NEIL
WOOLRIDGE
MOTORSPORT

Neil Woolridge (Team Principal)

Neil Woolridge is a multiple-time motorsport champion, and the only person in South Africa to receive national colours on two and four wheels for cross-country racing. Among his many exceptional achievements, Neil competed in the 1998 and 1999 editions of the Dakar Rally – finishing the latter third-in-class and becoming the first South African to complete this gruelling event in the car category.

Neil started in motorcycle enduro racing at the age of 17, going on to compete locally and internationally. He moved into cars in the late 1980s and has become synonymous with cross-country racing in South Africa and around the world through Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM) – which is run by Neil and his two sons, Lance, and Gareth Woolridge.

His association with Ford spans almost three decades, including winning the 2006 Super Production title in the SA Championship in a Ford Ranger. Using this vast experience, Neil has developed NWM into a world-class producer of premier level rally-raid vehicles that are capable of winning anywhere in the world against the top manufacturers in this highly competitive field.

Neil is one of the elite competitors that earned his Protea Colours for Motorsport – a proud achievement that is also shared with sons Lance and Gareth, and co-driver Boyd Dreyer.

Gareth Woolridge (r) and Boyd Dreyer (l)

Gareth Woolridge and long-time co-driver Boyd Dreyer are the reigning Overall Production Vehicle and Class T1+ champions in the SA Rally-Raid Championship (SARRC). Gareth's racing career kicked off when he was 16, following in Older Brother Lance’s footsteps. Success soon followed as he won the KwaZulu-Natal Championship in his first year and claimed his second regional title the following season – for which he was awarded the KwaZulu-Natal colours for motorsport at the age of 18. After matriculating in 2012, Gareth went straight to work at the Neil Woolridge Motors 4x4 Centre, and then later moved over to the motorsport division as a technician building and preparing, race cars.

In 2014, Gareth was sponsored by Polaris to compete in the regional side-by-side championship, then moving up to the national series in 2014, achieving second place in the championship. The NWM team elected to put Gareth in a powerful Class T Ford Ranger V8 for the 2015 season, where he regularly finished as the highest-placed privateer team. Gareth made his international motorsport debut in 2018 by competing in Brazil's arduous seven-day 3600km Rally dos Sertões in Brazil, finishing 10th overall and winning his class.

Gareth was an integral part of the team leading the design and development of the all-new EcoBoost V6-powered FIA-class Ford Ranger, including undergoing specialised training at BOS Suspension in France.
He filled in as a support driver in the 2019 and 2020 season, and continued to show exceptional pace. Competing at the premier FIA-class for 2021 with the new EcoBoost T1 Ranger, Gareth ended fourth in the championship. Gareth and Boyd secured their first overall SARRC race victory at the 2022 season finale in Parys, which set the tone for their championship victories the following year.

The young duo went on to compete at their first Dakar Rally in 2024, where they notched up a best result of seventh place overall on the final stage. Gareth is the Technical Head of Neil Woolridge Motorsport, responsible for the production and maintenance of the team's local race vehicles, as well as for customer teams around the world. When Boyd isn't occupied with race navigation, he is a director of an agricultural vehicle and trucking services company.

Lance Woolridge (r) and Kenny Gilbert (l)

Racing is in the blood of the Woolridge family, and Lance had his first competitive outing in 2008 at the age of 16. He moved up to a Class E Ford Ranger the following year. As Operations Manager for Neil Woolridge Motorsport (NWM), Lance is responsible for managing the building of new race cars, customer relations, and the maintenance of the team's South African championship vehicles.

He also competes in the premier class of the SA Rally-Raid Championship, alongside younger brother Gareth in the pair of mighty NWM Ford Ranger Ultimate vehicles. Lance won back-to-back Class T titles in the V8-powered NWM Ford Ranger (2018 and 2019), and finished a close second in the 2021 championship in the pioneering new T1 EcoBoost-powered NWM Ranger.

Internationally, Lance competed tough seven-day 3,200 km 2016’s Rally dos Sertoes in Brazil, finishing an impressive overall in the proudly SA-built NWM Ranger. More recently he became the first and only South African to have competed in the innovative all electric Extreme E series against the best rally-raid drivers in the world, driving for the UK-based team Veloce Race.