By Dave Ledbitter
From the forests of Panbult to the grasslands of the Mpumalanga Highveld, round six of the SA National Rally Championship was a thrilling fight between Benjamin Habig and Barry White in their NRC1 Volkswagen Polo and Jono van Wyk and Nico Swartz in the NRC1 Rally Technic Mazda2 with just 14 seconds separating the top two steps of the podium.
The Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Ermelo Rally started well for the Kwa-Zulu driver after putting six seconds between himself and the chasing pack in the first stage and set about building his advantage over the following stages, but van Wyk wasn’t giving up the fight.
Van Wyk pushed his Mazda hard, taking the scratch time in stage three by 0.6 seconds and cut Habig’s lead by another three seconds in stage four bringing the overall lead down to a slender 0.4 seconds!
The VW pair clawed back two seconds in the fifth stage only to lose nine seconds in stage six as a result of a puncture which cost them the lead to Van Wyk and Swartz, the Mazda now 6.8 seconds ahead with three stages remaining.
The Mazda crew kept the lead after stage seven but picked up a small hole in the radiator – probably in an open section – and turned down the wick, losing eleven seconds and the lead, leaving Habig with a double victory and the championship lead by a provisional 13 points.
Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle brought their Toyota Gazoo Racing NRC1 Starlet home on the final step of the podium after a hard but rewarding run across the 98km of timed special stages. The Toyota pair clipped a pole in stage two which removed chunks of the bumper and spent the rest of the day running different set-ups as the BMT team develops Toyota’s latest rally weapon. A driveshaft broke near the end of stage eight but their speed was enough to keep the final step of the podium.
Anton Raaths and Kes Naidoo won class NRC2 and ended fourth overall after a convincing drive in their Ford Escort Cosworth, which had been in storage for two years. The Ford suffered from overheating after the engine fan stopped working and completed the final two stages sans a clutch, making their result even more remarkable.
Gustav Potgieter and Tommy du Toit took class NRC3 honours and fifth overall in their Ford Fiesta followed by Andrea Raaths-Duarte and Isabel Raaths after a trouble-free run. The ladies took NRC4 honours as well.
Russel Stone and Jonty Brown took seventh overall and second in class NRC4, after a solid drive in their Toyota RunX. Johan Fourie and his co-driver daughter Natasha Fourie-Kotze brought their Castrol-liveried Toyota Conquest home in a safe eighth and third in class.
One of the leading retirements was that of Paul van Niekerk and Willemjan Human in their NRC2 Volkswagen Polo. As early as stage two, the round five runners-up suffered a broken left front shock absorber and after repairs, went out and won stages six and seven before a control arm bolt ended their spectacular comeback drive in stage eight.
The next rounds of the SA National Rally Championship is the NRC Fouriesburg Rally on 26 and 27 September
The SA National Rally Championship is proudly supported by Dunlop Tyres, ATS Motorsport, TRAC, Ctrack, Fixed Mobile Telecoms and Mibern Medi-Call