One would have thought that it could not be more of a see-saw event than the previous day, but the Ingco Vaal 400, the third round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship that followed the day after the second round (the Ingco Parys 400 on Friday, 15 August) produced its fair share of action that included lots of drama, disappointment, plus glory and maiden victories.
After finishing just off the podium the day before, it was the young Saood Variawa who claimed his first ever SARRC victory together with his French navigator, Francois Cazalet when they put the Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO on the top step of the overall and Ultimate FIA T1+ Class. Their total time (05:15:14) after the short Falken Wild Peak Prologue, where they also posted the fastest time, and the two 175km stages, resulted in them finishing 78 seconds ahead of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Castrol Ford Rally-Raid NWM EVO PLUS) who could not complete the race the previous day due to a technical glitch, but were on the start-line for the third round where they qualified with the fifth fastest time and were third out of the blocks after the leading 10 teams draw for their starting positions for Stage One.
Despite a somewhat disappointing Ingco Parys 400, the TGR team were elated to round the overall and Ultimate FIA T1+ podiums off with Guy Botterill/Oriol Valdearcos (05:23:03) who managed to make up for lost time after experiencing a loss of power during the first of the two stages. Only 29 seconds separated the second of the three Ford Rangers in the hands of Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen from Botterill/Valdearcos and the Ford team added a fourth place result to their eighth place achieved the previous day. Their Brazilian team-mates, Marcos Baumgart/Alberto Neto, received a seven minute penalty for a rule infringement, but still managed to finish seventh overall and fifth in the Ultimate FIA T1+ Class (05:36:46).
The battles between the leading teams were fierce throughout the fast-paced, but tricky race with Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid DKR Hilux T1+) leading at the halfway mark after starting the race from fifth position. They were hit by bad luck in the dust when they broke a wheel in the second half of the race and lost more than an hour for repairs. The team had to settle for 15th place overall and finished sixth in the Ultimate FIA T1+ Class.
The fifth place on the overall standings belonged to the winners of the Ultimate T1+ SA Class, Marko Himmel/Francois Schoonbee (Red-Lined Navara Evo) with a first class victory this season. They beat the runners-up in the class, Gary Bertholdt/Henry Köhne (Hilux IMT EVO) by six minutes and 20 seconds with the latter team finishing sixth overall, the same overall and class position they achieved at the Ingco Parys 400 the previous day.
Also in the top 10 were the winners of the Adventurer Class, Johan van Staden/Sandra Labuscagne (Renault Duster) who made it two victories in a row. They were eighth overall (05:36:54) with the second-placed team in this class, Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets (Red-Lined REV T1) finishing 11th overall in a time of 05:43:34 that included a 10 minute penalty. And after not being able to complete the Parys 400 the previous day, another Red-Lined team, the Belgium visitors, Vincent Vroninks/Dave Berghmans (VK56) rounded out the Adventurer Class and finished 13th overall in a time of 05:59:05, which also included a 10 minute penalty.
Teams under the Red-Lined umbrella also claimed the ninth and 10th positions on the overall standings with the Dutch pairing of Vic Versteijnen/Teun van Dal (Daklapack Rallysport Revo T1+) finishing third in the Ultimate T1+ SA Class (05:38:07) improving their 13th place overall at the Parys 400 to ninth at the Vaal 400. Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt (Red-Lined REVO T1+) were 10th (05:41:21) and added a fourth place in class to their good run at the two SARRC rounds.
The Vaal 400 turned out to favour the veteran competitor, Geoff Minnitt and Rodney Burke better than Round Two the previous day. The team entered their Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick R XRS in the SSV Class and after not being able to complete the race the previous day, the team won the class at the third round and finished 12th overall.
Two more Daklapack Rallysport teams received the chequered flag after the Ingco Vaal 400. Henk Klaassen and Gerhard Schutte added another Challenger Class victory to their win the previous day and finished 14th overall while the Dutch couple of Dave and Tessa Klaassen (Red-Lined Revo GTR) battled with no brakes and limping home after the first of the two stages. They persevered to finish 17th overall and were eighth in the Ultimate FIA T1+ Class.
There was bad luck for the winners of the Ingco Parys 400, the Blignaut brothers, Fouche and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota DKR Hilux T1+) who qualified fifth and started Stage One from the second place on the grid, but lost time resulted in them finishing 16th overall, behind their teammates, Johan and Werner Horn who won the Ultimate T1+ SA Class the previous day, but then lost a power steering belt early in Stage One.
Between those who could not complete the Ingco Vaal 400, were the German driver, Jürgen Schröder and Stuart Gregory (WCT Amarok) as well as the two Red-Lined Motorsport teams, Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson (Revo T1+) and Jayden Els/Johan Swemmer (REVO T1+ GTR).
Round Four of the SARRC will see teams taking on a new event on 19 and 20 September when they travel to the Western Cape to compete from Louvain Guest Farm situated in the upper Langkloof Valley, halfway between George and Uniondale on the N9.
Published by: Charmaine Fortune
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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