A fast, but tricky Ingco Parys 400, the second round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship that took place on Friday, 15 August on the outskirts of Parys in the Free State, produced new race winners this season with the Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota DKR Hilux T1+) emerging as the overall victors after an action-packed race day that included a short qualifying stint followed by 320 tough racing kilometres.
The Blignauts were fastest after the Falken Wild Peak Qualifying Race and with the top 10 teams having to draw for their starting positions for Stage One, they were the sixth car on the road. The team had an uneventful outing and their combined race time (04:44:47) put them on the top step of the overall and the Ultimate FIA T1+ Class podium.
There was, however, some major action between the leaders on the road. Guy Botterill and his Spanish navigator, Oriol Valdearcos (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) started Stage One from the lead and despite it being tricky to open the road, it all went quite well until they were halted by a locked gate and minutes passed before they managed to open it.
The team and the winners of the first round, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Castrol Ford Rally-Raid NWM EVO PLUS), who started the Parys 400 from third place and overtook their team-mates, the Brazilian team of Marcos Baumgart/Alberto Neto who started just ahead of them, caught up to the TGR team, but the teams then encountered yet another locked gate which the Ford team opened to take the lead on the road. Woolridge/Dreyer were the first team to complete Stage One but were forced to call it a day due to a mechanical issue early into Stage Two.
Stage Two then went smoothly for Botterill/Valdearcos who were compensated with time putting them initially on the top step of the overall and class podiums. Their luck turned again as they were one of six teams who were slapped with a two-minute penalty for a rule infringement that changed the initial results and resulted in them dropping to second place overall, a minute and 38 seconds behind the Blignauts.
The overall and Ultimate FIA T1+ podiums were rounded off by Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota T1+) who were second fastest after the qualifier and started Stage One from fifth place, but also received a penalty after the race. Only 73 seconds separated them from Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) whose total time (04:49:05) also included the two-minute penalty with the team finding the tricky navigation a real challenge while they also suffered a puncture.
And with no penalties behind their names, it was the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota Hilux) who made it two class victories for the siblings and team-mates when they clinched the Ultimate T1+ SA victory for the second time season. They finished fifth overall (04:53:05), 78 seconds ahead of veteran competitor, Gary Bertholdt and Henry Köhne (Toyota Hilux IMT EVO) who were sixth overall and second in the Ultimate T1+ SA Class (04:54:23) despite also receiving the penalty.
Marko Himmel/Francois Schoonbee (Red-Lined Navara EVO) finished seventh overall, only thirty seconds further adrift and rounded off the Ultimate T1+ SA Class podium with their time also including the two minute penalty.
The two remaining Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid EVO PLUS teams both finished in the top 10 with Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen completing their first race together this season in eighth place (04:55:59 including a penalty) while the Brazilian team were 10th (04:56:50). The two Ultimate FIA T1+ Ford teams sandwiched the winners of the Adventurer Class, Johan van Staden assisted by Sandra Laubscagne in the Renault Duster (04:56:26). It was Johan’s second class win this season with his son, Sean, having to sit out this race.
Just outside the top 10, no less than six teams in Red-Lined vehicles hogged the positions from 11th to 16th place overall. Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson (Red-Lined Revo T1+) finished just off the Ultimate T1+ SA podium in 11th place overall followed by their team-mates, Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt in a similar vehicle with the Dutch team, Vick Versteijnen/Teun van Dal (Daklapack Rallysport Revo T1+) completing their first race in the SARRC in 13th place overall and sixth in the T1+ SA Class. Their Dutch team-mates, Dave and Tessa Klaassen (REVO GTR) were 14th overall (seventh in the T1+ FIA Class).
There were also two podium results for the Red-Lined vehicles of Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets (Red-Lined REVO T1) finishing second in the Adventurer Class – they were 15th overall, 14 seconds ahead of the SARRC newcomers, Peet Victor/VanZyl Jonck (VAPS HCV Rally-Raid Red-Lined VK50-2) who earned their first silverware by finishing third in this class. Their team-mates, Abrie and Iaan Olivier were 18th overall after an eventful first outing.
Also, on the list of finishers, was the German driver, Jürgen Schröder and Stuart Gregory (WCT Amarok) who were 17th overall and the winners of the Challenger Class, Henk Klaassen/Gerhard Schutte (Daklapack Rallysport Taurus T3Max).
The teams take on the third round of the SARRC, the Ingco Vaal 400, on Saturday, 16 August from Stonehenge River Lodge in the Parys area.
Published by: Charmaine Fortune
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
MSA Publishes media releases from a host of different sources on our website as a service to the sport. It is not practically possible to vet/approve every release that is published. Some news items and articles are written by correspondents and do not necessarily represent MSA’s views.