A day of great improvement for Gareth Woolridge in the Sertões

This Sunday was a day of delight for Gareth Woolridge. The youngest son of South-African cross country legend Neil Woolridge makes in the Rally dos Sertões his international racing debut. He drives the T1 Brasil class X Rally Team-built Ford Ranger V8 4x4 alongside Brazilian co-driver Marcelo Haseyama. After a good prologue, the first stage gave a bitter taste to the 24-year old racer. 24 hours later, everything changed.

Gareth snapped his suspension after a severe bump and was unable to finish the first day. The joint effort between Neil Woolridge Motorsport and X Rally Team fixed the car for the second day and Gareth corresponded the work of the crew of mechanics by setting the fastest time in the T1 Brasil class – fourth in the general results.

After crossing the line, the young Woolridge was overjoyed. “A very different day, fortunately. I have been more familiar with the race and the communication between Hasa (Marcelo Haseyama, Gareth’s co-driver) improved a lot today. That was very positive and it brings us even more enthusiasm to keep pushing”.

His father Neil highlighted the fact that the setback the day before made his son even stronger. “He has picked himself up and has come back like a champion today”, he said.

This Tuesday reserves 350 kilometers for competitors from the cities of Posse, in Goiás, and Luís Eduardo Magalhães, already in the Bahia state. The 255-km stage starts after a short 24-km liaison.

Top-6 Day 2 results:
FORMOSA (GO) – POSSES (GO)
1. 301 Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti (Ford Ranger) – 3:10:19.5
2. 315 Sylvio de Barros/Rafael Capoani (Ford Ranger) – 3:11:36.2
3. 325 Rafael Cassol/Lelio Junior (Giaffone Buggy) – 3:15:23.0
4. 319 Gareth Woolridge/Marcelo Haseyama (Ford Ranger) – 3:16:24.9
5. 303 Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea (Ford Ranger) – 3:18:26.2
6. 348 Gunter Hinkelmann/Fábio Pedroso (Ford Ranger) – 3:19:07.6

General classification - CARS (X Rally Team):
1. Cristian Baumgart/Beco Andreotti – 5:10:09.4
2. Sylvio de Barros/Rafael Capoani – a 6:09.3
4. Marcos Baumgart/Kleber Cincea – a 17:42.8
21. Gareth Woolridge/Marcelo Haseyama – a 2:36:38.5
27. Gunter Hinkelmann/Fábio Pedroso – a 7:39:20.2

Press Contacts:
Brazil - CLEBER BERNUCI - imprensa@p1media.com.br
South Africa - COLIN MILEMAN - colin@milemanmedia.co.za