It has been a wild journey. Brazils largest off-road competition went through seven days and 3,212 kilometers of pure roughness, melting heat and great sportsmanship. On their third participation in the Rally dos Sertões, Neil Woolridge Motorsports celebrated a 1-2 overall with the NWM-Ford Performance T1 FIA Ford Rangers after the arrival in Palmas, capital of Tocantins state. Not with a bit of drama.
Overall victory was in the hands of Brazilian duo Cristian Baumgart and Beco Andreotti, with Lance Woolridge and Marcelo Haseyama coming second after a thrilling final stage, where the South-African-Brazilian duo had a nine-second disadvantage from Mitsubishis Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad. Neil Woolridges son managed to win an international stage for the first time laying a 1min15s advantage after pushing the NWM-Ford Ranger #333 to its maximum potential.
"I had a mission in my mind the night before and I knew I just had to push, and that is what I did", told Lance. "I am glad everything worked out, and that makes that stop in day 6 even better because in the end we did not lose the second place. All in all, a good result for me, for the team, for X Rally Team. I enjoyed the race and went for it pushing as hard as I could. Overall it was fantastic. It was long. It was hot. It was rough, and it looked much rougher than the previous two years I had been servicing here. I absolutely loved it", he declared.
The NWM-X Rally Team association entered three Ford Rangers on the T1 FIA Class. After standing 1-2-3 overall after day three, the #303 car of Marcos Baumgart and Kleber Cincea did not manage to finish the rally after rolling on the fourth stage - both got out of it unhurt, but the car could not return due the damages.
After pushing hard on the first two stages, Cristian Baumgart and Beco Andreotti set a strategy of managing the gap through the rest of the rally. On the duos 17th participation at the Sertões, the first overall win tasted sweet - not with a certain amount of pressure.
"During several years we almost got it; now we finally did it. It takes an enormous burden out of our shoulders. To all the people who always believed in us could feel the joy and pleasure to win this challenge. This is something we built, that we fought hard to accomplish. Unfortunately, my brother and Kleber could not make it to the end, but this achievement is theirs as well", Cristian put into words.
The eldest of the Baumgart brothers and Beco form one of longest driver/co-pilot pairings in Brazilians rally history. "I still cannot believe it. I have never imagined that the margin we built over the competition would weight so much on our shoulders. We have chosen the right path, the right partner in NWM-Motorsport, an excellent car and a great team. I just want to enjoy it", said Andreotti, not without mentioning the sister-car pairing. "Marcos and Kleber are the heart of the team. This win is also theirs. We do not compete as a team - we do it as a big family", he pointed.
Rising from the ashes - Neil Woolridge Motorsport suffered a setback a month ago back in the Pietermaritzburg base. The South-African organization had a fire in the workshop. "We had nothing at the factory; everything burned down; thank Goodness our international cars werent there - theyd left one week before", Neil described.
"We had to pick ourselves up. If somebody told me that we would be in Brazil, winning overall, I would say you are crazy. And here we are: out of the ashes rises the phoenix, they say. That is exactly what we did", Woolridge pointed.
He highlighted all the work and partnership between the two organizations. "It has been a good rally. But all the races are good when you win! The organization was perfect, it was a tough rally, a fair rally. The last two years were quite easier; this one was a lot tougher. We did nothing stupid. We worked with a great team, a good bunch of people, and we had a fantastic car. Coming here, we bring a lot of upgrades since last year, and we saw they worked. We are really proud of that. Cristian and Beco did a fantastic job; they drove a calculated race, did not take too many risks".
Neil could be proud himself of his eldest son Lance, who drove in an international race for the first time after being one year out of the cockpit due to a back surgery. "As for Lance, coming in second was a bonus; winning his first international stage was really good. There was a bit of disappointment yesterday when he had to stop and help his teammates, which was 100 per cent the right thing to do - I think he showed the real character from a young man with true sportsmanship, which makes me very proud, because it is the right thing to do. But after that, second place was gone; a 20-minute gap in the lead was gone. So we reunited last night and decided what to do. We need to put new tyres, make the car as light as possible and I told Lance to push as hard as he could in maximum attack; and thats exactly what he did", Neil said.
"All things worked perfectly, it was a great race, great friends, great people, great to be in Brazil, and we will be back next year with an even better car. It was a pity that Marcos and Kleber fell out, because I think we could easily do a 1-2-3, but it is a cruel sport. It bites when you least expect - and we saw that with Marcos, who was going so well, just one corner took them out", he remembered.
Now it is time to pick everything up and travel back to South Africa, where a huge amount of work expects the whole organization. "Now we are building new cars, a new facility, and we know we have a good product and a fantastic team, good support and we will be back next year to win again", Woolridge finished.
Next Rally dos Sertões is already scheduled: from August 16th to 26th, 2017, from Goiânia to the city of Bonito.
Final Day - Results:
1º) Lance Woolridge/Marcelo Heseyama (NWM-FORD PERFORMANCE), 1h54min32s;
2º) Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad (MITSUBISHI), 1h55min48s
3º) Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti (FORD X RALLY TEAM), 2h00min54s;
FINAL CLASSIFICATION - T1 FIA:
1º) Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti - 28h39min47s
2º) Lance Woolridge/Marcelo Haseyama - 29h19min12s (+39min24s)
3º) Guilherme Spinelli/Youssef Haddad, 29h20min19s (+40min31s)
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FURTHER INFORMATION IN BRAZIL
P1 Media Relations
CLEBER BERNUCI, Press Officer
+55 (19) 992 222 517
cleber@xrallyteam.com.br
FURTHER INFORMATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Mileman Media
+27 (82) 897 6145
COLIN MILEMAN, Press Officer
colin@milemanmedia.co.za
