We joined team Toyota Gazoo Racing at the first round of the 2022 SA Rally-Raid Championship in Mpumalanga this past weekend.
Rally drivers are arguably the helmsmen who command the most respect. The sheer skill, guts and bravery needed to cover vast distances of inhospitable terrain at blistering pace simply boggles the mind. When given the opportunity to spectate Mzansi’s premier off-road motorsport event with Toyota Gazoo Racing I simply couldn’t turn down the offer.
This was the Mpumalanga 400 the season-opening race for the 2022 South African Rally-Raid Championship (previously the South African Cross-Country series) it’s not an event for half-hearted individuals. The racing is fierce, the rivalry is bitter and the landscape although spectacular is unforgiving and treacherous.
We collected a Toyota Hilux Legend RS 4×4 double-cab at OR Tambo and hightailed the 250 km to Dullstroom for the racing. Upon entering the rain-soaked town thanks to a typical Highlands thunder storm, we couldn’t ignore the hordes of bakkies and adventure SUVs parked in queues outside of the lodges, restaurants and farm stalls before heading deeper into the countryside.
To best witness the race, we were part of an adrenalin-fuelled convoy driving between the choice viewing spots along the route. Our lead vehicle, a Toyota Fortuner VX 4×4, was equipped with an aftermarket satellite navigation unit with the GPS coordinates of our selected stops. Needing to make good time not to miss any of the action, the pace of the convoy on the slippery and rocky paths was high and well above my preferred level of comfort.
With the Legend RS set to high-range four-wheel drive, Power mode engaged and the transmission set to Sport we managed the rural Dullstroom tracks with few dramas, utilising the accessible 150 kW and 500 N.m and thankfully just one flat tyre was changed. In these challenging driving conditions we got to appreciate the well-known off-road stability and capability of the Hilux despite the merciless weather.
Our efforts to chase the Toyota Gazoo Racing team along the slippy and rocky route was not in vain as the pairing of Henk Lategan and Brett Cummings in their DKR Hilux T1+ won the Mpumalanga 400. The off-road rallying bug has bitten hard and we’ll be keeping a close eye on the SA Rally-Raid Championship as the season continues.
Words: Damian Adams
