BONUS - RUSTENBURG - 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.
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 R515 Rhino Park on 8 and 9 November.
