The special vehicle category of the South African Rally-Raid Championship has seen quite a few changes this season, with shuffles in teams and in the classes. New winners can be expected at the Mpumalanga 400, the season opener that takes place on March 25 and 26 in the Dullstroom area.
This category traditionally relies on privateer entries and in these tough economic times, the numbers have been hit hard. A healthy number of entries do, however, appear on the entry list for the Mpumalanga 400 with Class A and the Class G Side-by-Side Championship being well supported. And with the defending overall and Class A champions, Lance Trethewey and Adriaan Roets, now competing in the production vehicle category, all eyes will be on the new winners.
The 2020 champions, the ever-consistent Tim Howes and Gary Campbell, are back in action and have entered a BAT Spec4 to take on the rest of the field. Every team will be the rival, but it is interesting to note that former production vehicle competitors, Ernest Roberts/Henry Köhne, who finished the Dakar Rally in January, will be competing in Class A with their JCP Steel Supplies Century Racing CR6.
Three more BAT vehicles will be on the start line of the Mpumalanga 400, of which one will be the husband-and-wife team of navigator Jaco Jonck and driver Sandra Labuscagne-Jonck in the BAT Viper. The team will hope for more racing kilometres and race finishes, and a good result will be the perfect way for them to start the season.
Trace Price Moor and Shaun Braithwaite (BAT Spec1) only competed once during the 2021 season and will again take on the Mpumalanga 400 while motorcycle racers Nicolas Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel will be back for more with their Super Energi Race Fuels BAT Spec2. Pienaar/Swanepoel participated in the Vryburg 400 last year and walked away with points, and they can do so again.
Lood du Preez finished the 2021 season on the podium and will now have young Chris Visser Jr reading him the notes in the Farmer’s Meat Stryker while the Upington businessmen Willem du Toit/Victor Fincham (Porter), who only participated in selected events last year, are looking forward to their first Mpumalanga 400 experience.
The Makenete brothers, Keith and Andrew, are the lonely Class P entry with their BAT Makmobile.
The Class G SxS Championship, where the Can-Am Maverick is the vehicle of choice, has attracted former and defending champions as well as regulars while the names of a few new teams also appear on the list.
The Larney brothers, Cecil and Elardus (Fox Africa Maverick), showed perseverance and determination, and their dedication paid off when they claimed the title after only their first national season.
They will defend their title against two more sets of brothers, Michael and Jean de Beer from Lichtenburg as well as Fouché and Bertus Blignaut from eMalahleni. Both teams are new to the SA Rally-Raid Championship and it will be interesting to watch their performance this season.
Werner Mostert was the first Class G Drivers’ Champion with his brother, Leon, taking the navigators’ title in 2019. With his son, Ian, now old enough to race, the father-and-son team will take on the rest of the field in their Moto-Netix Racing Maverick, with Werner surely hoping for a racing season with fewer technical issues.
Geoff Minnitt/Gerhard Snyman (Hydro Power Equipment Maverick) completed the recent Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge together and will build on their result at the Mpumalanga 400. Glen Theron and Craig Galvin are no strangers to racing and have competed in regional events while the Namibian, Marko Himmel, will team up with Nico Swartz (King Price Xtreme Can-Am Maverick).
The Mpumalanga 400 Super Event will start on Friday March 25 at 10:15 with a short 20-kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race to determine the starting order for the first loop of approximately 80 kilometres to be completed on the same day. After completing a total of 100 kilometres on Friday, competitors will have to complete two more loops of 125 kilometres each on Saturday March 26, when the action starts at 08:00 at the Village Green Cricket Oval in Dullstroom.
After completing the first of the two loops, teams will return to the DSP for a compulsory 30-minute service break, with the race also finishing at the cricket oval, where spectators will be welcomed.
The Mpumalanga 400 can be followed on the RallySafe app on which maps and information will be available. The app can be downloaded free of charge for iPhone and Android devices from the Google Play Store or the App Store.
Source: SACCS
