhardt (Red-Lined VK56 Evo2) finished second – they were 14th overall and struggled with visibility after hitting a guinea fowl 30 kilometres into Stage One that shattered the windscreen, which could not be replaced at the service park. This class podium was rounded off by Johan and Sean van Staden (Renault Duster) who were three minutes 47 seconds further back in 15th place.
There were problems for the T1 class leader, Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets (Red-Lined REVO T1) who managed to finish last after taking a 10-hour penalty. The team started Stage One from 12th position but damaged their vehicle extensively when they hit a rock. They eventually scored points finishing fifth in the class championship. Their team-mates, Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson (Red-Lined VK56) completed their maiden SARRC race finishing fourth in the class and were 18th overall.
Four more teams survived the INGCO Parys 400 with Lance Trethewey and his16-year old daughter, Taylor-Paige bringing the 2-wheel-drive CR6 home in 12th place overall after starting in 22nd place while the Dutch couple, Dave and Tessa Klaassen (Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR) were 13th after a clean run making it five finishes out of five starts for team Red-Line Motorsport.
Puck Klaassen/Moore were the only entrants and finishers in the Challenger Class and were 16th while Ruperd Fourie/Morné van Rensburg (Can-Am Maverick) were the winners and only finishers in the SSV Class. They finished 17th.
The two German drivers, Jϋrgen Schröder and his son, Daniel were both amongst the teams who could not receive the chequered flag. Jϋrgen/Rikus Fourie (Nissan Navara VK50) were sidelined by a possible broken drivetrain while Daniel/Henry Köhne damaged the WCT VW Amarok when they hit a fence post. The Horn brothers also failed to finish as did the Dutch team, Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (Century Racing CR7 Audi Twin Turbo) who experienced mechanical and electrical issues while Lood du Preez/Juandre Kruger (Farmers Meat CR6) could also not complete the race.
On Saturday, the INGCO Vaal 400, the fifth round of the SARRC, will start with a short Castrol Qualifying Race to determine the starting order for Stage One. The race will start and finish at Stonehenge River Lodge where the Race Headquarters as well as the Designated Service Point will be situated.
Route maps are available on https://www.facebook.com/sarallyraidchampionship, https://www.sacrosscountryracing.co.za/ and Telegram. The race can also be followed on the RallySafe App, available as a free download from the iStore and Google PlayStore or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarallyraidchampionship; Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarallyraidchampionship/ and Twitter: @SACCS.Auto