This weekend sees the final event of the 2022 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) held over two rounds in what is likely to be a muddy affair in Parys.
It’s also an opportunity for the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA (TGRSA) team to continue their dominance over the competition with Henk Lategan and co-driver Brett Cummings poised to take their fourth SARRC title.
They currently hold a three point lead over teammates Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy in the overall Production Category. Knowing De Villiers he’s not going to make it easy and all things considered he’ll be going flat out the whole weekend.
There’s a twist for Lategan too because he’ll be partnering with Rodney Burke with Murphy sidelined for the weekend with a broken arm.
Behind these two in their T1+ Toyota Hilux are another two in identical cars in the form of Shameer Variawa and Danie Stassen 30 points behind De Villiers/Murphy and only three points ahead of Guy Botterill and co-driver Simon Vacy-Lyle.
With a maximum of 60 points for the taking there’s a lot to race for.
“This has been a stunning season for us,” said TGRSA Team Principal, Glyn Hall. “Our Class T1+ Hilux has dominated all year, clearly showing why this machine is tough enough to not only compete at the Dakar Rally, but also to have won it twice now.”
Importantly at the Parys double header the team will be using it to test a number of final engine and other component upgrades in preparation for Dakar 2023.
An identical Hilux, driven by Toyota Gazoo Racing’s Nasser Al-Attiyah and co-driver Mathieu Baumel won the inaugural World Rally-Raid Championship (W2RC) this year, and the mileage recorded during that championship, as well as the SARRC, will be invaluable in the development of the latest iteration of the GR DKR Hilux T1+.
This weekend sees two full races in two days including a prologue to determine the starting orders for the main race on both mornings followed by two long loops that brings the daily race distance to almost 400km.