It was a case of so tantalisingly close yet just a stretch too far for Neil Woolridge Motorsport Ford Performance, as the team’s Class T title challenge ended today by a losing margin of just 68 seconds after the hard-fought season was wrapped up at the Atlas Copco Gold 450 race on Gauteng’s West Rand*.
Heading into the final round of the 2016 Donaldson Cross Country Championship, Chris Visser and co-driver Ward Huxtable were tied for the lead of the Class T Production Vehicle category along with Jason Venter and Vince van Alleman (Toyota), resulting in a winner-takes-all showdown.
This was a truly commendable effort considering the team suffered a devastating fire at its Pietermaritzburg workshop in July. Accordingly, the scene was set for a thrilling season finale, and so it proved on an extremely hot and dusty weekend in Gauteng’s gold mining region.
Qualifying
With tyres and punctures having played a significant role in this year’s championship, the team adopted a conservative approach for the 101km qualifying loop on Friday – particularly as the route is exceptionally rocky and is renowned for destroying tyres.
The prologue ended with Visser and Huxtable sixth in class, 2min 29sec adrift of Venter/Van Alleman, but confident of making up time with more than 300km of racing to go on day two.
Team-mates Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer led the Ford charge, ending fourth in their NWM Ford Performance Ranger, 1min 24sec behind the Toyota crew.
Race
Any caution Visser and Huxtable had shown during qualifying was thrown out the window on race day, and they set off with determination on the first 151km loop. Indeed, they were in flying form and set the fastest times through eight of the 10 timing segments, only losing out to Woolridge/Dreyer who snatched two fastest sectors before picking up their first puncture.
Heading into the designated service park, the timing showed that the Fords dominated the morning session as Visser and Huxtable were 4min 17sec ahead of Venter/Van Alleman on the opening loop. In overall terms, including qualifying times, they were 1min 48sec ahead of their championship rivals.
Despite the puncture Woolridge and Dreyer had powered their way to second quickest overall, nearly 33sec ahead of the Toyota duo who also damaged a tyre.
Racing resumed at 12:00 after the obligatory service and regroup, and the final 151km of the 2016 championship ticked by with nail-biting anticipation.
As predicted, the rocky conditions ultimately threw a spanner in the works, with all three top crews suffering punctures on the second loop as the pace heated up to match the searing 34 deg C ambient temperature.
Sadly, Visser and Huxtable’s single puncture cost them dearly, taking longer than anticipated to fit a spare wheel. This handed the advantage back to Venter and Van Alleman in the closing stage of the race.
With the championship poised on a knife-edge, it was ultimately decided in the Toyota crew’s favour by a desperately narrow winning margin of 68sec over third-placed Visser/Huxtable. This gave the experienced NWM Ford Performance crew a hard-earned second place in the season-long Class T title battle.
Woolridge and Dreyer notched up their second consecutive runner-up finish 47sec behind the winners. This was enough to secure fourth in the championship, despite missing a race when their race car was extensively damaged by the fire.
Neil Woolridge (Team Principal):
“What a crazy season this was, with so many ups and downs! We’ve had a great fight with Jason Venter the whole year, and were leading the championship after the Botswana Desert Race which was great for the team.
“Unfortunately the fire was a major setback, and we competed at the Lichtenburg race just a week later with a borrowed and hastily prepared car for Chris. It’s been a battle to claw back points through the remainder of the championship, and it’s a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team that we arrived at the final race of the year tied for the lead.
“I’ve said the whole year that this championship will be decided by punctures, and so it proved on this event. We set out to complete the race without making mistakes, but were clearly too cautious during qualifying.
“Chris and Ward did a fantastic job this morning to put us back in front, but ultimately it came down to a single puncture on the second loop that cost us the race and the Class T championship.
“We can only image how different the championship could have been this year, as the team did really well and our cars have been brilliant with a 100-percent finishing record this season. I’m very proud of what we achieved. As a team, we truly appreciate the support and encouragement received from all our sponsors and supporters through the year.”
Chris Visser (T8):
“It’s really disappointing to end the season this way, having fought back so hard and then losing the championship by just 68 seconds.
“We were definitely too cautious during qualifying, but our performance during the first loop today proved that we had the potential to win. It came down to just one puncture, and the time we lost fitting the spare cost us the title. But that’s racing.”
Gareth Woolridge (T7):
“As this is our first year with standard 4×4 tyres, it’s difficult to know how hard to push. We had a good run through the first loop, even though we had a puncture, and looked perfectly set for a one-two finish.
“The second lap was also going well before the puncture, but we were very happy with our overall pace. A race win would have been great, but second is still a good result, and finishing fourth overall this year is pretty good considering we missed the Lichtenburg race.”