Ford NWM Puma Lubricants team victorious at Battlefields 400
The Ford Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) Puma Lubricants team scored a resounding victory today at the Battlefields 400, the second round of the South African Cross Country Series (SACCS).
Treacherous conditions faced the competitors when the action got underway on Friday for the short 46km qualifying loop, with heavy runs in the Dundee area resulting in extremely wet and muddy terrain becoming a defining feature of the entire weekend’s racing.
Nevertheless, the Ford NWM Puma Lubricants outfit came out on top, with Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable scoring their maiden win of the year in the mighty V8-powered Ford Ranger. Team-mates Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer made it a Ford NWM Puma Lubricants one-two by securing their second consecutive runner-up finish.
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In all likelihood, this was the first time brothers finished in the top two positions in the premier Production Vehicle category in a South African cross country race – with Lance and Gareth extending the Woolridge family’s impressive legacy in the sport, initiated by father and NWM team principal Neil.
Unfortunately, the tricky conditions caught out Henk Lategan and Barry White who failed to finish the race after an end-over-end roll during the second loop. Although battered and bruised, they were unhurt in the incident thanks to the exceptional strength of the NWM-built Ford Ranger.
Qualifying
After heading to the Battlefields 400 with winning intent, the Ford NWM Puma Lubricants team completed the short, wet and extremely muddy 46km qualifying loop on Friday largely on the back foot.
Gareth Woolridge and Boyd Dreyer set the outright fastest time for the session, even beating the faster FIA-specification vehicles, with Lategan and White following close on their heels in second place. However, both crews were subsequently penalised – along with a couple of other teams – for misjudging a road crossing, which didn’t have the obligatory warning signs placed on the approach to the crossing.
Due to the hefty 10-minute penalty applied by the race officials, they were relegated to 10th and 11th places in Class T respectively, with a mammoth task awaiting them come race day in an attempt to salvage crucial championship points.
Fortunately, Lance Woolridge and co-driver Ward Huxtable had a clean and cautious run, finishing the tricky prologue in sixth place.
Race
The heavy rains experienced in the Dundee area over the past couple of days continued throughout Friday night and into Saturday, making the Battlefields region a truly treacherous outing for all the teams. Surviving to the end of the race would be a victory on its own.
Indeed, the conditions were extremely challenging on race day, with the crews having to navigate through numerous water crossings, sliding their way across clay muddy sections and attempting to keep all four wheels pointing in the desired direction on the slippery grass for two 173km loops.
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Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable made the most of the challenge, progressively picking off the leading contenders with a faultless and mature drive to score a well-deserved victory.
Further back, the other two NWM Fords traded places several times during the first lap until Lategan and White picked up a puncture. This allowed Woolridge and Dreyer to take the advantage once again, thereafter maintaining a hassle-free run to the finish to notch up two second-place finishes in a row this season.
Sadly, the same couldn’t be said of the newcomers to the team, who have impressed with their amazing pace and looked set to wrap up a clean sweep of the Class T podium with several of their rivals falling by the wayside. Approximately a third of the way into the second loop, Lategan and White went slightly off line in the slippery mud, and hit a fast bump in sixth gear which pitched their vehicle into a multiple end-over-end roll. To the relief of the team, they emerged shaken and stirred, but largely unscathed.
The next event is the Toyota Botswana 1000 Desert Race in Jwaneng, from 23 to 25 June.
Source: QuickPic