The fourth and fifth rounds of the South African Rally-Raid Championship that takes place on 30 September and 1 October at NAMPO PARK, will form the penultimate rounds of the 2022 season and with only two rounds remaining, those in the lead will feel the pressure as a mistake could cost them dearly.
The events takes place in the Bothaville area of the Free State, and have two full helpings of points up for grabs, and those teams who can keep it together during the 10 kilometre Pirelli Qualifying Race followed by two loops of 166 kilometres on Friday and another 10 kilometre qualifying race and two loops of 172 kilometres on Saturday, will be smiling all the way to the final events.
The field in the Special Vehicle Category might look somewhat compact, but the battles have been brewing during the season and will continue in the Free State. Former overall and Class A champions, Tim Howes/Gary Campbell (Timdrew Property Development BAT Spec 4) have won the last two events and a hat-trick is on the cards for them, but as the saying goes – they first have to finish to finish first.
Like the leaders, Lood du Preez/Chris Visser Jnr (Farmers Meat Stryker) have also completed and scored at each event so far this season and are within striking range of the leaders who dare not put a wheel wrong. Trace Price Moore/Shaun Braithwaite (BAT Venom) missed the Bronkhorstspruit event, but will be back in action and they are also close enough to make a move on the scoreboard.
LC de Jager/Rikus Hattingh (Porter) will also be in the mix and will aim to put their first points on the scoreboard.
The lead in Class G for Side-by-Side (SxS) vehicles, where teams are competing with Can-Am Maverick vehicles, has been changing during the season with Geoff Minnitt/Gerhard Snyman (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick) again taking the lead after their victory at the recent #TeamHilux Rally-Raid Bronkhorstspruit. They are also lying second overall, but this can all change if the Mostert family has anything to do with it.
Werner Mostert and his son, Ian (Moto-Netix Racing Can-Am Maverick) were leading the Class G championship and were second in the overall standings, but dropped back after the Bronkhorstspruit event. They will again aim for victory to add to their list of two so far this season and a good result might just push them up the leaderboard again. This will be a battle to keep an eye on.
The leading two teams have opened up a gap to the rest of the Class G field with the Mostert’s team-mates, Glen Theron/Craig Galvin currently filling the third place after missing the season opener. Peter Walter/Pierre Jordaan as well as the defending champions, Cecil and Elardus Larney, are also back for more after successful Bronkhorstspruit outings. Francois de Wit/Ewald van Rensburg will attempt their second event of the season while the Rutherford family will have their first outing of the season.
Justin Rutherford will get behind the wheel for the fourth round on Friday with dad Archie reading the notes and for round five, he will move over and will read the notes for brother, Kent, who will be doing the driving.
In Class P, Quintin Lessing/Noel Acton (Century CR-T), who are leading the class championship, have been the only entrants.
All the action will be happening from Nampo Park where the Race Headquarters, the Start/Finish as well as the Designated Service Park (DSP) will be situated. For both rounds four and five, teams will do a short 10km Pirelli Qualifying Race at 07:30. The results will determine the starting positions for the race that starts at 09:30 on both days.
The top 10 qualifiers will draw their starting positions on each day. On Friday, a 166 kilometre loop awaits them and has to be completed twice while a 172 kilometre loop on Saturday will be the challenge. Teams will adhere to a compulsory 30 minute service break between the two loops on each day.
As the event forms part of the NAMPO ALFA Expo and spectators are welcome. Public parking and access to the venue will be via the northern entrance and subject to the Expo admission fee which includes access to all exhibits and the DSP area.
The event can also be followed on the RallySafe App, which can be downloaded free from the iStore and Google PlayStore.
Images: Andre Schoeman
