If ever there was a demonstration of superior preparation and performance, then it was courtesy of the Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa (TGRSA) team during the Vryheid 400 round of the South African Rally-Raid Championship, held in northern KwaZulu Natal.
Not content with the overall victory, TGRSA also took second and third places, to make it a clean podium sweep. Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings took top honours in their Toyota Hilux IMT EVO in a time of 6hr 43min 01sec, closely followed by Guy Botterill/Dennis Murphy and Giniel de Villiers/Elvéne Vonk and only twelve minutes separated the podium finishers.
The Vryheid route features wildly varying terrain, including farmland, rocky sections and vast open landscapes which, combined, prove a severe test of endurance for all competitors. In that light, simply completing the course is cause for celebration, let alone heading the leaderboard.
TGRSA team principal Shameer Variawa was naturally very happy with his team’s performance; “We are thrilled with the results…Our crews showed remarkable skill and determination, precisely navigating the challenging terrain. The one-two-three finish is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire team.”
The event started with a 14km Castrol Qualifying Race on Friday 24th May, followed by the main race stages on Friday afternoon and Saturday, 25th May. The competitors tackled a 40km stage on Friday afternoon, which was followed by a 175km route, starting with one stage on Saturday morning, a 30-minute service break, and then tackling the same stage again in the afternoon.
Henk Lategan; “It was a challenging race, but we pushed hard and managed to secure the win. The team did an incredible job preparing the car, and we are thrilled with the result.”
The next event on the calendar is the Toyota Gazoo Racing Safari 1000, on the 21-23 June, in the bush veld area around Thabazimbi in Limpopo province.
