The SA Rally-Raid Championship returns to the Western Cape after an absence of more than a decade with the Outeniqua 400, the fourth round of the SARRC that takes place from Louvain Guest Farm in the Langkloof Valley in the southern part of the province between George and Uniondale on 19 and 20 September. And with only a select few of the current competitors who competed in the last event, that was run in the Darling area on the West Coast in 2011, the Outeniqua 400 will present an exciting and level playing field for all.
With a victory each, the two Toyota Gazoo Racing teams of Saood Variawa/Francois Cazalet and Guy Botterill/Mena Valdearcos (Toyota Hilux IMT EVO) will be out in full force in their search for more silverware and while Variawa/Cazalet will aim to maintain their current lead in the overall and Ultimate FIA T1+ championships, Botterill/Valdearcos will no doubt be looking to better their podium positions.
The two #TeamHilux Rally-Raid teams of Giniel de Villiers/Dennis Murphy and the Blignaut brothers, Fouché and Bertus (Toyota Hilux DKR T1+) have both experienced their ups and downs so far this season, but both have raced at the front of the field and will like nothing less than to do so again. De Villiers has been on the podium twice while the Blignauts, who could not complete the season opener, cannot afford another mishap and a good, clean run and collecting a healthy number of points, will benefit their current standings.
Three Castrol NWM Ford Rally-Raid Teams in the NWM Ford Evo Plus will again be aiming for good results and a second victory will be the perfect way for the former champions, Gareth Woolridge/Boyd Dreyer, to start the second half of the season. The team is currently sandwiched between the two TGR teams in the overall standings despite not being able to see out the distance in the second round. Wors Prinsloo/André Vermeulen will hope to continue their finishing streak together – Prinsloo missed the opening round – with Vermeulen one of only two current competitors who has competed in the Western Cape event in 2011. The Brazilian visitors, Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea, have been consistent this season and another set of good results combined with championship points are on the cards for them.
The ‘Ghost of Uniondale’ is apparently not active anymore, but maybe Jayden Els/Johan Swemmer (Red-Lined REVO T1+ GTR) will hope that Lady Luck looks down on them as they can do with a huge helping of better luck this season.
In the Ultimate T1+ SA Class, the Namibian team of Marko Himmel/Francois Schoonbee (Red-Lined Navara Evo) are the current class leaders and an additional class win will strengthen their title chase. They lead a gaggle of Red-Lined teams including Danie Ludick/Denzil Williamson (Revo T1+) who could not finish the last round, but accumulated good points at the first two rounds; Philip Botha/Andries Mynhardt in a similar Revo T1+ who missed the season opener and the Dutch Daklapack Rallysport team, Dave and Tessa Klaassen (Revo GTR) who changed from FIA T1+ to the SA T1+ Class.
Johan and Werner Horn (#TeamHilux Rally-Raid) will have to stand their ground in this class and a good result can contribute to them improving their current third place on the podium. Gary Bertholdt is also one of the current competitors who competed in the 2011 event in Darling – Vermeulen then navigated for him. Bertholdt (Toyota Hilux) who is currently second in the class standings will be joined by versatile Eastern Cape navigator Rikus Fourie.
The battle at the front of the Adventurer Class will continue in the scenic Langkloof. Johan van Staden accompanied by his son, Sean who missed the Parys outing (Renault Duster) while the Johan de Bruyn/Adriaan Roets duo (Red-Lined Revo T1) will again chase the elusive class win.
The leaders of the Challenger Class, Henk Klaassen/Gerhard Schutte (Daklapack Rallysport Taurus T3Max) will be joined by Western Cape Lady racer Puck Klaassen and Danie Stassen (GRally OT3) – the third current competitor with memories of the 2011 event – on the start line while former SSV Champions, Geoff Minnitt/Rodney Burke (Hydro Power Equipment Can-Am Maverick), who missed the first race this season, will also be in action.
Six vehicles in the Special Vehicle Category will add to the racing action as the event will form two rounds of the Eastern Cape Off-road Club Championship.
Spectators are invited to the event and will be able to follow the racing action from various vantage points on the route while information will also be available on the RallySafe App that can be downloaded free from the Apple Store and Google Play Store or follow us on our social media channels – Facebook: @sarallyraidchampionship; Instagram: @sarallyraidchampionship and
YouTube: @SouthAfricanRallyRaidSARRC
Race Headquarters, the Designated Service Park (DSP) and the Start/Finish of the event will be situated at Louvain Guest Farm on Friday and Saturday.
The Outeniqua 400 will start with the 38km Falken Wild Peak Prologue at 09:30 on Friday morning and will be followed at 13:00 by Stage One (84 kilometres). On Saturday, the leading team will take on Stage Two (178km) at 09:00 and will continue on Stage Three before finishing at again Louvain Guest Farm.
Images : Dave Ledbitter – click to download
The SA Rally-Raid Championship returns to the Western Cape after an absence of more than a decade with the Outeniqua 400https://t.co/FpjUwedlwx#ArriveAlive #Rally #Outeniqua400 pic.twitter.com/LrAbkOFenx
– Arrive Alive (@_ArriveAlive) September 15, 2025
