First special vehicle victory for Roberts/Köhne at soggy Mpumalanga 400

The weather at the Mpumalanga 400 has traditionally been one of the major factors in its outcome, and it was no different at the 2022 event, the season opener of the SA Rally-Raid Championship on March 25 and 26 in the Dullstroom area. Good rain before the race and a downpour on Friday night resulted in conditions that added to the challenges of the special vehicle category.

The Mpumalanga 400 was a super event with a short 20-kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race that determined the starting order for the first 85-kilometre loop on Friday and with 100 kilometres in the bag, two more loops of 150 kilometres each as well as more rain awaited the teams on Saturday.

In the end, a trouble-free and flawless race saw Ernest Roberts and Henry Köhne, who recently completed the Dakar Rally as a team, take the special vehicle category and the Class A win in their JCP Steel Supplies CR 6. “We had a clean run with no real issues, but you needed to be on the button all the time,” Roberts commented at the halfway mark on Saturday morning. “There is no time to relax and it was slip-slip and slide, but we had fun and kept to our strategy to never get out of the car on this testing event,” he said at the finish.

The team were also fastest after the two racing sections on Friday and posted an extremely competitive combined time of 06:45;09 over the two days. They were followed by the 2020 champions, Tim Howes/Gary Campbell in the Tim Drew Properties BAT Spec 4 (07:05;06) who made their intentions clear to compete in the series this season. The team started way down the field on Saturday morning after receiving a 26-minute penalty on Friday, but clawed their way back with silverware and good points the reward for a tough day in the racing seats.

The overall and Class A podiums were rounded off by fellow KZN competitors Trace Price Moor/Shaun Braithwaite (BAT Spec 1), for whom the real challenge is to compete in tough events. They started second behind Roberts/Köhne on Saturday and finished in a time of 07:13;13. The Jonck couple, with Sandra behind the wheel and husband Jaco reading the notes, got their season off to a solid start and just missed out on the podium. They overcame suspension issues on Friday to start third on Saturday and a fourth place overall as well as in Class A (07:14;08), set a solid foundation for the rest of the season.

The top five overall and in Class A was rounded off by Dewald van Breda/Johann du Toit in the Potch Plastics CR6 (07:28;52). The team overcame a disastrous qualifying race with no brakes and struggled with the stability of the vehicle due to suspension issues on Saturday.

Two more teams received the chequered flag in Class A at the Village Green Cricket Oval in Dullstroom with Lood du Preez/Chris Visser Jr (Farmers Meat Stryker) also having to battle from the back of the field on Saturday to finish sixth in Class A and seventh overall. For the two Vryburg businessmen, Willem du Toit and Victor Fincham, the rainy and slippery conditions in Mpumalanga are almost unreal. The team could not complete the racing sections on Friday due to brake problems and started at the back of the field on Saturday with a 10-hour penalty, but they pushed through to bag the first points of the season.

Nic Pienaar/Carl Swanepoel could not finish the event in their Super Energi Race Fuels BAT Spec 2. The Class G Side-by-Side Championship saw a welcome return to the podium for former champion Werner Mostert (Moto-Netix Racing Can-Am Maverick) for whom this victory was even more special as it was a family effort with his son, Ian, reading the notes. The team finished sixth overall (07:37;47) and were followed by Geoff Minnitt/Gerhard Snyman (Hydro Power Equipment Maverick) who were ninth overall. Their time included the penalty for not being able to complete the race on Friday.

Marko Himmel/Nico Swartz (King Price Xtreme Can-Am Maverick) rounded off the Class G SxS podium and the overall top 10 in the special vehicle category.

Two teams of brothers, the defending champions Cecil and Elardus Larney and the newcomers, Michael and Jean de Beer, could not finish the tough Mpumalanga 400. Keith and Andrew Makenete brought their BAT Makmobile home in one piece to win Class P. They were eight overall (07:48;14). A wet and muddy race with rain on the route and tricky rocky sections really tested the teams in the special vehicle category.

There were still smiles all around and much anticipated excitement for the remainder of the season.

Source: SACCS / Photos: André Schoeman