Slippery, wet and rocky Mpumalanga 400 delivered surprises and disappointment

The final results of the Mpumalanga 400, the opening round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship that took place this weekend, 25 and 26 March in the Dullstroom area, might have a familiar look to it, but it is deceiving as all the happenings behind the scenes makes for an intriguing read.

And like in the past, the unpredictable weather caused havoc again and it all added up to a sensational 400 kilometres of racing.

In the end, it was the defending Production Vehicle Category champions, Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+) who opened their scorecard for the season with a perfect result by them winning the Mpumalanga 400 while they also made a little history as the first winners of the new FIA T1+ class. The team posted the fastest combined time on Friday for the 20 kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race and Loop One of 85 kilometres and opened the road on the first of two 150 kilometre loops on Saturday after a heavy downpour during the night.

Except for being the first car on an extremely slippery route, their challenges also included opening three closed gates while they also had to change a flat tyre. Their total time of 06:37:25 was eventually a mere 51 seconds faster than that of their team-mates, Shameer Variawa/Danie Stassen who also had a flat tyre and lost some time getting stuck in a donga. With a few of the frontrunners running into trouble, the two Class FIA T1+ teams had a little gap to the rest of the field.

It was an all Toyota overall podium with Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) creating their own history by winning the FIA T1 class (06:46:21) in their first outing in the new vehicle. The team were also fastest in FIA T1 after Friday’s racing section and they started the final day in the top five. Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer brought their NWM Ford Castrol Ranger T1+ home in fourth place overall (06:54:13) and rounded off the Class FIA T1+ podium after the vehicle’s first outing and a few mechanical challenges.

Their team-mates and the winners of the 2021 Mpumalanga 400, Lance Woolridge/Elvéne Vonk, looked set for another victory and were leading at the halfway mark, but they hit a tree after a slippery section that damaged the chassis and forced them to retire.

Another Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+ in the hands of multiple SA rally champions, Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy-Lyle, rounded off the top five (06:58:47) after they started the final day down the field. Their team-mates, Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy, were also running amongst the leaders on Saturday and were the first vehicle out to take on the third and final loop. They got stuck in a dam and lost 45 minutes that saw them dropping to eighth place overall and fifth in the Class FIA T1+. The slippery and rocky conditions and losing time with an exhaust problem on their Toyota Hilux, did not keep Gary Bertholdt/Philip Herselman from finishing second in the FIA T1 class (07:01:19). They were sixth overall after a race the experienced Bertholdt described as ‘well-balanced with a good challenge for both driver and navigator’.

The Class FIA T1 podium was rounded off by Hennie de Klerk/Adriaan Roets (VW Amarok) who finished 11th after losing time with two punctures and getting stuck in a ditch.

Three of the four Class T entries, all competing with Ford Ranger vehicles under the Neil Woolridge Motorsport banner, finished in the overall top 10 with the first victory of the season going to Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen (07:07:10). They were seventh overall. The Johnstone couple, Bernard and Minette, finished second in Class T (07:30:04), seven minutes and eight seconds behind the class winners with Christo Rose/Arno Olivier third despite a 25 minute penalty they received on Friday.

The 17 year-old Jayden Els and Armand du Toit (King Price Xtreme Renault Duster) ran into trouble on the first day and could not finish, but they started again on Saturday and persevered to finish and earn points with a fourth place in Class T. Team Red-Lined Motorsport hogged all the spots from 12th to 15th place on the overall standings with a full-house of results.

The Dutch team, Dave Klaassen/Tessa Rooth (Red-Lined VK56) were 12th overall and fourth in Class FIA T1 and can add their first successful rally-raid on South African soil to their list of international events. It was also a successful debut for Johan de Bruyn who has teamed up with seasoned navigator, Gerhard Schutte in the Red-Lined Motorsport VK56. They were 13th overall and fifth in Class FIA T1.

The Zimbabwean, Conrad Rautenbach and navigator Wade Harris (Red-Lined REVO) finished behind them on the overall standings and in FIA T1 after a gruelling day that saw them starting towards the back of the field on Saturday due to not finishing on Friday.

The team hit a rock on Friday that broke a wheel off their REVO, but they took the 10 hour penalty and lined up on Saturday with the first points towards their championship onslaught as reward. The same fate befell their team-mates, Philip Botha/Riaan Greyling (Red-Lined VK56) who also broke a wheel off on Friday when they hit a tree stump in a mud hole. The team finished 15th overall and seventh in FIA T1 after two days of racing.

Three more teams were forced to retire – Lance Trethewey/Frans Kock (King Price Xtreme Ford Ranger); Richard Leeke/Zaheer Bodhanya (BSpeed Leeke Motorsport) and the German driver, Daniel Schröder and Ryan Bland (PS Laser Nissan Navara) who experienced power steering issues on Saturday morning.

The 2022 Mpumalanga 400 was a tough and challenging, but enjoyable season opener that laid the table for more thrilling racing action to come.

Source: SACCS / Photos: Andre Schoeman