A quality field of local and international teams have entered for the upcoming INGCO Parys 400, the opening round of the 2026 SA Rally-Raid Championship that will take place on 19 and 20 June from Stonehenge River Lodge on the banks of the Vaal River in the Parys area in the Free State.
Image: Dave Ledbitter
With the year at the halfway mark, competitors are excited to get their championship chase off the ground as both the first two planned events had to be postponed due to natural misfortune – Foot-and-Mouth Disease and damaging floods. These two events – the Stella 1000 and Century Property Developments/Century Racing Outeniqua Endurance – were rescheduled and will now rake place in July and August respectively with the upcoming INGCO Parys 400, which would have formed the third round, now serving as the opening race of the series.
Teams and competitors have, however, been competing in various international and local regional events and are more than ready to get the 2026 SA Rally-Raid show on the road.
The entry list brims with familiar faces as well as new team combinations and vehicles, and no less than 10 international competitors. Combine that with current and former champions who will be participating as well as experienced competitors and talented newcomers and the scene is set for an adrenaline-packed weekend.
The defending SARR champions, Saood Variawa and his French navigator, Francois Cazalet (Toyota Gazoo Racing Hilux IMT EVO), are back in action as are their team-mates, Guy Botterill and his Spanish navigator, Oriol Mena Valdearcos. Botterill/Valdearcos won the Parys event last year while Variawa/Cazalet were the winners of the Vaal 400 in the same area and both teams will hope to open their championship chase with more of the same.
Also in the TGR team, is Saood’s younger brother, Sa’aad, who will have the experienced navigator, Wade Harris, reading him the notes. Sa’aad competed in the last two SARRC rounds of 2025 and the team will aim to make a successful start to their season.
Ford will also be out in full force with no less than five Castrol NWM Ford Rally Raid Team entries in the extremely competitive Ultimate FIA T1+ Class. The group includes former champions, Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (NWM Ford Evo Plus) who won the season opener last year, but have a score to settle after not being able to complete the Parys event in 2025. Their Brazilian team-mates, Marcos Baumgart and Kleber Cincea and well-known faces in SA will also be back in action.
Also under the Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Team umbrella are regulars Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen while Danie Ludick and Denzil Williamson will put their brand-new Ford Evo Plus to the test for its first national event. The team also welcome the father and son pairing of Michael and Luke Lawlor for who the INGCO Parys 400 will be their first national outing.
Two #TeamHilux Rally-Raid teams will again compete in the Ultimate FIA T1+ Class with former multiple champions, Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy (DKR Hilux T1+ EVO) and the Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus, who all finished on the podium at Parys in 2025, aiming for a similar – or better – result.
The Century Racing Factory Team will be represented by two contenders in this class with Brian Baragwanath/Leonard Cremer (Century Racing CR6T), who missed the 2025 season, back in action while youngster Jayden Els and Johann Swemmer, now competing with a CR7, will give this event another go, and hope for better luck than last year.
The German driver, Daniel Schröder and SA navigator, Juan Möhr will put the WCT VW Amarok on the start line at Parys.
In the Ultimate T1+ SA Class, the entries not only show a variety of vehicle manufacturers, but also various new teams who are ready for the challenge. The 2025 Adventurer Class champions, Johan and Sean van Staden, have moved to the Ultimate T1+ SA Class and their weapon of choice is a Red-Lined Revo T1+. Two more teams in Red-Lined vehicles, the consistent regulars, Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt (Red-Lined Revo T1+) and Abrie and Iaan Olivier (VAPS HCV Rally-Raid Red-Lined Revo T1+), will come under starting orders while the Dutch team, Victor Versteijnen/Petrus van Dal (DaklaPack Rallysport Red-Lined Revo GTR), who have competed in South Africa before, will again be ready for another helping of the action.
Two WCT-prepared vehicles will also travel to Parys. Gary Bertholdt/Henry Köhne will be in action in their Toyota Hilux T1+ while the German driver, Jurgen Schröder and Rikus Fourie will be in Schröder’s trusty VW Amarok. Hennie de Klerk/Carl Swanepoel (Toyota Hilux) as well as Lood du Preez/Adriaan Roets (Farmers Meat Century Racing CR6) will also be in the mix.
In the Adventurer Class, VAPS HCV Rally-Raid team-mates, Peet Victor/VanZyl Jonck and Tyler Botha/Kyle Lotter will rise to the challenge in the Red-Lined VK50, while Nielen Marx with experienced Rikus Hattingh reading him the notes in their Red-Lined VK50 will also be hoping for a good start to their campaign.
They will battle it out with the Ford Ranger in the hands of Tokkie Ferreira/Nardus Janse van Rensburg and Jan Rose/Arno Olivier (Ford V8).
The defending Challenger Class champion, the young Dutch driver, Henk Klaassen, will have his brother, Pim, next to him as navigator (DaklaPack Rallysport Taurus T3Max) while former SSV champions, Geoff Minnitt and Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick R) are looking forward to the season.
The INGCO Parys 400 will get underway at 09:30 on Friday morning with a short Qualifying Race close to Race Headquarters and the Designated Service Park (DSP) to determine the starting order for Stage One which will commence at 12:30. On Saturday, Stage Three will start at 08:30 just past the bridge over the N1 from where teams will take on the 265 kilometres including transfer sections. After Stage Three, they will stop for a 30-minute compulsory service break at the DSP before repeating the route for Stage Four. The INGCO Parys 400 will finish at Stonehenge River Lodge where the podium ceremonies will take place.
The race can be followed via the RallySafe App with various spectacular vantage points along the route or on Facebook: @sarallyraidchampionship; Instagram: @sarallyraidchampionship; Tik Tok: @sarallyraid and YouTube: @SouthAfricanRallyRaidSARRC
