BONUS - RUSTENBURG - Insane battles for the titles in the 2024 SA Rally-Raid Championship are brewing after competitors had a second chance to earn points this season, and looking at the current standings after the PS Laser ProMac Vryheid 400 that took place in KwaZulu-Natal recently, tough times are looming for some, while others are already building on solid foundations.
A long and daunting season, however, lies ahead for everyone and anything can still happen. With two of the seven rounds now something of the past and with gruelling events like the upcoming three-day event, the TGRSA Safari 1000, still on the to-do list, two pairs of defending champions have their work cut out for them – the defending overall and Ultimate T1+ champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford NWM Ranger T1+) and the 2022 and 2023 Adventurer T1 champs, Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid Toyota DKR).
After not being able to complete the season opener and then finishing eighth at Vryheid due to mechanical issues, Woolridge/Dreyer managed to move up two positions on the overall rankings and are now 14th. Their total of eight points is 40 points less than the leaders, Giniel de Villiers/Elvéne Vonk (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO), who kept their overall lead after winning the first event followed by finishing third at Vryheid.
Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert (Neil Woolridge Motorsport NWM Ford Ranger T1+) bagged 15 valuable points at the recent event that put them in eighth place after not scoring any points at the season opener. A single point separates them from Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet (TGRSA Hilux IMT EVO) in ninth place, who are again only one point ahead of Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets (Red-Lined REVO T1) with the team now leading the Adventurer T1 Class and rounding off the top 10.
In the Adventurer T1 Class, De Bruyn/Roets (63 points), who won the class at Vryheid, have leapfrogged the winners of the first round, Daniel Schröder/Ryan Bland (PS Laser Nissan Navara) to lead them by eight points. The Heinlein duo of Gerhard and Rudi (Red-Lined VK56) remain third (51 points) after adding a second podium result to their first of the season.
In the SSV Class, Geoff Minnitt/Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick) are still leading (37 points), despite experiencing problems at both events. The most recent SSV Class winners, young lady Puck Klaassen (28 points) and Charl Swanepoel (23 points) are second with the Moto-Netix Racing Can-Am Maverick followed by their team-mates, Ruperd Fourie/Morné van Rensburg (20 points). Darron Gudzman/Quintin Lessing (Can-Am Maverick) still needs to finish a race, but has accumulated 10 points for starting the events.
A tough event, the three-day marathon TGRSA Safari 1000 that takes place at Koedoeskop School on 21, 22 and 23 June, will take the championship close to the halfway mark. It could be a make or break event, but will reward those who finish with cherished points.
