The HMC Rally in Mpumalanga proved a tough and challenging outing for the BP Volkswagen Rally Team. The event, round three of the 2011 national season, saw the team tackle two days of hard rallying around Emalahleni (Witbank).
For Jan Habig and Robert Paisley the HMC Rally saw them the most successful entry of the BP Volkswagen team in their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000. The duo powered their way to a fourth place finish overall in the event, despite Paisley still recovering from a broken collarbone suffered at the Sasol Rally which saw their rally car damaged.
In sympathy with his teammate, Habig kept the action calm going over the jumps but Paisley handled the event well and is confident of being completely back to his usual fitness by the next rally. Despite taking things a bit easier over the jumps, Habig and Paisley remained in the top five throughout the event in terms of stages times except for three of the 11 stages.
According to Habig the new technology seen in action at the series of late is exerting significant pressure on the team to stay with the front runners. There is great anticipation for the new rally car which is currently being developed for local competition.
Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries were involved in an accident with an MSA-accredited motorsport photographer covering the event on stage six. The pair stopped immediately to render assistance to the injured photographer, Deon van der Merwe, and the stage was stopped.
Medical personnel at the event took over and provided the necessary medical assistance and the photographer was taken to hospital. The event then resumed on stage seven.
After deliberation within the BP Volkswagen team it was decided that the pair should continue the event. While the accident remained on their mind, Fekken and Arries turned their attention to the rally and focussed on the stages ahead. The result of this was a fifth place finish.
The BP Volkswagen team made use of a new handbrake and differential technology at the HMC event which sees the two components working together. Applying the handbrake cuts power to the rear wheels and, on release, restores power again. This was not working as expected and Fekken and Arries found themselves having to drive through hairpins, carrying as much speed as possible as an alternative to their more usual technique.
For Giniel de Villiers and Ralph Pitchford the HMC Rally provided an opportunity for them to continue their strategy of progressively finding their feet in national rallying. The pair rallied to a seventh place result, finishing amongst the top five on three different stages on the event. This progress shows their strategy is in place and working as they planned.
Instead of diving headlong into the national rally series and hoping for the best, they have opted for a more controlled approach which appears to be paying dividends as their finishing positions improve – this latest result being their best to date in the national series.
For defending champions Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson the event proved rather trying. The end of stage one on Friday saw the pair drive right through the final control when thick dust obscured their view. They narrowly avoided a premature end to their event during this incident. A pair of wrong-slots, overdriving their car in a bid to post good stage times and two of the new handbrake systems burning out, as well as a gearbox oil pump causing the unit to overheat, were among their maladies over the weekend.
Despite these problems the pair did make up some time on their rivals during the second day of the event – but not enough to make a real difference and they have some hard work lying ahead for them this season to keep their championship defence hopes alive.
Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin tackled the HMC event as a first-time S1600 entry. Previously the pair campaigned in the A7 category but, as this class is soon to fall off the list of competitive classes in national rallying they have moved on to the new S1600 class. This meant some mechanical changes needed to be made and, as a result, they experienced some teething problems on the event.
While the rally could have gone better for the pair, and while there is still a great deal of development to be done on their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1600, the duo recorded their first rally finish of the year, crossing the line for seventh place.
For the all-woman team of Megan Verlaque and Lirene du Plessis, the HMC Rally was over all too quickly. The first day they were right there in the S1400 class with their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo, but managed just one stage on day two of the event.
Their rally entry forced them into retirement when they experienced mechanical trouble on the open section between the fourth and fifth stages. The duo will be looking forward to the fourth round of the season for a return to their form of round one.