What South African Endurance Series Round 2 Report
Where Eston, KwaZulu Natal
When 12-13 May 2023
Community South Africa National
Five consecutive T1 wins for Red-Lined Motorsport
Red-Lined Motorsport’s dreamy 2023 season continued apace as Nicholas Pienaar and Carl Swanepoel steered their new Supa Energi fuelled Red-Lined REVO to their maiden South African Rally-Raid Championship Class T1 victory in the KwaZulu Natal Sugarbelt 400 over the weekend. The result wraps up a fourth win and seventh consecutive podium for the new Red-Lined T1 REVO since its debut in the SA National Championship last year.
Pienaar and Swanepoel kept out of trouble throughout the extremely tough and challenging conditions to emerge a splendid sixth overall, and victorious in another hard-fought T1 class battle. The result also moves them to the top of the T1 championship log. The Dragon Energy REVO T1+ entry of Chris Visser and Albertus Venter, fought a tough battle from the back of the field after a puncture in qualifying to follow in seventh overall and sixth in the premier T1+ Class.
This was followed by another great result for 18-year-old Aliyyah Koloc and Riaan Greyling on debut in the Buggyra Racing Red-Lined VK50. Aliyyah was delighted to finish her first race in a T1 car with a sixth in class. An incredible achievement driving a completely new race car in unfamiliar terrain, and with a new navigator alongside her in the hot seat. Seventh in the T1 class was however a hard pill to swallow for OdorCure REVO T1 duo Johan de Bruyn and Gerhard Schutte, who had challenged for the T1 win during the first loop before losing considerable time to repair a damaged oil cooler late in the final loop.
“The Sugarbelt 400 continues an incredible start to the season for us at Red-Lined Motorsport,” team boss Terence Marsh explained. “First off, this weekend wraps up four wins for our new T1 REVO, with three of these races won by different teams. Chris Visser and Albertus Venter won the last race of 2022 aboard our REVO prototype, while Johan de Bruyn and Gerhard Schutte, and now Nicholas Pienaar and Carl Swanepoel have now followed with REVO T1 wins in the first two races of 2023.
“Johan and Gerhard also won the penultimate T1 race of the 2022 season in their Red-Lined VK56, so that’s five T1 wins for Red-Lined Motorsport, and seven podium finishes in the last seven South African National Rally-Raid events. That’s of course on top of a 2023 Dakar T1 class 1-2 and a growing list of other international Red-Lined successes so far this year.
So, congratulations to Nicholas and Carl on a well-deserved maiden victory. Chris and Albertus came back brilliantly, Aliyyah made a brilliant T1 debut alongside Riaan in really challenging conditions, and Johan and Gerhard were quick all weekend, even if their result does not quite show it.
“The Sugarbelt 400 was another tough race in incredibly technical conditions and our race cars once again starred, so it’s always important to remember our entire Red-Lined technical team who work so tirelessly behind the scenes. Well done, once again, to one and all for an incredible team effort!”
Red-Lined Motorsport returns to action in the annual Desert Race, which returns to Botswana following a few lockdown seasons in Upington over the weekend of 23 to 25 June.
*Red-Lined Motorsport competes with premium strategic partners, the Penta Motor Group, BFGoodrich, Motul, Dragon Energy, PentaSure, OMP, ExpandaSign and Wheel Collision.
Issued on behalf of Red-Lined Motorsport
Photography by: Andre Laubscher
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