BONUS – RUSTENBURG - With the first six rounds of the 2023 SA Rally-Raid Championship won by three different teams from two manufacturers and with more teams taking turns to finish on the podium, the standings in the Production Vehicle Category are not only extremely close at the front, but as tight further down the order, so much so, there is a mathematical chance of the championship being turned on its head at the final round, the Waterberg 400 in Limpopo on November 10 and 11.
Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger) went to the Renergen 400, the sixth and penultimate round of the SARRC in the Free State, as the leaders in both the Overall Production Vehicle Championship as the FIA T1+ Championship. Bagging their second victory of the season, they strengthened their lead, but although they have opened a marginal gap, they have not yet secured the championship titles and anything can still happen at the final event. The team has accumulated 149 points thus far in the overall standings.
Behind them, things changed dramatically with a similar chance of it changing again after the Waterberg 400 in November. Three times Overall Driver’s Champion, Henk Lategan and his navigator, Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+), who is the defending Overall and FIA T1+ Navigator’s Champion due to a musical chairs situation during 2022, were second behind Woolridge/Dreyer and had hoped for a fourth victory this season. They unfortunately rolled their DKR Hilux T1+ in the Free State with Lategan injuring his shoulder again. This dropped Lategan to the third place in the Overall Driver’s Championship (116 points) while Cummings is still second due to navigators swopping seats during the season.
Competitors have one final chance to score maximum points towards the 2023 SA Rally-Raid Championship when they take on the Waterberg 400 on 10 and 11 November at Koedoeskop Laerskool in Limpopo.
