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Stranglehold broken as Ford takes 2023 Rally-Raid title
Final event of the year ended on a high for the Blue Oval with a 1-2 overall finish.
Victory in the Waterberg 400 secured the 2023 South African Rally-Raid title for NWM Ford Castrol Ranger T1+ for Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dryer. Picture: Dave Ledbitter
The 2023 South African Rally-Raid Championship was concluded this past Saturday with Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dryer clinching the overall title by winning the Waterberg 400 in Limpopo with their NWM Ford Castrol Ranger T1+.
Production Vehicles
The pairing made history, since it is Ford’s first overall Rally-Raid Production Vehicle Championship title in the country.
Rounding out a great weekend for the Blue Oval, Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert brought their NWM Castrol Ranger T1+ home second overall.
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Gary Bertholdt/Henry Köhne (Toyota Hilux T1+) finished third, closely followed by Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux DKR T1+).
Lance Trethewey/Adriaan Roets (King Price Xtreme CR6) rounded out the top five, followed by the Toyota #TeamHilux teams of Fouché/Bertus Blignaut (Hilux DKR T1+) and Eben Basson/Leander Pienaar (Hilux DKR T1+).
The seventh place netted Basson and Pienaar the year’s FIA T1 title for the second year in a row.
Brian Baragwanath/ Leonard Cremer (Century Racing CR7) who were eighth overall, followed by Johan and Sean van Staden in their Renault Duster.
The Dutch team of Dave Klaassen/Tessa Rooth (Red-Lined Revo T1+) rounded out the top 10 places.
A Class T victory for Schalk Burger/Henk Janse van Vuuren (King Price Xtreme Volkswagen Amarok) put a cherry on top of their championship title.
Toyota Gazoo Racing DKR Hilux T1+ teams Guy Botteril/ Brett Cummings and Saood Variawa/ Francois Cazalet both dropped out of the running, with Botteril’s car suffering electronic failures and Variawa crashing out.
Special Vehicles
In the Special Vehicle Category, the three-way fight for the Class G title continued. In the end, it was veteran Geoff Minnitt and Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick) who brought home the spoils with an overall category victory while also claiming the Class G win and championship title.
Francois and Neil de Wit (Can-Am Maverick) were second overall with the winners of Class A, Keith and Andrew Makenete (BAT) in fourth place overall.
The Moto-Netix Can-Am Maverick teams of Glen Theron/Craig Galvin and Ian and Werner Mostert finished third and fifth respectively overall.
The 2023 overall and Class A champions, Tim Howes/Gary Campbell (BAT Spec 4) retired for the first time this season after an altercation with a fence.
The Class P win belonged to Quintin Lessing/Noel Acton (CR6) who finished sixth overall in the category.
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