March 18, 2021
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Development racing Maritzburgers to steer T-Class in Neil Woolridge Motorsport and Ford’s rookie offroad team COLIN MILEMAN A former delivery driver and a KZN champion navigator, both old Maritzburgers, are the first members of a Development Team that will race in Class T of the South African Cross Country Series (SACCS) this year. Wiseman Gumede (42), a workshop delivery driver for Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) and Fanifani Meyiwa (43), who claimed the 2018 KwaZuluNatal regional championship with Dean Redelinghuys, will compete in all seven rounds that make up the 2021 SACCS calendar, which starts with the Dullstroom 400 March 26 and 27. Neale Hill, MD of Ford South Africa, said in a statement the Ford Neil Woolridge Motorsport Development Team addresses the need to empower a broader range of competitors to participate in motorsport at the highest level, while attracting a more diverse range of fans and spectators to the sport. “It’s a great project that will generate significant interest as Wiseman and Fanifani embark on their exciting journey into the exciting world of cross country racing,” Hill added. The project has the full backing of Motorsport South Africa (MSA) — the country’s official motorsport organising body — which is the project’s fiduciary partner managing the funds. Gumede and Meyiwa will compete in the SACCS Class T Production Vehicle championship in a 5-litre V8-powered Ford Ranger, which was designed and built by Neil Woolridge Motorsport at its facility in Pietermaritzburg. This Ranger V8 is identical to the vehicle that powered Lance Woolridge and co-driver Ward Huxtable to consecutive Class T titles in 2018 and 2019. As part of its commitment to the Development Team project, NWM will supply, prepare and maintain the race vehicle throughout the year, while also coaching and developing the crew as
Delivery driver Wiseman Gumede (left) makes his motorsport debut with the Ford NWM Development Team entry, joined by Fanifani Meyiwa, who won the 2018 KwaZulu-Natal regional rally navigator’s title with Dean Redelinghuys. PHOTO: QUICKPIC the season progresses. “We are excited to see our plan of bringing new competitors, and specifically black African drivers and co-drivers, into cross country racing finally come to fruition,” said Neil Woolridge, NWM team principal. “This is important for the future of the sport, as well as for NWM and Ford as manufacturers, to grow the level of participation and interest to new audiences. “There has been a lot of behind-thescenes work to make this happen, and we appreciate Ford South Africa coming on board as the overall sponsor for
this project, which adds an exciting and much-needed new dimension to our motorsport programme with the Ford Ranger,” Woolridge said. “Several of our existing sponsors and partners have extended their involvement to the new Development Team, and we appreciate the support from BF Goodrich Tyres, Castrol, Sparco, Motorsport Technic, Sign Solutions, as well as Motorsport South Africa. “We hope that this will be the start of a bigger empowerment and development program for the cross country series that will create the platform for more new teams to compete in the fu-
ture,” he adds. From deliveries to offroad racing As a newcomer to motorsport, Wiseman Gumede undoubtedly has a lot to learn, but he is over the moon about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. “I started as a driver at NWM, and now I’m going to be a racing driver,” an elated Gumede said. “I thought it was a joke when Neil Woolridge asked me at the end of last year if I would like to race, but it’s real and I can’t wait to spend more time in this amazing vehicle. “I’m going to take it easy at the be-
ginning as I have so much to learn about driving and racing the Ranger V8, so my plan is simply to finish the first race and get as much experience as possible,” he adds. The experienced Meyiwa is no less enthusiastic: “I was very excited when Neil called me to discuss joining the team as the co-driver. “I’ve always watched these amazing cross country cars racing on TV, and now to be part of the team is a dream come true. “Cross country racing is new to me, but I think Wiseman and I will work well in the car together, and our objective will be to finish every race. “It’s a very good thing to have more black drivers and navigators involved in the sport,” Meyiwa said. “This will create a better understanding of the cross country series and the vehicles competing in the championship, and I think a lot more people will follow the racing.” To assist the Development Team on their adrenaline-fuelled journey, Neil Woolridge Motorsport has roped in multiple cross country champion Ward Huxtable — another former Maritzburger — as the team’s mentor for the season. Huxtable claimed the Class E co-drivers titles in 2006 and 2010, and navigated for Lance Woolridge from 2011 to 2019 — in the process claiming the 2018 and 2019 Class T co-drivers championships. “We are under no illusions that Wiseman and Fanifani have a very steep learning curve ahead of them, and there are sure to be a couple of tears along the way, so we asked Ward to join us as the team’s mentor,” Woolridge said. “Ward has many years of experience navigating in cross country racing, which will be invaluable in assisting the Development Team through the season and helping them understand the rules and regulations, as well as the tools of the trade.”
