- A win, 4 podiums and a 90% finishing rate for Red-Lined
Red-Lined Motorsport came home from the South African National Rally-Raid VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 with a class win, four podiums, three cars in the top ten and an impressive 90% finishing rate in what was regarded as one of the toughest and most challenging events to date. With inclement weather surrounding the event for much of the weekend, the race was cut short during the final stage when a major rain storm hit the area on Saturday.
Sirkel N crews Rudi and Gerhard Heinlein alongside Nickus Heinlein and Jaco Kriel made an impressive return to action after their recent business commitments with a T1 Adventure class 1-2 result. Philip Botha and Andries Mynhardt continued their recent run of good form with second in the ever-competitive SA T1+ class while Danie Ludick and Denzil Williamson rounded off the podium with third in class. An ill feeling Marko Himmel and Francois Schoonbee had to dig deep through the weekend to finish fourth to keeping their SA T1+ class championship hopes very much alive going into the final round.
“The VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 proved to be a major challenge as the weather came in on Saturday afternoon making things even tougher,” team boss Terence Marsh confirmed. “Still, all the Red-Lined crews dug deep to overcome the treacherous conditions and make up 59% of the overall event finishers in what was regarded as an extremely gruelling event on man and machine.”
Second in the FIA SA T1+ class, Philip Botha and Andries Mynhardt’s Penta Motor Group powered REVO T1+ V8 finished eighth overall just ahead of Rudi and Gerhard Heinlein and Nickus Heinlein and Jaco Kriel who rounded out the top 10 in their Sirkel N powered Red-Lined VK50’s. In so doing, Rudi and Gerhard also went on to win the VAPS HCV Red-Lined T1 Cup.
Eleventh overall and just outside the top 10, Danie Ludick and Denzil Williamson’s Elegant Fuels powered REVO T1+ V8 fought back to an impressive third in the SA T1+ class after incurring navigational time penalties on the Friday. Johan de Bruyn and Adriaan Roets in their Falken Tyres powered REVO T1 finished fourth in the T1 class while Martin van der Vyver and Rikus Hatting impressed in what was just their second national event with fifth in class in their REVO T1.
Next home, VAPS HCV Rally-Raid Team crews Abrie and laan Olivier, and Peet Victor and Van Zyl Jonck were delighted to finish their ‘home’ VAPS HCV Vryheid 400 in sixth and seventh in the T1 class aboard their Red-Lined VK50’s. Both also recorded impressive back-to-back national results after their debut in Parys earlier in the season.
It was a tough one for Red-Lined FIA Ultimate T1+ class duo, Jayden Els and Johan Swemmer. After qualifying third fastest on Friday and running consistently inside the top five for most of the event until late Saturday afternoon, when the car threw an engine belt. The stormy weather made it incredibly challenging to replace, taking them out of the overall running.
“It was definitely a tough and challenging event and as such we are happy with our overall team results as the conditions were extremely tricky to say the least,” Marsh concludes. “We have one more National to run this season at Thabazimbi on 21-22 November, so for now our technical team needs to head straight back to the workshop as we only have two weeks to turn everything around once again!”
