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- Lance Woolridge paid a local medical facility a visit after inhaling carbon dioxide at the Nkomazi 400 rally in Mpumalanga.
- Woolridge was cleared with a clean bill of health. His brother finished the race in second place.
- The Woolridge brothers are competing in the T1+ class in a Ford Ranger.
South African rally driver Lance Woolridge survived the opening round of the 2023 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC), albeit not with the result he and co-driver Kenny Gilbert hoped for.
Driving the Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger, Woolridge qualified in second place for the Nkomazi 400 in Malelane, Mpumalanga. With Gilbert giving the pace notes for the first time in his racing career, the duo, racing together for the first time, made the most of the 65km qualifying loop.
They looked poised for a good result in the race the next day, but a broken clutch pipe brought their race to a premature end just 24km into the event on Saturday, 25 March.
"It was very frustrating to end our race early after qualifying second on Friday, and Kenny and I felt good in the car for the first part of the race," Woolridge said.
"But we can be very proud of the team and all the work we've done on the cars since last year, which has allowed us to be on the same pace as our championship rivals."
Escaping without injury
Woolridge, a seasoned rally veteran and former SARRC champion, gained more from the race than he perhaps bargained for.
When he and Gilbert stopped their Ranger on the track, a look under the bonnet revealed that a fire had developed. Thinking quickly, Woolridge reached for the fire extinguisher to put the fire out, but in the process, he inhaled smoke and carbon dioxide.
The on-site medics treated him before he was taken to a medical facility in Mbombela (Nelspruit). He was cleared a few hours later.
Neil Woolridge, Lance's father and team owner, said of his son's health scare: "We are exceptionally grateful that Lance is fine after the scare with the fire and then the smoke and carbon dioxide inhalation. We appreciate the support from the event medical crew, as well as the hospital staff that did a thorough assessment on Lance."
Lance's brother, Gareth, and his co-driver, Boyd Dreyer, finished the Nkomazi 400 in second place.
