This the second round of the South African Rally Championship, held at rhe SASOL Rally, was yet another nail-biting, dramatic and high-speed round of the Junior Championship.
The brother-and-sister Snyders pairing (Volkswagen Polo S1600) won the Super 1600 Class, battling with Port Elizabeth’s Morne Janse van Rensburg/Rikus Fourie (GC Diesel Volkswagen Polo Vivo S600) and Craig Trott/Robbie Coetzee (Team Total Toyota RunX S1600). On the final gravel stage, in the heat of battle, Janse van Rensburg crashed out of the event to hand a somewhat more comfortable win to the Snyders’ crews. They now also lead the South African Junior Rally Championship.
Henk Lategan/Pierre Jordaan (Q8 Oils Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1400) were the only finisher in the Super 1400 Class.
The battle for Class honours began on SS1: there is no “watching and waiting” for rivals to make the first move, but it is maximum attack from the first corner of the first stage. Taking up where they left off in Round One were S1600 winners Ashley Haigh-Smith/Hilton Auffray (Castrol Edge – BP Ford Fiesta R2) claimed a convincing SS1 win.
SS2 saw Tjaart Conradie/Kes Naidoo (Silverton Engineering Toyota Auris S1600) crash out of the rally. The crew emerged unscathed from the wreck, but their car blocked the road and the stage was stopped for 30min. All remaining cars in the Classes (S1600 and S1400) were given the same stage time. Unfortunately, Haigh-Smith/Auffray suffered unfortunate mechanical woes in SS3 and didn’t see the stage out as they were forced to retire from the rally. It was Morne Janse van Rensburg/Rikus Fourie (GC Diesel Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1600) that powered to a record a scratch Class time in SS3 and in six other stages over the weekend. This young driver proved a tough competitor in this event and is certainly a future Class winner this season in his impressive Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1600. As explained above, his run in the SAOSL Rally 2011 came to an abrupt end in SS15.
Clint Weston/Shaun Visser (Toyota RunX S1600), in only their second National outing, and Weston showed his trak racing pedigree by cleaning up on the four asphalt stages. The pairing’s pace has much improved since Round One and if this upward trend continues at this rate they will grab more podium positions in upcoming events.
Posting consistently fast stage times, were Craig Trott/Robbie Coetzee (Team Total Evolution Toyota RunX S1600), finishing this gruelling event second in Class S1600. Never one to be underestimated, Trott once more showed his younger rivals that experience and not always speed leads to podium results.
The Snyders crew incurred a 50sec time penalty omn Day One, and regardless of this added time they were still mightil quick through the stages. They claimed five stages on their way to finishing the event as the fastest 2WD competitors and new leaders of the Junior Championship. Their overall time saw them arrive in final Parc Ferme in 19th position overall, in the thick of the Class S2000 runners in their 1600cc machine.
With two different winners from two events, the Championship will be a closely fought affair all the way to the final stage of the final event thinsk Handbrakes & Hairpins. Round Three will take place on 13 – 14 May (venue to be confirmed), and we predict a third new winner of the season here.
OVERALL CLASSIFICATION
01) C. Snyders/C. Snyders
Volkswagen Polo S1600 – 02h 47m 56.1s
02) C. Trott/R. Coetzee
Toyota RunX S1600 + 59.2s
03) C. Weston/S. Visser
Toyota RunX S1600 + 10m 15.2s
04) G. Botterill/S. Vacy-Lyle
Toyota RunX S1600 + 18m 34.5s
05) H. Lategan/P. Jordaan
Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1400 + 40m 39.6s