With the action, dust and mud settled after The Renault KEC 400, the opening round of the 2025 SA Rally-Raid Championship, the scoreboards have been updated with the first points and if the standings are anything to go by, the rest of the season will produce exciting title battles.
After a delayed start due to the postponement of the first scheduled race because of heavy flooding in KwaZulu-Natal, the season eventually got off towards the end of May and with the first points now in the bag – or no points scored – the foundation has been laid for a bumper second half of the year.
Looking at the overall standings, it is the Castrol Ford Rally-Raid team of former champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (30 points) who has drawn first blood to take the lead in the title chase. They have opened a gap of seven points to Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet (Toyota Gazoo Racing) who finished in a close second place (23 points) with another set of former champions, Giniel de Villiers/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota) a further five points adrift (18 points) in third place.
All the teams score points towards the overall standings and the leading five teams in the overall standings, compete in the Ultimate T1+ FIA Class. The German driver, Daniel Schröder and his South African navigator, Henry Köhne (WCT VW) both have 15 points for finishing fourth with the second Castrol Ford Rally-Raid team, Lance Woolridge, who stood in for Wors Prinsloo together with navigator, André Vermeulen, scoring 12 points for their fifth place at the first round.
Behind them, teams are separated by single points with the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota) filling the sixth place overall (10 points) and leading the Ultimate T1+ SA Class. The third Castrol Ford Rally-Raid team, the Brazilian pair of Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea is seventh overall (nine points) followed by the leaders of the Challenger Class, lady driver, Puck Klaassen and veteran navigator, Danie Stassen (G Rally Team) who are eighth overall.
The first victors of the Adventurer Class, Johan and Sean van Staden (KEC Renault) trail them by one point and find themselves in ninth place overall with Marko Himmel/Francois Schoonbee (Red-Lined Navara) rounding out the overall top 10 (six points).
In the class championships, competitors score an additional five points for entering and starting a race and this makes for interesting points gaps to start the various title chases.
In the Ultimate T1+ FIA Class, Woolridge/Dreyer (35 points) lead Variawa/Cazalet (28 points) by seven points with De Villiers/Pienaar (23 points) 12 points behind the leaders. Schröder/Köhne (20 points) are fourth with Lance Woolridge/Vermeulen (17 points) fifth.
Baumgart/Kleber (15 points) are sixth followed by Guy Botterill and his Spanish navigator, Oriol Mena Valdearcos (Toyota Gazoo Racing) who kept their title hopes high despite finishing 14th overall after the opening event due to mechanical issues. They are followed by Jayden Els/Johan Swemmer (Red-Lined Motorsport) who accumulated 13 points in the class championship and the Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota) who scored a total of 12 points with the two teams finishing eighth and ninth respectively in the class after a problematic first race.
Two international teams, the Dutch couple of Dave and Tessa Klaassen (Daklapack Rallysport) and the Portuguese duo of Joao Ferreira/Filipe Palmeiro (Toyota Gazoo Racing) did not finish the season opener, but their five starting points each are a start towards the title chase.
Due to the points system and because of the number of starters in the Ultimate T1+ SA Class Championship, only six points now separate the teams on the podium. The Horn brothers (23 points) lead Himmel/Schoonbee (20 points) by three points with Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson (Red-Lined Motorsport), who finished 13th overall and third in the class, a mere six points behind the leaders. Cor Kraamwinkel/Armand du Toit (King Price Xtreme VW) could not finish the race and have five points.
The same scenario developed in the Adventurer Class where a blanket of six points covers the podium. The class victory earned the Van Staden father and son team a total of 23 points with three points the difference to Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets (Red-Lined REVO) who finished as the runners-up in the class while Nickus Heinlein/Jaco Kriel (Red-Lined VK56) scored 17 points each in their first SA Rally-Raid Championship outing. The remaining Heinlein duo, brother Gerhard and father Rudi (Red-Lined VK56) could not finish the race and start their season with five points.
Two teams started the season opener in the Challenger Class with Puck Klaassen/Stassen the only team to finish as Pim Klaassen – no family of the young lady driver – and Gerhard Schutte (Daklapack Rallysport) were involved in an unfortunate incident with a vehicle resulting in the team not being able to complete the race. Klaassen/Stassen therefore have 17 points while Pim Klaassen/Schutte have five points each.
Competitors will have their second chance to earn valuable points towards the standings on 15 and 16 August when they will travel to Parys for the INGCO Parys and Vaal 400 rounds two and three of the SARRC, with a double helping of points up for grabs, two days of intense action and entertainment awaits.
Published by: Charmaine Fortune
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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