The race for Dakar 2022 is
now on with entries open to crews that have never competed in the legendary
event – this R650 000 prize from Toyota SA Motors going to the team that
wins the Dakar Challenge at next weekend’s Toyota 1000 Desert Race.
The Toyota 1000 Desert Race, the iconic marathon
event on the South African Cross-Country Series (SACCS) calendar, has found a
new home for 2021. Additionally, the name has changed to incorporate TOYOTA
GAZOO Racing SA, and as such the race will now be known as the TGRSA 1000
Desert Race.
It remains the longest and toughest event on the
local calendar and will again offer Dakar hopefuls the opportunity to compete
in the Road to Dakar.
This race-within-a-race offers privateer crews
the opportunity to win a free entry to the world’s toughest automotive race,
the Dakar Rally.
In 2017 it was Treasury One’s Hennie de Klerk
who won a free entry to the Dakar Rally, when he was the first of the
registered Dakar Challengers to cross the line in Botswana. The Pretoria-based
businessman did South Africa proud when he and navigator Gerhard Schutte not
only completed the Dakar, but also won the Rookie of the Year Award in their
SA-built Volkswagen Amarok.
Winners in 2018 and 2019 were not able to take
up the Dakar challenge for various reasons, but this year the Road to Dakar is
even more valuable than before. For 2021, the prize will comprise not only a
free entry to the Dakar Rally, but it will also include a cash prize of 8 000
euros which will go towards securing the funds necessary to compete in the
race.
“The Desert Race has long been seen as the
toughest automotive race on the African continent, and as such it is a perfect
fit for our Dakar-winning Toyota Hilux race cars,” says Toyota SA Motors
Vice-President for Marketing, Glenn Crompton. “It is a point of pride for us as
Toyota SA Motors to offer up another stern challenge this month – but also to
offer this incredible opportunity for privateer crews to truly make the most of
the Desert Race.”
Crews hoping to follow in the footsteps of De
Klerk and Schutte need to register for the Road to Dakar before tackling the
TGRSA 1000 Desert Race.
The winning competitor can choose to enter the
next Dakar or the following one, effectively giving the team a maximum of 18
months to prepare for the race. This means that crews who have previously won
the Dakar Challenge or Road to Dakar, but have not been able to take up their
prize, are eligible to win again in 2021.
This year’s Toyota Gazoo Racing SA 1000 Desert
Race will take place on June 18-20, in a new location around the town Upington
in the Northern Cape. Despite the move to a new area, the race will retain its
key characteristics as the only marathon event on the South African
Cross-Country calendar: The race distance remains set at 1000 km; and the race
will again take place over a total of three days.
“The Desert Race is the only marathon event on
the SACCS calendar, and as such it offers us an unparalleled opportunity to
test our Toyota Hilux in conditions that resemble those found on many Dakar
stages,” says Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Team Principal, Glyn Hall.
It’s the longest, toughest event of the year – and it’s one the Ford
Castrol Cross Country Team relishes, especially as this will be the first
opportunity to prove the capability of the all-new FIA-class Ford Ranger,
designed and manufactured by Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM), on a marathon
event that covers a punishing route of almost 1000 km over three days.
“The Desert Race is a crucial event in the championship, as the race
format covers three days and nearly 1000 km of competitive action,” says Neil
Woolridge, team principal of NWM. “Unlike previous years where there were two
separate races over the weekend, this is one long marathon event covering the
full race distance, so reliability and consistency will be key to ensure we
have a shot at victory, and are able to challenge for this year’s title.
“It will be our first chance to prove the capabilities of our newly
developed FIA-class 3,5-litre twin-turbo V6 EcoBoost-powered Ford Ranger on a
longer marathon event. We’ve done a lot of development work on the vehicles
over the past couple of months, and have sorted out the induction pipe issue
that resulted in both cars retiring from the Sugarbelt 400 in May.
“We designed our new Ranger to compete at the highest level on
long-distance cross-country races around the world, including the most extreme
and revered of them all – the Dakar Rally. So, this year’s Desert Race is the
ideal platform to showcase the capabilities of our latest-generation Ford
Ranger in some of the harshest and most unforgiving conditions we will face all
year.”
The Ford Castrol NWM team has certainly proven its pedigree at this
event, with Lance Woolridge and then co-driver Ward Huxtable powering their V8-powered
Ford Ranger to the Class T victory in both heats of the 2019 event and,
remarkably, the overall win in the second heat against the faster,
higher-specification FIA-class competitors. This helped set the duo up to
secure their second consecutive Class T championship title.
Lance Woolridge and co-driver Elvéne Vonk (334) are determined to taste
glory once again at the 2021 Desert Race. They claimed victory for the all-new
FIA-class Ranger at the season-opening Mpumalanga 400 in March, and are
currently second in the FIA-class championship.
“Retiring
from the Sugarbelt 400 was a huge disappointment for us, but I’m confident that
we can make up for it at the Desert Race once again,” Lance says. “The
competition is intense in the FIA-class, and we are going to have to be on the
pace from the moment we set off on Friday’s qualifying session. Based on all
the development work we’ve done on the Ranger, I’m really looking forward to
seeing what it is capable of in the challenging desert terrain.”
Team-mates
Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (377) also performed extremely well at the
2019 Desert Race, finishing second in Class T in both races, and runners-up in
the overall results for the Sunday race. They were third overall at the
Mpumalanga 400, and are intent on making up for their misfortune at the
Sugarbelt 400. Gareth and Boyd are currently placed sixth in the drivers and
navigators standings respectively, just 12 points adrift of Lance and Elvéne,
and equal on 28 points with three other teams.
NWM-supported
Ford Ranger V8 entries make up the bulk of the Class T entries and are
currently placed second to fifth in the championship after consistent finishes
in the opening two rounds of the series.
Malcolm
and Frans Kock (T4) are currently the highest-placed NWM Ford Ranger entry in
second place in Class T, ahead of Wors Prinsloo/Andre Vermeulen (T41), Christo
Rose/Arno Olivier (T58), and Bernard Johnstone (T22).
The
Ford NWM Development Team of Bapi Rubuluza and Fanifani Meyiwa (T49) will have
their second outing in the NWM Ford Ranger V8 after a solid finish at the
Sugarbelt 400 – their first event together, and a commendable debut in Class T.
As
per the current COVID-19 regulations, the Desert Race remains closed to
spectators. However, fans can follow all the action and track the position of
the crews using the RallySafe app which can be downloaded free of charge for
iOS and Android devices.
