PIETERMARITZBURG, South Africa, 23 September 2022: The upcoming fourth and fifth rounds of the 2022 South African Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC) are assured to ship a double dose of thrilling racing, and can present a vital alternative for the Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Ford Castrol workforce of Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (#277) to rating important factors to transfer up the championship desk.
The double-header shall be based mostly at NAMPO Park, close to Bothaville within the Free State, with two separate races of roughly 350km every to be held on Friday 30 September and Saturday 1 October 2022, respectively.
NWM Ford Castrol Team is prepared
Gareth and Boyd
Gareth and Boyd are at present fifth in Class FIA T1+ of their EcoBoost V6-powered NWM Ford Ranger on 69 factors, with 26 factors separating the highest 5 opponents. Notably, there’s a spot of simply 13 factors to the second-place Toyota crew of Guy Botterill/Simon Vacy Lyle, so the workforce is aiming to maximise its alternatives at the NAMPO occasion.
The younger duo proved that they’re undoubtedly in rivalry for a high end result by successful the qualifying dash at the earlier spherical in Bronkhorstspruit, however the session was later cancelled. Driveshaft points finally hampered their race and so they ended fifth. However, with the latest upgrades launched on the T1+ Ranger by the NWM workforce, Gareth and Boyd ought to be within the thick of the motion all through the weekend.
Woolridge and Vonk
Team-mates Lance Woolridge and Elvéne Vonk (#234) are hoping to flip their difficult season round within the second NWM Ford Castrol T1+ Ranger. They have set the tempo on a number of events this 12 months, however have but to end a race. Accordingly, they’re utilizing the second half of the season to conduct sturdiness and excessive mileage testing of key parts on the T1+ Ranger as a part of its improvement programme. With nothing to lose, there’s little doubt that they are going to be pushing arduous from the second the flag drops.
“We are hoping for a good performance at the back-to-back NAMPO races that will show the true potential of our T1+ NWM Ranger,” says workforce principal Neil Woolridge. “The workforce has been arduous at work after the final race checking out the driveshaft niggles, and we’ve got completed a number of take a look at classes with these adjustments and a few additional upgrades, with no points.
“I’m confident that we will be able to take the fight to our rivals at the NAMPO event which suits our vehicle, as we proved last year with Gareth and Boyd finishing on the podium on the Friday, and Lance and Elvéne winning the Saturday race,” Neil says.
In Class T, Christo Rose and Arno Olivier (#T58) are the main NWM-supported privateers of their V8-powered Ford Ranger. They are at present second at school with 61 factors, simply 10 factors behind Jayden Els/Armand du Toit (Renault).
Race programme
According to the SARRC, the NAMPO race routes are comparable to final 12 months however run in the wrong way, with the numerous terrain together with quick open sections with a superb mixture of technical areas round an previous pan, an unused coal energy station and previous grass-covered mine dumps. There’s additionally in depth use of surrounding farmlands which might be a key function of the panorama on this space, with loops across the acquainted irrigation pivots and difficult delicate sand sections to problem the crews.
There’s a typical 10km Pirelli qualifying loop on each days, with the ten high opponents drawing their beginning positions in reverse order from slowest to quickest – an necessary technique, because it’s by no means ultimate to be the primary car to open the highway. The qualifying race begins at 07:30 every day, adopted by the primary race at 09:30.
Follow the motion
Friday’s route covers roughly 166km to the east of NAMPO Park, whereas Saturday’s route heads west and covers roughly 172km. On every day, the respective routes are repeated twice, separated by a 30-minute obligatory service cease at the designated service park (DSP) at the NAMPO grounds. Access to the DSP is free, and the race route offers quite a few simply accessible spectator factors.
Follow all of the motion and monitor the place of the crews all through every of the 2022 season’s races utilizing the RallySecure app which will be downloaded freed from cost for iOS and Android gadgets.
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Posted by Ford South Africa on Quickpic News
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