Story: Divan de Goede / DHRT
Pictures: Frank Pey
This past weekend saw the Western Cape Regional Rally Championship entourage move into relatively unknown territory with the first night rally held in 12 years in the region.
Arriving at the start venue, expecting the worst possible scenarios, the weather proved to be rather pleasant as the Western Cape wind remained dormant for the night’s stage. A new buzz and excitement was in the air at the service park as we set up our service area and prepared our car. Our car passed scrutineering with flying colours, and coffee started flowing into mugs as the week leading up to the rally had been a sleepless one.
All this came to an abrupt end as we pulled on our helmets, and DHRT was ready to tackle our first-ever night stage. Starting SS1, we were immediately reminded as to the rough nature of this rally (which we experienced in last month’s rally held in the same area). Our Toyota Corolla was being chucked about until the first corner where things finally settled down. Up to this point, driver Divan could still remember the stage, but from that corner onwards he was totally reliant on co-driver Henry’s notes and what little vision the spotlights provided. SS1 was wet and muddy in places, and the dips were hidden in darkness where we would have easily spotted them during the day.
After our first taste of night rallying and fitting into the car, our team was surprised to learn we set the third fastest time through SS1 in our Class S3 (which had seven entrants). The following stage went off without any hassles, as we tried to keep it neat and tidy in the Swartland dark.
SS3 (a repeat of SS1) once again brought smiles to our team: we took 05s off our previous run of the stage. However, SS4 presented us with our first true scare of the rally. We hit a blind dip with some force, the car bottomed with such a noise that it nearly broke our spirit. Upon entering the service park for a second time, we inspected the damage: the left rear damper had collapsed and forced the car to sit awkwardly on its rear end. Despite this, we decided to continue the rally.
Through SS5, with our somewhat limping but tough-as-nails Toyota Corolla S4, we pushed a bit harder. On the long straights, however, we did find that the car was pulling violently to one side… This minor inconvenience did not slow us: we improved our stage time by a whopping 08s. We cruised through SS6, the final test of the event, to bring our tired car to the end of our first night rally, and finished eleventh place overall.
Judging from the size of the entry list and the number of spectators lining the stages, night rallying will surely make a regular appearance in this area. It is an experience few can forget. DHRT would like to thank everyone one that was involved in making this night so special; this also includes the people and businesses that help get us to the events: 4Wheel Alignment; Speedy Vredenburg, Sean’s Audio and TATA Truck & Marine Centre.
• The DHRT in H&H:
Regular readers of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS will recall that the DHRT (pronounced as ‘dirt’) rally team will feature in the pages of this eMagazine as they progress through their first season of rallying. This rookie pairing, driver Divan de Goede and co-driver Henry Kohne, have shown great potential early in the season.