SA champs cruise to victory at Battlefields

SOUTH African champions Leeroy Poulter and Rob Howie scored their second victory of the season with a comfortable win on the Battlefields 400, round two of the South African Cross Country Auto Series (SACCS), at the weekend.

The race was run in treacherous conditions with a wet route compounded by freezing temperatures.

A lone puncture was the only hiccup for Poulter/Howie who again dominated the premier FIA class for cars conforming to FIA specifications.

The pair came in over three minutes ahead of Toyota Gazoo Racing SA team-mates Giniel de Villiers and Dennis Murphy.

“It was slippery, fast and hairy,” was Poulter’s laconic comment at the finish. But apart from the puncture the pair never put a foot wrong.

The final podium place and the win in Class T for cars above four litres with solid axle rear suspension, went to Lance Woolridge and Ward Huxtable in the Ford NWM Puma Lubricants Ranger.

The pair finished around seven minutes clear of Woolridge’s younger brother Gareth and Boyd Dreyer in a second Ford NWM Puma Lubricants Ranger.

The younger Woolridge and Dreyer were penalised 10 minutes for not stopping at a road crossing in the qualifying race, and started the day 13th in the Production Vehicle class.

They made up wads of time but it was a costly error that ultimately led to losing the Class T race.

The next SACCS event is the iconic Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1 000 Desert Race, based in Jwaneng, on June 23, 24 and 25.