The ominous clouds above the Free State town set the stage for a muddy and shortened race weekend finale but it was the NWM Ford Castrol T1+ that took the top step of the rain-ridden Parys rally.
Torrential downpours, unlike anything that has been experienced over the past two decades, turned the typically dusty Parys rally into a rain-ridden nightmare. Despite this, racing took place along the farmlands surrounding the town, albeit shortened amidst safety concerns.
GALLERY: the wet and slippery 2022 Mpumalanga 400
With Round Six taking place on Friday already shortened to a 12 km Pirelli Qualifying Race and one 98 km loop, the final championship decider on Saturday followed after more torrential rain that drenched the route. According to competitors, the extremely wet conditions of the weekend after persistent heavy rain leading up to the event made it almost impossible to race, and the organisers had no choice but to shorten the race distance for the final event to a 12 km qualifier and an 86 kilometre loop, which included a 16 km de-controlled section.
It was the #277 NWM Ford Castrol T1+ at the hands of Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer who claimed victory in the treacherous conditions – this signalled the first overall race win in the EcoBoost V6-powered Ranger prepared by Neil Woolridge Motorsport. Team principal and namesake of NWM stated: “We’ve spent many long hours, days, weeks and months testing and developing our brand new T1+ Ranger this year, and finally seeing it all come together is amazing. It’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of our NWM team, and also to the support from our partners and sponsors, especially Ford and Castrol.”
Runner up for the race was De Villiers/Burke while Toyota T1+ teammates Lategan/Cummins had to retire due to the muddy and wet conditions causing alternator and power steering belt issues. The third place went to Chris Visser/Albertus Venter (Red-Lined Motorsport REVO) who were the FIA T1 victors. Botterill/Vacy-Lyle rounded their season off by finishing fourth overall and third in FIA T1+ while the FIA T1.2 victory went to the newly-crowned class champions, Lance Trethewey/Leonard Cremer (King Price Xtreme CR 6) who were fifth.
Ford team-mates Lance Woolridge/Elvéne Vonk (#234) had to settle for fifth in FIA T1+ class and 14th overall after their Ranger was ridden in mud and required extraction. Race winner Gareth Woolridge stated: “We’ve taken big strides forward with our T1+ Ranger, as we proved at the previous event and this weekend in Parys. So for next year, I think we’re in good shape for even bigger and better things.”
Full standings here.
