Crunch Time for crowning Champions – Final round of 2024 Rally-Raid Season

The Renault KEC 400, the seventh and final round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship that takes place on 8 and 9 November from Legends Adventure Farm, Rhino Park between Pretoria and Bronkhorstspruit, will deliver the closing salvos on an exciting 2024 season, and determine who will be crowned as the new champions.

The action of this two-day race structured as a Super Event will start early on Friday morning with a total of 105 kilometres of racing laying the foundation for the rest of the weekend.

The Renault KEC 400 will, however, be a race where planning, strategy and calculated risks play a major role in the outcome as yet another 350 kilometres of fast and furious racing on Saturday, the second and final day of the event will have to be conquered successfully.
In spite of post-race penalties after round six in Welkom – the overall SA Rally-Raid champions have been confirmed.  Henk Lategan/Brett Cummings (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) have secured this tile, but they would like nothing less than a fifth victory to round off the season. The team are, however, embroiled in a battle for the Ultimate T1+ title.

They will have to fight it out with team-mates,  Giniel de Villiers/Elvéne Vonk and Guy Botterill/Dennis Murphy. Both these teams have tasted victory this year and will also aim for another win.

The two Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Ranger T1+ teams of the outgoing champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer and Lance Woolridge/Kenny Gilbert are in the top five in the overall standings as well as in the Ultimate T1+ championship.

#TeamHilux Rally-Raid will have no less than three teams in the Ultimate T1+ Class for the final event of the year. The Blignaut brothers, Fouche and Bertus (Toyota Hilux DKR T1+) are leading the team on points followed by the Horn brothers, Johan and Werner in a similar vehicle with both teams in the top 10.

They will be joined by the outgoing Adventurer T1 champions, Eben Basson and Leander Pienaar whose season started with punishing early season maladies. But true to form, they bounced back to win the next three events and Basson moved into second place in the drivers’ championship with an outside chance to retain his title in the Adventurer T1 Class with Pienaar leading the navigators’ championship.
Basson/Pienaar, now out of the running, are hoping for a solid debut in the Ultimate class.

Gary Bertholdt/Danie Stassen will also put their Toyota Hilux DKR T1+ on the start line while the rest of the line-up in the Ultimate T1+ Class include the regular Dutch visitor, Rients Hofstra with navigator Wade Harris (Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR) as well as the two Farmers Meat CR6 vehicles in the hands of Lood du Preez/Juandre Kruger and Eugene Bierman/Chris Visser Jnr.

Team King Price Xtreme’s Jayden Els/Johan Swemmer will be out in  a Red-Lined REVO T1+,  while Schalk Burger/Armand du Toit will take on the Renault KEC 400 with their VW Amarok.

In the Adventurer T1 Class, Gerhard Heinlein (Red-Lined VK56) is safe as the leading driver while the battle behind him will continue between Johan de Bruyn (Red-Lined REVO T1) and Johan van Staden (KEC Racing Renault Duster).

Heinlein’s regular navigator, Rudi Heinlein, is in with a mathematical chance to claim the title and this might put extra pressure on the team who won the class at the previous event, and finishing on the podium at each of the first four races. They are also the only team in the class to have started and completed all six events so far this season.

The German driver, Jϋrgen Schröder and his local navigator, Rikus Fourie (Nissan Navara VK50) will also be on the start line after missing the previous event. Except for the season opener, Schröder has not been able to finish a race and will hope for a good result.

The SSV Class has attracted four Can-Am Maverick entries with the defending champions and current class leaders, Geoff Minnitt/Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment) back in action after missing the previous three events. They will have to bring it home to confirm the title as Ruperd Fourie/Morné van Rensburg are not too far behind on points. Former champion, Werner Mostert, has teamed up with Tim Botes (KEC Racing) while the young Rutherford brothers, Justin and Kent, will be in action for the first time this season.

All the action will start and finish at the Legends Adventure Farm, a mere 60km from Pretoria just off the N4 direction Bronkhorstspruit adjacent to the R515 where the Race Headquarters as well as the Designated Service Point (DSP) will be situated. The 20-kilometre  Castrol Qualifying Race will get the adrenaline pumping on Friday morning at 10:15 with the results determining the starting order for Stage One at 13:15.

On Saturday morning the Renault KEC 400 will resume at 08:30 when competitors take on Stage Two that will be 175 kilometres in distance. After completion of this stage, they will return to DSP for a compulsory 30-minute de-control before taking on Stage Three, a repeat of Stage Two. The race will finish at Legends Adventure Farm where the podium ceremonies will also be held.
The Route map will be available on https://www.facebook.com/sarallyraidchampionship, https://www.sacrosscountryracing.co.za/ and Telegram. The race can also be followed on the RallySafe App, available as a free download from the iStore and Google PlayStore or on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarallyraidchampionship;  Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/sarallyraidchampionship/  and Twitter: @SACCS.Auto

Images: Dave Ledbitter