Toyota Gazoo defend offroad and rally titles, take on Touring Cars The 2021 motorsport season is about to begin, and Toyota Gazoo Racing SA will defend its titles in the South African Cross-Country Series (SACCS) and the South African National Rally Championship (NRC); and challenge for the title of Global Touring Cars (GTC) Champhion. “Motorsport plays a key role in our marketing strategy,” says Toyota South Africa Motors vice president of marketing, Glenn Crompton. “Our approach for the 2021 season allows us to showcase not only our tough and reliable Class FIA Hilux, but also the Toyota Corolla on the track.” The NRC will see defending KZN drivers Guy Botterill and Simon VacyLyle defend their rally title and compete
in several rounds of the African Rally Championship (ARC). Gazoo also asked Botterill to stand in for Henk Lategan at the Feeler Barberspan 300 crosscountry race on March 13. With Brett Cummings to navigate, Botterill steered the blisteringly fast Class FIA Toyota Hilux to second place, only 17 seconds overall behind veteran winners Hennie de Klerk and co-driver Adrian Roets. “We’ve decided to give Guy the opportunity to experience the Hilux in race conditions, since Henk Lategan’s shoulder isn’t fully healed yet after he underwent surgery to make repairs after his crash at Dakar earlier this year,” said Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Team principal, Glyn Hall.
National rally champions Simon Vacy-Lyle (left) and Guy Botterill. “Guy has been keen on cross-country racing for some time now, and with Lategan side-lined for the next few weeks, he was the obvious choice to do
‘Hot-hatch’ Yaris wins Coty title in UK The Toyota GR Yaris has been named the 2021 UK Car of the Year (UK-COTY). The result reveals the level of love for a car that sits well outside the mainstream: an out-and-out performance hatchback designed and engineered with a focus on the pure joy of driving. Announcing the result, UK-COTY director John Challen said: “The GR Yaris exudes the same sort of emotions found in the original breed of hot hatches, with a modern-day twist thanks to advances in automotive technology. The most fun I’ve had behind the wheel of a car for many, many years.” GR Yaris qualified for consideration having last week won the UKCOTY Best Performance title. In progressing to the top honour, it edged out the Toyota Yaris Hybrid hatchback, the all-new model having been named Best Supermini. Agustín Martín, Toyota (GB) president and managing director, thanked the UK Car of the Year judges for the prestigious award. “This unique car perfectly ex-
stand-in duty in the Hilux.” Botterill and Vacy-Lyle will defend their rally championship title in their Toyota Etios, but they will soon be in a Class R4N Toyota Starlet. “The decision to build our own car is quite a big one,” explains Botterill, “but in an effort to bring the costs down, not only for us but also other teams who might want to enter into the new, competitive Class R4, we felt that it was imperative to come up with a local solution, rather than relying on cars bought from abroad.” Hall said the new car will be based on the Class R4 regulations from the World Rally Championship. However, certain components will be replaced with local units in order to keep the
costs down, and as such the locally produced versions will be known as Class R4N cars, with the ‘N’ indicating that the cars conform to the South African national specifications. “We are not entirely sure when the new car will be ready for competition,” says Botterill. “There’s still a mass of work to be done, but we are excited to enter a completely new, locally-built, car in the championship. In the meantime, we will compete in various cars in order to accommodate both our local and international schedule.” Botterill and Vacy-Lyle will also be taking part in the 2021 African Rally Championship, which includes a round of the World Rally Championship in Kenya, later in the year. — WR.
King of Customs winner Vinod Lalla (left) from Queensburgh with KulumaTV presenter Gareth Charles (right) and Gary Bezuidenhout of Mallaz Customs. PHOTO: YOUTUBE
FIRST ‘KING OF CUSTOMS’ CROWNED ALWYN VILJOEN Spoiler alert — Vinod Lalla from Queensburgh is the first King of Customs of the reality TV magazine show of the same name. Conceived by Pinetown-based Mike Corlani and Quinton White of KulumaTV fame, the show is broadcast on Ignition TV (DStv Channel 189) and simulcast on Facebook with the tag KingofCustomsSA. White told Witness Wheels that the first series features Gary Bezuidenhout and Matt Baldi from Mallaz Customs, visiting other passionate vehicle customisers, like Lalla, who told the crew his garage full of customised cars is not a business, but a hobby. White, who is as used to shooting rallies for KZN-based Toyota Gazoo rally racers Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle as he is filming music shows for Ladysmith Black Mambazo, said the interaction by viewers made King of Customs a lot of fun to produce. “Viewers were encouraged to like and share the videos from their favourite
customisers through their Facebook page. Those views, shares and likes, tallied over the first 30 days, counted towards a final score to determine the King of Customs,” he said. Lalla’s fans stomped the competitors with a wave of online votes, followed by Schalk Faber’s BMW-powered Chevy in Hillcrest and Durban’s award-winning engineer and innovator Adrian Padt’s gasified Chevrolet bakkie, inspired by Kamberg sawmiller, farmer and mechanical engineer Patrick Johnson’s well-known gasified bakkie. White said the show is already looking for the next King of Customs, but this time they are casting their net much wider than KZN. “Lockdown last year forced us to stay local in KZN, but for the next season we will go in search of the best vehicle customisers on the back roads and in the backyards across South Africa.” Meanwhile, to see why Lalla’s fans “liked” his custom cars the most, watch the first season’s final episode on Saturday at 10 am.
