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- The South Africa Rally-Raid Championship headed to Parys for Rounds 4 and 5 of the 2023 season.
- Toyota Gazoo Racing won big, but they were hampered by technical gremlins.
- NWM's Gareth Woolridge still leads the 2023 title race.
- For more sport news, go to the News24 Sport front page.
Parys in the Free State hosted two rounds of the 2023 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) as part of the Parys 400 event.
Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) drew first blood on the two days of activity, winning Round 4 (18 August) and Round 5 (19 August).
Round 4 started with a short 18km qualifying route, with TGRSA's Dakar heroes, Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings, starting on pole. The run to the chequered flag was largely uneventful, but TGRSA occupied all three podium positions.
Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy and Guy Botteril/Zaheer Bodhanya completed a trio of TGRSA crews at the end of Round 4.
For the Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) team, driving a Ford-backed Ranger, Round 4 had its fair share of challenges.
Lance Woolridge and Kenny Gilbert suffered a mechanical problem just 13km into the 173km loop which ended their race, with teammates Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer suffering a rear CV joint failure.
Woolridge/Dreyer managed to finish Round 4 in fourth place, but it was a blow the championship leaders did not envision.
'Fast and tough'
Round 5 brought new challenges for the teams and crews participating in the Parys 400.
TGRSA's Lategan/Cummings looked to replicate their win the previous day, but replacing one of the transmission sensors meant they could not leave the service park at the required time.
It led to a five-minute time penalty in the race, but the duo managed to finish the round in fourth place.
Botteril/Bodhanya capitalised on their teammates' misfortune to secure the win.
Bodhanya has been called in as a replacement co-driver, and the result will surely aid his hopes of full-time participation. De Villiers/Murphy finished Round 5 in second place.
"We are extremely happy with our results this weekend," said TGRSA team principal, SVR Hallspeed's Glyn Hall.
"Henk and Brett were a bit unlucky not to win on both days, but we are very pleased for Guy winning his first event. Giniel and Dennis showed why they are known for their consistency, and we could see that Saood and Danie are sure to make big contributions to the team in the near future."
For the NWM team, Round 5 produced another mixed bag of results. Lance Woolridge and Gilbert raced with a sensor issue, reducing power for the T1+ Ranger. Gareth Woolridge and Dreyer registered a strong result, finishing the day in P3.
The result meant that Woolridge/Dreyer still lead the 2023 SARCC title race.
"We had two very fast and tough races this weekend, and it was difficult to find any advantage without taking a lot of risk," G. Woolridge said.
"We weren't as strong as we had hoped to be, and this kind of terrain definitely seemed to suit our rivals better. However, a fourth and third keeps the championship battle alive, and I'm sure it will go right down to the wire."
