The Northam Zondereinde Bushveld 400, the sixth and final round of the 2025 SA Rally-Raid Championship that takes place from the Koedoeskop Primary School this weekend, 21 and 22 November, proved to be a steamy affair with high temperatures and even hotter racing characterising the first of the two days’ action. And if the first 100 kilometres is anything to go by, the second day will deliver even more nail-biting action.
The race started with a 22km Falken Wild Peak Prologue on Friday morning that determined the starting order for Stage One, which consisted of 88 kilometres later in the day. It was a case of keeping it steady and bringing it home while aiming for the best possible time and with the first five teams covered by less than a minute, the Prologue was a clear indication of more close racing to come.
Toyota Gazoo Racing showed they meant business and covered the first four places with the Portuguese team of Joao Ferreira/Filipe Palmeiro (Toyota Hilux IMT EVO) posting the best time (19 minutes and 15 seconds). They were 38 seconds ahead of Guy Botterill/Oriol Valdearcos who were only five seconds ahead of Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet who are chasing the championship title. Variawa’s brother, Sa’aad and Zaheer Bodhanya also had a good start to the race and were 11 seconds further adrift with the current overall championship leaders, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Castrol NWM Ford Rally Raid Ford Evo Plus) a mere second behind in fifth place.
Lady driver, Puck Klaassen together with navigator, Danie Stassen (GRally OT3) were the only team in the top 10 not competing in Ultimate FIA T1+. The team finished sixth (20 min. 24 sec.) and lead the Challenger Class. The two #TeamHilux Rally-Raid teams of Fouché and Bertus Blignaut and Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy (Toyota DKR Hilux T1+) were respectively seven and nine seconds behind with Jayden Els/Johann Swemmer (Red-Lined Revo T1+ GTR) in ninth (20:41), two seconds ahead of the Brazilian team of Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea (Castrol NWM Ford Rally Raid Ford Evo Plus) in 10th.
Just outside the top 10, the fight for the title in Ultimate SA T1+ broiled with Marko Himmel/Francois Schoonbee (Red-Lined Navara Evo), who are the points’ leaders in the class, and Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt (Red-Lined Revo T1+) finishing 11th and 12th while the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota Hilux) were 15 seconds further back in 14th place.
The 10 leading teams then drew for their starting positions for Stage One resulting in Els/Swemmer having to open the road followed by Baumgart/Cincea; the Blignaut brothers; De Villiers, who is also aiming for the title and navigator Murphy and the Portuguese team of Ferreira/Palmeiro with Woolridge/Dreyer starting in sixth place, just ahead of Saood/Cazalet; Sa’aad/Bodhanya and Klaassen/Stassen.
Rivers and riverbeds, tight and twisty routes in the bushveld combined with some tricky navigation and dusty conditions tested all the teams and, in the end, Botterill/Valdearcos had the best combined time (01:29:34) as the winners on the first day. They opened a gap of nine seconds to Woolridge/Dreyer who in turn are only nine seconds ahead of the Portuguese visitors who finished the day in third place.
Variawa/Cazalet lost time with a puncture and are fourth. They will start the final day trailing their championship rivals, Woolridge/Dryer, by a minute and 42 seconds. De Villiers/Murphy rounded out the top five, 39 seconds behind Variawa/Cazalet and a minute ahead of team-mates, the Horn brothers who lead Ultimate SA T1+.
Sa’aad/Bodhanya are seventh, only 31 seconds behind the Horns with Klaassen/Stassen delivering a great drive to finish eighth (01:35:09). Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen (Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Evo Plus) moved into the top 10 and are ninth despite hitting a tree and damaging the windscreen. Botha/Mynhardt moved to 10th place and lead Ultimate SA T1+ while Himmel/Schoonbee will have a fight on their hands after dropping to 14th place overall. They are third in the class.
Throttle issues halted the Blignaut brothers who will have to start the final day from the back of the field while the Brazilian team in the Ford were also hampered by mechanical issues and could not complete Stage One.
In the Adventurer Class, Gerhard Heinlein and his dad, Rudi (Red-Lined VK56) remained in the lead of the class and moved from 16th place after the Prologue to 12th, but they still have another family duo, Johan and Sean van Staden (Renault Duster) hot on their wheels. If anything, they widened the gap from two seconds after the Prologue to four seconds – still too close for comfort. Johan de Bruyn and Adriaan Roets’s luck in the Red-Lined Revo T1+ has yet to turn with the team also not being able to complete Stage One.
The Dutch team, Dave and his wife, Tessa Klaassen (Daklapack Rallysport Red-Lined Revo GTR) also finished in the top 15 while they were fourth in Ultimate SA T1+ while Dave’s son, Pim and navigator Gerhard Schutte finished the day in 18th place overall, second in the Challenger Class with the Taurus T3Max.
There were mixed results for the VAPS HCV Rally-Raid team. Abrie and Iaan Olivier (Red-Lined VK56) finished fifth in Ultimate SA T1+ Class and 16th overall and the SARRC newcomers, Tyler Botha/Kyle Lotter (Red-Lined VK50-1) were 21st and fifth in the Adventurer Class, but Peet Victor/VanZyl Jonck (Red-Lined VK50-2) could not see out the race distance.
More fine results see Nickus Heinlein/Jaco Kriel (Red-Lined VK56) finishing third in the Adventurer Class and 17th overall; Els/Swemmer dropped to 19th overall with Martin van der Vyver/Rikus Hatting (Red-Lined Revo) rounding off the top 20. Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson (Red-Lined Revo T1+) also had to call it a day.
The second day of the Northam Zondereinde Bushveld 400 will see teams’ line up for Stage Two that will take them on a 150km racing section followed by Stage Three a repeat of the 87km section of the previous day. All the action takes place from the Koedoeskop Primary School where the Start/Finish as well as the Race Headquarters and the Designated Service Point are situated.
The action can be followed on the RallySafe App which can be downloaded from the Apple Store and Google Play Store or the social media platforms – Facebook: @sarallyraidchampionship; Instagram: @sarallyraidchampionship and YouTube: @SouthAfricanRallyRaidSARRC
Published by: Charmaine Fortune
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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