The Phakisa 400, the sixth and penultimate round of the 2024 SA Rally-Raid Championship was a fast, windy and dusty affair, but after the dust had settled, it was the race winners, Henk Lategan and navigator, Brett Cummings who emerged as the SARRC overall champions. This is their fourth overall title in the SARRC together and the team will aim to also claim the FIA Ultimate T1+ title.
It was the Toyota Gazoo Racing team’s fourth victory with their TGR Hilux IMT EVO this season and the number of points towards the overall standing (158) put them far enough ahead to be safe at the seventh and final round of the season.
The outgoing champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger T1+) added to their tally (75 points) and jumped from sixth place to fourth and overtook team-mates, Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert (72 points) who are now fifth although a mere three points separate the two teams.
The Blignaut brothers, Fouche and Bertus (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota Hilux IMT EVO) are sixth (70 points) and can still scramble the cards between the two NWM Ford Ranger teams. Behind them the teams are somewhat split up due to different driver/navigator combinations at various races. Gerhard and Rudi Heinlein (Red-Lined VK56 Evo2) claimed their first Adventurer T1 victory at Phakisa resulting in Gerhard (43 points) moving to seventh in the Overall Driver’s Championship. He is, however, only two points ahead of the defending Adventurer T1 champion, Eben Basson (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota Hilux) who is continuing his battle with navigator, Leander Pienaar to defend their title successfully for a third consecutive season.
Saood Variawa (TGR Hilux IMT EVO) could not compete in the Phakisa 400 and dropped from seventh to ninth place (38 points). It is disappointing for the young upcoming star who has made a huge jump upwards from 17th place after good results at the fourth and fifth rounds. He is now being followed by Johan Horn (#TeamHiux Rally Raid Toyota) with 34 points and with only nine points separating the drivers from seventh to 10th place, these standings could look totally different after the final round of the championship.
In the Overall Navigators’ Championship, Pienaar will keep his eye on the title as he is the leading Adventurer T1 navigator (41 points). He is seventh in the overall standings with Variawa’s navigator, Francois Cazalet (38 points) in eighth place and Werner Horn and Rudi Heinlein, who missed one event, both on 34 points. A blanket of only four points covers the navigators from ninth to 14th place and the challenge for the best positions will also continue at the final event.
In the various class championships, competitors receive five points for starting a race and this scenario adds to the intricacy of these title battles. In the Ultimate T1+ Class, Lategan/Cummings (188 points) are not yet home safe, but are leading the standings with their team-mates, Botterill/Murphy (163 points) in second place and with a maximum of 35 points available, there is a mathematical chance that things can still change. De Villiers/Vonk (139 points) round off the podium in third place with the rest somewhat further behind.
The roles of the two Ford teams are changed in the Ultimate T1+ Championship where Lance Woolridge/Gilbert (112 points) are fourth, seven points ahead of Gareth/Dreyer (105 points) while the Blignaut brothers (100 points) also stand a chance to work their way into the top five. Variawa/Cazalet are seventh (64 points) and lead Chris Visser/Albertus Venter (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO T1+ GTR), who could not add a full helping of points to their scoreboards at the recent two events, by three points. The Horn brothers are ninth (58 points), but Jayden Els (King Price Xtreme SVR) has also accumulated 58 points albeit with different navigators of which Henry Köhne was reading him the notes in the first five races and by claiming points with the German driver, Daniel Schröder (WCT VW Amarok) at the most recent event, Köhne is 10th of the navigators (55 points).
With not many points separating the competitors in the Ultimate T1+ Class Championship, the order can easily look a lot different at the end of the season and this will add to the competition at the final round.
In the Adventurer T1 Class, different driver and navigator combinations resulting in the standings in the driver and navigator championships looking rather scrambled. In the Adventurer Drivers’ Championship, Gerhard Heinlein (184 points) still leads although Basson (158 points) is within striking range of the title. Basson is, however, not out of reach of Johan de Bruyn (Red-Lined REVO T1) who led the class at the beginning of the season but could not finish for the first time this year at the recent Free State event. He has 140 points.
Johan van Staden (Renault Duster) is fourth (121 points) followed by two Red-Lined Motorsport teams, Philip Botha (86 points) and Danie Ludick (60 points) who joined as newcomers halfway through the season.
In the Adventurer Navigators’ Championship, Pienaar (158 points) leads although Adriaan Roets (140 points), who usually sits next to De Bruyn, is still within reach. Rudi Heinlein is third (128 points) after missing two events followed by Sean van Staden (121 points) who navigates for his father, Johan, with Andries Mynhardt (73 points) fifth after scoring points navigating for Gerhard Heinlein and Botha. Ludick’s navigator, Denzil Williamson (60 points) is sixth.
Geoff Minnitt/Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick) still leads the SSV Championship (66 points) followed by Ruperd Fourie/Morné van Rensburg (Can-Am Maverick) with 42 points. The lady driver, Puck Klaassen (28 points) and Charl Swanepoel (23 points), who navigated for her at Vryheid, are third with Darron Gudmanz/Quintin Lessing, all competing with Can-Am Maverick SSV, fourth (20 points).
Toyota (632 points) lead the Manufacturer’s Award followed by Ford (198 points); Renault (43 points); Nissan (39 points)’ Can-Am 32 points and Volkswagen (12 points).
Competitors will now have one last chance to earn points towards the overall and class championships when they take on the Renault KEC Racing Rayton 400 at Legends Adventure Farm on the R 515 Rhino Park on 8 and 9 November.
Published by: SA Rally-Raid Championship (Charmaine Fortune)
Photography by: Dave Ledbitter
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