“It was an outstanding performance by the South Africans that again underlined the role the Donaldson national series plays in nurturing and developing the skills of local teams,” said SANORA chief executive Siegfried Rousseau. “The Donaldson Cross Country Motor Racing Championship is accepted as the toughest domestic championship of its kind in international motorsport, and is the ideal proving ground for engineers and crews.”
Donaldson Filtration Systems chief executive officer Rob Simpson said the company was more than delighted with the results of teams with a South African connection. The South African sourced vehicles made use of Donaldson products.
Simpson added “The Donaldson Cross Country Championship not only provided the company with the ideal platform to exhibit our high performing products, but also allowed Donaldson Filtration Systems to maintain a high profile in the market as a leading filtration solutions provider.”
The 17 Toyota Hilux finishers on the Dakar Rally were either built by Toyota Motorsport team principal Glyn Hall and his team of professionals at the Hallspeed facility in Midrand, or assembled overseas by Overdrive and other teams using designs and components supplied by Hallspeed. Two Toyota Gazoo Racing SA entries built in Midrand finished in the top 10 and another five locally built or sourced cars finished in the top 20.
Former winner Giniel de Villiers, partnered by German co-driver Dirk von Zitzewitz, finished third and South African champions Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie were fifth in Toyota Hilux models. A third Hilux, in the hands of Russian crew Vladimir Vasilyev and Konstantin Zhiltsov finished eighth, and a third Toyota Gazoo Racing SA entry, that of Yazeed Al-Rajhi and Tom Gottschalk finished 11th .
Two Century Racing CR5 entries crewed by Mark Corbett/Juan Mohr and Colin Matthews/Rodney Burke finished 17th and 37th respectively, with Corbett and Mohr winning the two-wheel drive petrol class after a late charge on the second leg of the event. The cars were designed and built at the Century Racing workshop in Midrand, with Matthews and Burke winners of last year’s Dakar Challenge which formed part of the Donaldson championship.
Two Renault Dusters built by Thompson Racing at Kyalami finished 18th and 19th. The cars were crewed by Argentinians Emiliano Spataro/Benjamin Lozada and Frenchmen Christian Lavieille and Jean-Michel Polato with the French crew, like Corbett/Mohr, moving through the field on the second leg.
International teams also crewed two Ford Rangers built in Pietermaritzburg by Neil Woolridge Motorsport with Spaniards Xavier Pons and Ricardo Torlaschi finishing 29th, and Chileans Daniel Mas Valdes and Juan Pablo Latrach Vinagre 34th. The two Fords were run by South African Scott Abrahams’ South Racing company, based in Germany, which also provided logistics for Red-Lined Motorsport.
Red-Lined Motorsport is also based in Kyalami with South Africans Sean Reitz and Riaan Greyling, and the German father/son pairing of Jurgen and Daniel Schröder out in a pair of Nissan Navaras. Reitz, who first sat in a race car three years ago, and Greyling fought their way to 36th overall with a sting in the Dakar tail putting the Schröders out of the event when they rolled the Nissan Navara on the penultimate special stage.
More than 100 South African engineers, technicians and service crew helped keep the South African and other teams running throughout an event plagued by soaring temperatures in Argentina, extreme cold in Bolivia, a sandstorm and heavy downpours. For Red-Lined Motorsport team Principal Terence Marsh, himself a former South African champion, it was the support crews who were the real Dakar heroes.
“It is a gruelling event for the drivers and co-drivers and they deserve all the praise they get, but the support personnel have to put up with working late into the early morning and then face long distance liaison sections to the next bivouac,” said Marsh. “Conditions in the bivouacs were also often difficult, and all the support personnel performed above and beyond the call of duty.”
While other sporting codes may be facing up to hard times, South Africans at the iconic Dakar classic kept the South African flag flying high – and the love affair will continue next year.