The multiple SA Rally-Raid champions, Henk Lategan and navigator, Brett Cummings received the chequered flag as the winners of the Phakisa 400, the sixth and penultimate round of the SARRC at Welkom in the Free State, and by bringing their Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO home as the victors, they concluded unfinished business by securing the overall and the FIA Ultimate T1+ titles.
The team posted the fastest time after the Castrol Qualifying Race on Friday, 13 September while they also set the fastest time on Stage One on the same day, and started first for the two remaining 180-kilometre stages on Saturday, 14 September as the overall leaders.
It was, however, not always plain sailing, as opening the road is complex and has its challenges while the pressure in the championship battles contributed to the anxiety. This was also the event where an accident last year resulted in Lategan having to receive medical attention and eventually missing the 2024 Dakar Rally. This year the team returned the Free State to settle unfinished business, and after two days in dusty and windy conditions with a fast, technical and testing route, they won with a total time of 05:58:57 and claimed their fourth victory of the season and clinched the desired overall and Ultimate T1+ titles.
It was an all TGR podium with Guy Botterill/Dennis Murphy in a similar vehicle finishing second, two minutes and six seconds behind their team-mates after losing time with a puncture early on the last day. An error cost Giniel de Villiers/Elvéne Vonk 25 seconds on the first day while they also had to manage overheating issues. The team persevered and rounded off the podium, 108 seconds behind Botterill/Murphy.
Intense dust and the wind again played a major role in the race while the technical and fast, but very enjoyable routes tested competitors to the limit. The reigning champions and winners of this event last year, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger T1+) had an uneventful day albeit having to fight the prevailing race conditions. They finished just off the podium in fourth place (06:04:50) and were followed by the German driver, Daniel Schröder and his SA navigator, Henry Köhne (WCT VW Amarok) who rounded out the top five with a total time of 06:09:50 that included a two-minute penalty. Schröder was happy to have completed more racing kilometres as the vehicle will now be prepared and shipped to the 2025 Dakar Rally.
The Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota IMT EVO) lost valuable time with two punctures, but an otherwise clean race saw them finishing in sixth place (06:11:34), a mere 11 seconds ahead of Jayden Els/Johann Swemmer (King Price Xtreme) who brought the borrowed Century Racing CR7 home in seventh place overall despite not having had much time testing the vehicle before the race.
The rest of the overall top 10 was completed by the leading Adventurer T1 teams with the Heinlein pairing of Gerhard and Rudi (Red-Lined Motorsport VK56) taking their first class win of the season after a trouble-free and incident-free race. The championship battle in this class will go down to the wire as their rivals and class leaders earlier this season, Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets first suffered a puncture and then had to retire due to engine problems.
The defending class champions, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota) fought with their backs to the wall as a mishap on Friday resulted in them not being able to complete the Castrol Qualifying Race. This meant starting Stage One from the back of the field and with limited racing kilometres on the first day and losing time with two punctures, they could only make it to fourth place in the Adventurer T1 Class on Friday.
They again tackled the bull by the horns on Saturday and after a clean run, finished second in the class (06:24:40), just over four minutes behind the class winners. They were followed by Johan and Sean van Staden (Renault Duster) who finished 10th overall after having to manage engine problems halfway through the race.
Two more Red-Lined Motorsport VK56 teams completed the Phakisa 400 successfully with Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson finishing fourth in the Adventurer T1 Class while they were 11th overall despite a two-minute penalty while Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt were 12th and fifth in the class. The Dutch driver, Rients Hofstra and Wade Harris in the Red-Lined Motorsport REVO T1+ GTR started the final day in eighth place, but lost time replacing an engine belt during the first half of the race. They pushed on to finish 13th overall and were eighth in the FIA Ultimate T1+ Class.
Lady Luck was not on the side of Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger T1+) in the Free State. The team finished 14th overall and were ninth in the Ultimate T1+ Class after a tough day in the office that saw them racing towards the back of the field due to being unable to complete the race on Friday.
Chris Visser/Albertus Venter (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO T1+ GTR) started the final day in sixth place but were forced to retire with brake issues.
Competitors will wrap up the 2024 SA Rally-Raid Championship on 8 and 9 November when they take on the seventh and final event of the season, the Renault KEC Racing Rayton 400 from Legends Adventure Farm situated on the R515, Rhino Park.
Published by: SA Rally-Raid Championship (Charmaine Fortune)
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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