Two in a row for Castrol Team Toyota

It was a second win in a row for Poulter/Howie, in the Castrol Team Toyota Hilux, with the pair coming home ahead of team-mates and reigning South African champions Anthony Taylor and Dennis Murphy. The final podium place went to local Pietermaritzburg pair Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable in a factory Ford Performance

Ford Ranger – and left the two crews locked together in second place in the championship with a second and a third each so far this season.
“It was a tough day on a tricky route but we never had any issues and never had to get out of the car,” said Poulter. “It was a good day for the team, and it has been a dream start to the season for Rob and me.”

Apart from a puncture 800 metres from the finish Taylor and Murphy, who started second on the road behind Poulter/Howie, also reported a clean run with 68 seconds the final margin between the two cars. The two Castrol Team Toyota crews dominated the qualifying race to determine grid positions, and were never in any real trouble during a race run in tricky and dusty conditions.

Woolridge and Huxtable, back in action after missing last season while Woolridge recovered from back surgery, started the day in fourth place behind team-mates and former SA champions Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst. A misfire and a trip into a donga on the first of the two 160-kilometre loops that made up the race, along with a puncture late in the day, dropped Visser and Badenhorst into fourth place.
“After a long lay-off you have to be happy with two podiums in a row,” said Woolridge, “but a win for the team would be nice. Another plus is that I have felt no after effects from the back surgery.”

Mpumalanga brothers Johan and Werner Horn, in the Malalane Toyota Hilux, started the day in fifth position and crossed the line still in fifth place. It was an uneventful day for the Horns, but one which Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer will remember after a solid sixth in only their second national championship event.

There was an equally impressive result from former Special Vehicle champion Terence Marsh and former Springbok rugby captain John Smit. With Smit competing for a second time in the Imperial Auto Celebrity Challenge, a steady performance took them into seventh place in a Regent Racing Nissan Navara. There was another good performance from Jason Venter and Vincent van Allemann in the 4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux – they finished in eighth position.

They were followed home by the husband and wife team of Freddie and Sune Kriel, in the Uni Freight Ford Ranger, who won Class S which caters for cars up to four litres with solid axle rear suspension.

The next event on the calendar is the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana from June 26 to 28. The event is the only marathon race on the Donaldson championship calendar.