LIGHTYEAR AIMS TO DELIVER SOLAR CAR BY DECEMBER Dutch solar-car builder Lightyear has raised $48 million (over R717 milion) in a new funding round. “This funding round will help us accelerate towards the first deliveries at the end of the year.” said Lex Hoefsloot, CEO and co-founder of Lightyear. “We are grateful for the support of all the individual investors and happy to welcome them as ambassadors to our mission.” The company has grown to over 120 employees since Witness Wheels started reporting in 2013 on a group of Eindhoven University of Technology students who planned to engineer a family sedan that gets all its power from sunlight. Eight years later Lightyear employs former staff from Tesla, Audi, McLaren and Ferrari and the company said this week it is in the final phase of selecting a production partner to begin deliveries of its Lightyear One by the end of this year. The Lightyear One has four independ-
A solar-powered Lightyear prototype in daily use in Eindhoven in the Netherlands. ent in-wheel motors and an estimated range of up to 725 kilometres. It uses five square meters of solar panels that add up to 12 km of range per hour even in countries with little sunlight, like the Netherlands. The Lightyear is expected to sell for over R2,4 million and has already inspired several other solar-powered cars, ranging from a R100 000 solar-powered golf-cart from Dutch start-up Squad Mobility; the super light, R389 000 twoseat trike from Aptera in the U.S. which claims a range of some 1 600 km on a charge, and a R460 600 hatchback from Sono Sion in Germany. — WR.
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presses Toyota’s focus on the pure joys of driving and how we are drawing directly on our motorsport activities to create ever-better cars for the road. “The unprecedented reception for GR Yaris, and for the all-new Yaris range more widely, is transforming the perception of our brand as a maker of desirable cars that are genuinely fun to drive.” The annual UK-COTY awards are judged by a group of 29 top motoring journalists from across the
country, with winners in 12 categories going forward for consideration for the overall car of the year title. The GR Yaris will arrive at Toyota dealerships in South Arica in June, with pricing and local power specficiations to be released closer to the launch. Fans in KZN already predict the GR Yaris is poised to re-ignite the passion for hot Toyota models, harking back to the RSi-badged Conquest, Corolla and Cressida of the 80s, 90s and 2000s. — WR.
Williams Advanced Engineering (WAE) and Fortescue Metals Group (Fortescue) announced an agreement to design, build, test and integrate a battery system to power an electric mining haul truck (pictured). The project will involve the design and construction of a bespoke battery electric powertrain with the ability to regenerate power as the truck travels downhill. Giant mining haul trucks have run hybrid electric and diesel drivetrains for decades, with those operating at the Sishen open pit mine in the Northern Cape rating among the biggest for several years, all electric truck are still rare. WAE’s truck will be benchmarked
against Komatsu’s e-trucks. WAE was the original supplier of batteries to the entire grid of FIA Formula E World Championship cars in 2014, a relationship that has been revived for 2022-23 season. WAE will use its know-how to make batteries for fast electric races to power the 240ton prototype truck at Fortescue’s mining operations in Western Australia. A fast charging unit which will harness renewable energy from Fortescue’s Pilbara Energy Connect network. WAE is also testing a hydrogen-electric drivetrain retrofitted to a 290-ton dump truck at Anglo American’s group of Mogalakwena platinum mines in South Africa. — WR.
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New Outback in May The all-new Subaru Outback will be available from all southern African Subaru dealers from May 1. Subaru Pietermaritzburg’s manager, Howard Chirstie, told Witness Wheels the 2021 Outback is a leap ahead in terms of benchmark safety and technology for all SUVs. Christie said two models will go on sale on May 1, but pre-orders can be placed now and his dealership strives to offer the best trade-in prices on pre-loved Subarus. Buyers can choose between the 2.5litre Outback ES for R699 000, or the Touring ES for R729 000. Both come with Subaru’s five-year or 150 000 km warranty and a 3-years or 75 000 km maintenance plan. PHOTO: QUICKPIC
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