The South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) is set to kick off the second half of the season with two action-packed back-to-back races in Parys, Free State, on 16 and 17 August 2024, and the Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Ford Rally-Raid Team will be going all-out to maximise its points-scoring opportunities.
This is the only double-header race weekend of the 2024 championship, featuring a combined race distance of approximately 800km, comprising the INGCO Parys 400 on Friday and the INGCO Vaal 400 on Saturday. With the allure of double points up for grabs, it will be a crucial battle in the fiercely competitive series that will have a significant impact on the final championship standings when the SARRC wraps up in November.
Lance Woolridge and Kenny Gilbert (#234) are the leading NWM Ford crew in their EcoBoost-powered and Shell-backed Ranger. They are currently third in the Overall Production Vehicle points table after a superb outing at the Safari 1000 marathon event in June where they finished in the runner-up spot. Just seven points separate them from Toyota’s Giniel de Villiers and Elvéne Vonk, and they are 23 points adrift of current championship leaders Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings (Toyota).
In the Ultimate (T1+) class standings, Lance and Kenny are tied for third place with Guy Botterill and Dennis Murphy (Toyota), so every point counts – and it’s guaranteed to be a thrilling tussle throughout the two days of intense competition.
Reigning champions Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (#200) have endured a tough first half of the season, but their exceptional pace and tenacity in the previous round saw them finish fourth overall. This moved them up to sixth in the overall championship, and seventh in the Ultimate class – with only a handful of points separating them from their rivals. Accordingly, Gareth and Boyd are intent on clawing back valuable points and championship positions with a strong performance in the second NWM Ford Ranger.
“We have traditionally performed well at the Parys events, and are looking forward to exploiting the full potential of our two Rangers,” says Neil Woolridge, NWM Ford team principal. “The cars were stripped down after the tough Safari 1000 marathon race and we’ve gone through everything to ensure they are ready for the second half of the season.
“With the challenge of running back-to-back races over the two days, we need to score good points without taking too many risks in the Friday race so that we are ideally placed to do it all again on Saturday,” Woolridge says. “This venue always has a mix of tight and technical sections as well as fast open terrain through farmlands, so there’s a bit of everything to keep the crews on their toes.”
The NWM-supported privateer team of Wors Prinsloo and Andre Vermeulen (#241) had a great outing at the last race in their recently upgraded NWM Ford Ranger. Having scored points at every event so far, they are looking to continue their good form and move up the championship standings from 11th overall and ninth in the Ultimate class.
The race weekend is based at the Stonehenge River Lodge in Parys, which serves as both the race headquarters and the designated service park. The action commences with Round 4, the INGCO Parys 400, on Friday 16 August, starting with a short 15km sprint qualifying loop at 07:10. The flag drops for the main race at 08:30 for the opening race loop of 175km, followed by a mandatory 30-minute service stop before repeating the loop.
On Saturday 17 August, the INGCO Vaal 400 for Round 5 follows the same schedule, but comprises a 10km qualifying sprint and two loops of 190km each.
Fans can follow all the action and track the position of the crews throughout each of the races using the RallySafe app which can be downloaded for iOS and Android devices from the relevant app stores.
