The first day of the Century Property Development – Century Racing Outeniqua 400, the third round of the SA Rally-Raid Championship taking place from Louvain Guest Farm halfway between George and Uniondale in the Upper Langkloof in the Garden Route, was marked by some fierce racing action while teams felt the pressure for good results and scoring maximum points towards the national championship standings.
Image: Andre Schoeman
And with the amount of preceding rain in the area, competitors had to negotiate various muddy patches between the green growth while dodging rocks and keeping their vehicles on the road to limit the risk of damage knowing another full day of racing lies ahead. A hot, windless day, however, resulted in adding moderate dusty conditions to the challenges of the day.
A 25km Qualifying Race early on Friday morning set the pace for the day and it was the young defending champion, Saood Variawa and navigator Charan Moore (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO) who opened a slippery route. After a cautious approach, the team posted the fourth fastest time, 47 seconds slower than their team-mates, Guy Botterill/Henry Köhne who started just behind them and topped the results after completing a route described by most as quite tricky with lots of loose rocks and slippery surfaces.
Their team-mates, Sa’aad Variawa and Spanish navigator, Oriol Mena Valdearcos, suffered a puncture and finished 16 seconds behind the winners while they were a mere six seconds ahead of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer (Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Evo Plus) who rounded out the overall and Ultimate FIA T1+ podiums.
The 2025 winners of this event, Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid DKR Evo T1+) were fifth, 35 seconds behind the leaders with two more Castrol Ford Rally-Raid teams also in the top ten. Lance Woolridge/André Vermeulen completed the qualifying race seven seconds behind the former winners and 21 seconds ahead of their teammates, Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson, who lost time due to a puncture, in seventh place.
The final three positions in the overall top 10 belonged to Ultimate SA T1+ teams led by Hennie de Klerk/Carl Swanepoel (Toyota Hilux) with Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt (Red-Lined Revo T1+) ninth overall and Eugene Bierman/Marius Lombard the leading Century Racing vehicle (CR6). Jayden Els/Johann Swemmer (Century Racing Factory CR7) experience a mechanical glitch resulting in them not being able to complete the qualifying race.
These teams then drew for their starting positions for Stage One that consisted of 95 kilometres. Variawa/Moore were again the first team on the road followed by Botterill/Köhne and Variawa/Mena Valdearcos. Woolridge/Dreyer were fourth off the line with the Woolridge/Vermeulen combination sixth, sandwiching De Villiers/Murphy. Ludick/Williamson started seventh; De Klerk/Swanepoel were eighth followed by Du Preez/Roets and Botha/Mynhardt.
And when the curtain dropped, it was Botterill/Köhne who posted the fastest time with their combined times of the qualifying race and Stage One (01:24:27) securing them the lead at the end of the first day. Sa’aad Variawa/Mena Valdearcos made a good start to their first event in the Garden Route and finished the day in second place (01:25:36) despite yet another flat tyre at the same spot where they had a puncture during the qualifying race.
Woolridge/Dreyer as well as De Villiers/Murphy encountered a huge herd of cattle on the route forcing them to continue slowly and with extreme caution. They were compensated for lost time resulting in Woolridge/Dreyer finishing the day in third place (01:26:03) while De Villiers/Murphy were fifth (01:26:36). Opening the road has its disadvantages and Saood Variawa/Moore ended the day in fourth place, a mere five seconds off the podium.
The two remaining Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Teams also received time back for slowing down behind the cattle with Lance/Vermeulen finishing sixth (01:28:06), 49 seconds ahead of Ludick/Williamson in seventh. It was an extremely dusty ride for Els/Swemmer who stormed through from the back of the field to finish the day in 10th place overall (01:33:48), eighth in Ultimate FIA T1+.
Two Ultimate SA T1+ teams filled the eighth and ninth places overall with Botha/Mynhardt taking the class lead (01:31:48), a minute and 17 seconds ahead of De Klerk/Swanepoel who struggled with power steering issues.
Three more Ultimate SA T1+ teams finished in the top 15 with Du Preez/ Roets posting the exact combined time as Els/Swemmer while German driver, Jurgen Schröder and Rikus Fourie (WCT VW Amarok) were 14th (01:36:35) and Bierman/Lombard finished the day in 15th place (01:37:11).
The young Dutch driver, Henk Klaassen and lady navigator, Sasha Siripanyavuthi (DaklaPack Rallysport Taurus T3-Max) lead the Challenger Class and are 12th albeit with the same total time (01:36:11) as the Dutch team, Michiel Becx/Sander van Barschot (Century Racing CR7) who were happy to complete the first day as newcomers to SARRC in 13th place (ninth in Ultimate FIA T1+) despite problems with their navigation system.
And for the charismatic Century Property Development CEO with thirty years of racing experience, Mark Corbett, it might not be about winning this time, but about teaching his teenage son, Max, the ropes in the brand-new Century Racing CRX. They successfully completed the day finishing second in the Challenger Class.
Two more Dutch teams rounded off the first day in the top 20. Rik van den Brink/Gydo Heimans (Brinky Rally Sport Century Racing CR7) will start the second day as the 16th team overall while Dave and Tessa Klaassen (DaklaPack Rallysport DKR Evo GTR) were 17th. A sharp rock that broke a wheel on their Red-Lined Revo T1+ during the qualifying race resulted in Johan and Sean van Staden starting Stage One at the back of the field. They persevered to finish 19th overall, seventh in Ultimate SA T1+.
Former SxS champions, Werner Mostert and his son, Ian (Moto-Netix Can-Am Maverick) made a welcome come-back to the sport and took the lead in the SSV Class from Geoff Minnitt/Leander Pienaar (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick) with the teams finishing in 18th and 22nd positions respectively.
Peet Victor/VanZyl Jonck (VAPS HCV Rally-Raid Red-Lined VK50) are the early leaders in the Adventurer Class (01:45:31) with Tokkie Ferreira/Nardus Janse van Rensburg (Ford Ranger) second (01:52:29) and Nielen Marx/Rikus Hattingh also in a Red-Lined VK50 third (02:08:17).
