The 2025 SA Rally-Raid Championship has had a tumultuous start to the season with the forced postponement of the scheduled opening round in the Vryheid area in KwaZulu-Natal due to flooding and heavy rains that caused the routes to be impassable. Now, almost seven months later, it is finally time for the VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 on 31 October and 1 November. And not only are the competitors eager to return to KZN, but the wait will also be over for followers and enthusiasts as well as the Vryheid community to experience world class racing action in their area.
VAPS, an innovative insurance company that provides insurance products for Heavy Commercial Vehicles (HCV) as well as an array of Value Added and Commercial Lines to brokers and their clients, is the headline sponsor for the event and as they have a vested interest in the SARRC and Rally-Raid racing in South Africa, it will no doubt add to the flair of the event.
The VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 will form the fifth and penultimate round of the 2025 SARRC and with the overall and various class championship titles still to fight for, the two-day race is expected to draw a full field of competitors that will produce racing action at the highest level. The action will take place from the Vryheid Airfield where the Designated Service Point (DSP) as well as the Start/Finish and Race Headquarters will be situated and the planned route in the area, that proved popular with competitors, will add to the fiery racing action.
The Vryheid area offers spectacular and challenging roads and the 15 kilometre Falken Wild Peak Prologue on Friday, 31 October will test competitors and their vehicles in the nearby forest, situated on the side of a hill which includes fast, graded roads with tight and technical sectors.
The Prologue determines the starting order for the 52-kiometre Stage One on Friday afternoon with its unique characteristics set in the lowlands amongst farmlands and the river where the action will play out on fast roads and tracks.
With close to 70 kilometres on the clocks after the first day, the combined results will be used to make up the starting order for Stage Two on Saturday morning. Two stages of 183 kilometres each will await competitors separated by a compulsory 30-minute decontrol at DSP.
Stages Two and Three are set just north of the town of Vryheid from where it winds its way through the forests and mountain passes. In the forests, well-maintained roads will make for fast, challenging sections while two magnificent mountain trails will offer technical, flowing and interesting routes. And as these are the only forests in the 2025 SARRC, it will add to the level of excitement of the event.
It is not only the competitors, teams and the supporters who have been waiting for more than half a year to return to Vryheid. The landowners and farmers have also been extremely patient and have stayed positive about the return of the event. Now able to use dried-out and accessible routes and roads for the VAPS HCV Vryheid 400, the landowners and farmers have been incredibly co-operative and the organisers believe that the cohesion between all the role players, will result in an exciting and successful event.
The Vryheid Flying Club, the custodians of the Vryheid Airfield, together with the local community, are looking forward to the event and will ensure there will be something to everyone’s taste on the menu – from boerewors rolls to bagels with a variety of tasty fillings while the local Wimpy will also be offering a selected menu from the beer garden where live bands will add to the carnival atmosphere of the event.
The action will start at 09:30 on Friday, 31 October when the leading vehicle will take on the Falken Wild Peak Prologue. This will be followed by Stage One at 13:00.
On Saturday morning, Stage Two will see the first team depart at 09:00 from the Vryheid Airfield with competitors returning to the DSP after completion of the stage for the 30-minute compulsory service break. Teams will again finish here after the end of Stage Three and the podium celebrations will take place.
The landscape depicted by its diverse topography, including rolling hills, forests, and grasslands, and the compact nature of the route provides multiple vantage points for enthusiasts to witness the action up close.
Information will also be available on the RallySafe App which can be downloaded free from the Apple Store and Google Play Store or follow us on our social media channels – Facebook: @sarallyraidchampionship; Instagram: @sarallyraidchampionship and YouTube: @SouthAfricanRallyRaidSARRC
Published by: Charmaine Fortune
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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