Gavin Cronje’s baptism in the Sasol National Rally Championship continues to be a frustrating affair, but the talented and versatile motor sportsman refuses to let the cold water dampen his enthusiasm.
His latest outing, with co-driver Van Aardt Schoeman in the Season in Africa class A7 VW Polo, was in the Rally of South Africa in Mpumalanga last weekend. It ended even before it had started when a crank sensor failed on the way to the start of the first stage on Friday. The engine kept cutting out and there was no prospect of the pair making it through the stage in good time.
“It was hugely disappointing, but we sat it out on Friday and were accepted as entries in the Super Rally on Saturday,” said Cronje. Competitors who fall out on day one can compete on day two, but are not eligible to score championship points.
“Van Aardt and I were really looking forward to this event after our yo-yo start to our first season together in rallying (two non-finishes and a second in class in the Toyota Dealer Rally in March). “I’ve proved to myself that I’ve got the pace to win in class A7 and our objective this weekend was simply to get some racing mileage under our belts and finish as well as we could without taking any unnecessary risks.”
The pair was quickest in class on the first two of Saturday’s 10 stages, but then suffered a disintegrated right rear wheel hub on the day’s third stage and was brought to a sudden halt when the wheel detached itself from the VW Polo. They had to weight for their service crew to bring them a spare wheel and hub and were forced to call it quits.
As it turned out, only one class A7 entrant completed the event – the factory-supported VW Polo of Gugu Zulu and Cindi Harding – which was classified in 12th place overall and limped across the finish line in Ermelo with gearbox problems.
The next round of the Sasol National Rally Championship is the VW Rally in the Eastern Cape on 23 and 24 July.
– Credit: Issued on behalf of Gavin Cronje by Peter Burroughes Communications.