The Vryburg 400, the sixth and penultimate round of the 2021 South African National Cross Country Series (SACCS) that took place the past weekend at Vryburg in the North-West Province, presented teams with all the seasons in 48 hours while they had to handle a slippery and wet as well as a rocky, sandy and tricky track with care. There were championship titles to be won – or lost – and both the production and special vehicle categories produced spectacular racing that turned the event into one for the books.
After two days and 400 tough kilometres of racing in the Kalahari, a mere 71 seconds separated the top three teams who are all in the running for the Production Vehicle and FIA Class Championship titles while only four seconds separated the leading two teams. In the end, it was the defending champions, Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Hilux) who came out victorious in a time of 04:53:07 after they started the day in fourth place.
Two punctures on the second of the two 179km-loops and muddy conditions that made changing tyres quite difficult plus the added pressure from Lance Woolridge/Elvéne Vonk (Ford Castrol Cross Country Ranger) resulted in an interesting day. It was an extremely close battle with Woolridge/Vonk who finished only four seconds behind the winners.
The winners of the Pirelli Qualifying Race on Friday, Brian Baragwanath/Leonard Cremer (Century Racing CR6) had to open the road for the best part of the day. They lost time with a flat tyre and were eventually only seven seconds behind the Ford team. A puncture cost the second Ford Castrol Cross Country Ranger in the hands of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer, time and they finished fourth (04:57:50) after an otherwise clean run.
The Vryburg 400 was a good testing track for Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux T1+ prototype who are preparing for the upcoming Dakar Rally. They finished just behind Gareth/Dryer, but do not score points towards the championships.
It was a tough event for their team-mates, Shameer Variawa/Danie Stassen who finished fifth overall and in the FIA Class after two punctures (05:00:28). After recent disappointments for the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner (Malalane Toyota Hilux), the pair claimed their third Class T victory of the season (05:12:47) after a tough experience that included losing time with a puncture.
The current Class T championship leaders, Malcolm and Frans Kock (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger) had a good outing in front of their home crowd and played it safe as the title is within their reach. They had two flat tyres and finished second in the class (05:31:34) and ninth overall in the production vehicle category. Their team-mates, and fellow Vryburg businessmen, Christo Rose/Arno Olivier rounded off the Class T podium (05:45:50) and were 12th overall.
The rest of the top 10 consisted of Gary Bertholdt/Stompie Mynhardt (Toyota Hilux) who had a good run despite two punctures and a niggling misfire. They finished sixth in the FIA Class and were seventh overall (05:15:20) and were followed, overall and in the FIA Class, by Mark Corbett/Rodney Burke (Century Racing CR6) who enjoyed the event, but also suffered two punctures during the first loop. Their total time was 05:24:49.
The top 10 was rounded off by Eben Basson/Gerhard Schutte (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO) who had an uneventful first loop with only a puncture and a cracked windscreen thanks to a branch. The action hit them on the second loop when they not only struggled with an intermittent electronic problem, but also lost drive to the rear wheels 40 kilometres in. They managed to finish with diff-lock engaged and only with front wheel drive.
It was a tough, but good day for the German visitor, Jurgen Schröder who teamed up with KZN businessman, Ryan Bland in the WCT Engineering Nissan Navara in preparation for the 2022 Dakar Rally. The team finished 11th overall and were ninth in the FIA Class (05:37:27). Two more teams in the FIA Class survived the rocky Kalahari event.
Two flat tyres did not keep the ever consistent Philip Botha/Roelof Janse van Vuren (Red-Lined VK56) from adding yet another finish to their list. They were 10th in the class (13th overall) with Johan and Sean van Staden (Moto-Netix KEC Racing Renault Duster) making it home in 16th place overall (06:24:09) after a difficult race where they struggled with brake issues as well as a faulty transfer case and two punctures.
There were top five results in Class T for two more Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger teams. The development team of Baphumza Rubuluza/Fanifani Meyiwa finished fourth (06:11:42) with Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen (06:16:52) fifth. Dylan Venter/Vince van Allemann (4×4 Mega World Racing Toyota Hilux) were sixth in Class after losing time during the first loop with alternator problems.
Between those who fell by the wayside, were Chris Visser/Albertus Venter who retired after hitting an exposed stump during the first loop that broke the ball-joint and sideshaft of their Toyota Hilux and Ernest Roberts/Henry Köhne (Century Racing CR6) who broke a lower control arm after hitting a rock on the first loop.
Source: SA Cross Country Racing (SACCS)
