They ended with five outright victories and shared heat wins with team-mates Anthony Taylor and Dennis Murphy on the Toyota 1000 Desert Race in Botswana. And between them Poulter/Howie and Taylor/Murphy also won all the qualifying races that determined grid positions for the six events that made up the season.
Apart from a puncture on the first of two 162 kilometre loops that made up the race, Poulter and Howie reported a clean run and eventually finished six minutes ahead of former South African champions Chris Visser and Japie Badenhorst in the Ford Performance Ranger. After a disappointing year their best performance this season was a late show of defiance from the Ford Performance factory pair, who edged out Taylor and Murphy by only 25 seconds.
Taylor/Murphy won the qualifying race but ran into trouble on the first loop when they hit a concrete pipe and damaged the steering rack. On the second loop, however, they came under a great deal of pressure from Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer (NWM Ford Ranger) with only nine seconds separating the two crews at the finish.
A top five finish also underlined the promise shown throughout the season by Woolridge and Dreyer. In a battle between siblings the younger Woolridge and Dreyer claimed bragging rights over Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable, in the second of the factory Ford Rangers.
Behind the Woolridge brothers another little family cameo unfolded with Jason Venter and Vince van Allemann (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux) coming in ahead of Venter’s father Deon and Jaco van Aardt (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux). The elder Venter and van Aardt also left the best for last, with their first win of the season in the Class S category for cars under four litres with solid axle rear suspension.
They were followed by Johan van Staden and Mike Lawrenson (Regent Racing Nissan Navara) running in Class T for vehicles over four litres with independent rear suspension. Next up were Portuguese crew Rómulo Branco and João Serôdio, in another Regent Racing Nissan Navara, and Australian crew John Purshouse and Murray Hynes (Ford Ranger) who ended a short three race Donaldson series campaign on a high note with a top 10 finish.
Ninth overall and second in Class S was a significant result for Branco and Serôdio. Unofficial scoring saw the Portuguese pair clinch the Class S title in a battle that went all the way to the wire.
Branco and Serôdio went into the weekend trailing Heine Strumpher and Henri Hugo (4×4 Mega World Toyota Hilux) by six points. After problems in the qualifying event Strumpher/Hugo started from the back of the field, but were eventually placed fourth in Class S and sneaked home by just two points.
The season, however, belonged to the Castrol Toyota Hilux factory team and Poulter/Howie. The pair will again partner Giniel de Villiers and Dirk von Zitzewitz in next year’s Dakar Rally, and going into the South American classic will not be short on confidence.