Page 20 - Motoring Issue 1 2021

MOTOR SPORT FORD

SACCS+NWM+FORD SA =

A GREAT DAY AT THE OFFICE!

hen you crack an invite from
Ford South Africa to attend a
Wround of the SA Cross-country
Championship Series, the Ford Parys
400, you clear your calendar and make
sure you go. I know this from experience,
having attended one towards the end of
2019, which also involved the crew from
Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM). It was
also held at the Parys Airfield, so I knew
what to expect and where we'd be
headed to see the racers fly by at speeds
on gravel and veld that will blow your
mind. It's especially scary when you're
standing in the path of a Ford Ranger
barrelling towards you with such speed motorsport fans in SA, my kinda people!
that you know if the driver just blinks at In between viewing points, we were treated to a fantastic catered lunch at the crew's
the wrong time you could end up sharing pits and each guest was gifted with the coolest Ford Performance/NWM/Castrol Edge-
space with splattered bugs on the grille. branded camping chair – mine will accompany me to every event I attend from now on. A
Of course with the NWM crew, they're all Q&A session with members of NWM was pretty interesting, especially learning how well
pros so that won't (shouldn't) happen. the Rangers are faring in what's essentially a higher class. At the end of a clearly gruelling
Ford Ranger #334 was piloted by Lance event, the Ford-based teams did very well. Gareth and Boyd in Ranger #377 clinched a
Woolridge with Elvéne Vonk, (a name you 3rd overall for the day and the team also claimed the South African Cross Country Series
really should know if you're a fan of Manufacturers Award as well as the Team Award. Fellow Ford drivers Wors Prinsloo
motorsport in SA) as the navigator. (#T41) took the Class T win with Malcolm Kock (#T28) 2nd. A true blue Ford weekend!
Ford Ranger #377 saw Gareth Woolridge A huge thanks to Ford SA and Neil Woolridge Motorsport for yet another awesome
at the wheel with Boyd Dreyer taking on event. There is no better way to watch an offroad event. To the behind the scenes crew
nav duties. making sure all the journos and influencers were treated like royalty, you get the biggest
At the 2019 event, we were thanks for working so hard on such a hot day. It's events like these that keep the interest
transported to the spectator points in a and passion for motorsport alive. n
fleet of Ranger Raptors, and for 2020, we
enjoyed the comfort of a few Ford Use this link to see video footage of the event:
Tourneo Customs, the perfect long range https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2MNQR84v6Q
people carrier. Of course they weren't as
fleet on the gravel, but having your own
aircon vent blasting ice cold air on you
when the outside temps were in the mid-
30s was something I wouldn't have
traded much else for on that day. There
was definitely a noticeable decrease in
the number of spectators due to the
COVID regulations, but there were still
enough people out and about tracking
and supporting their favourite drivers to
create some small traffic jams and to
make the competitors perform that much
better. There really are die-hard

MOTORING | Issue 1, 2021 | 18