A punishing rally weekend for the BP Volkswagen Rally Team saw championship defenders Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson deliver a “workman-like performance” to claim third place for the team.
It was Hodgson that described their efforts at the event as the pair just put their heads down and drove an unspectacular but absolutely solid performance – despite a weekend of drama for the field of competitors. This drama was clearly evident at parc ferme after the event where the lot was littered with bashed and battered rally cars that had clearly seen a punishing event.
Kuun and Hodgson claimed not a single stage win at this event, round four of the national championship, the best they managed was a second quickest time in the very final stage of the event. Other than this the closest the pair managed was two fourth places – for stages 4 and 13.
The secret to their success was all about keeping things clean and crossing the finish line having produced the best times possible under the conditions. Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries could say something very similar about their performance.
The Toyota Dealer Rally Gauteng saw the pair home in fourth place overall after two hard days of rallying – and that from a ninth place after the first day of competition. Fekken and Arries clawed their way up the order to finish two minutes and 28 seconds behind the leaders by the time they had completed the fourteen competition stages.
According to Fekken, they were “just lucky” as they managed to score valuable points without expecting any. The duo battled with the handling of their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 but actually keeping their car together to cross the finish line allowed them to score the points that other competitors simply could not.
For Jan Habig and Robert Paisley the rally didn’t last past the third stage of day one. A critical link in their rear suspension – the control arm bolt – failed or fell out and their right rear wheel dragged uselessly behind the car. When this filled with mud and prevented them from rallying further, Habig pulled over and they removed the parts and cleaned out the mud as best they could.
Habig and Paisley then attempted to continue on just three wheels, dragging the rear of their car until is just was not possible to continue further and the pair were forced to retire from the event having posted just two stage times.
Giniel de Villiers and Ralph Pitchford delivered a stunning performance of rallying at the Gauteng event. De Villiers and Pitchford opened the taps right from the outset and finished the first day of the event in second place overall. Compared to their more conservative style so far this season, their pace was absolute dynamite.
Day two saw the pair consistently on the charge, holding on to second place in stages six, seven and eight before slipping down the order due to gearbox problems. In a valiant attempt to keep De Villiers and Pitchford in the race, the BP Volkswagen Rally Team technicians sprang into action after stage 13 to replace their gearbox during a half-hour service.
This was achieved with just a small penalty for lateness and they tackled the final stage of the event. Despite the effort, this last stage dealt the final blow when an engine mounting broke, causing the timing belt to slip, leading to engine damage that saw them stuck in stage 14 and out of the event.
In the S1600 class Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin campaigned their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo through 10 gruelling stages of competition. The pair has tackled the S1600 class instead of their A7 class and are therefore running new hardware.
Stage 11 of the Gauteng event saw the pair shear a control arm bolt which left them with no control and a forced retirement from the event.
In the S1400 class it was Megan Verlaque and Lirene du Plessis campaigning in the BP Ultimate green and blue colours in their BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo. The pair gave a good accounting of themselves and not only completed the event, but also claimed victory in their class.
As the development team on the BP Volkswagen Rally roster they not only achieved their goals for the event, but also exceeded them in the process.
The BP Volkswagen team now goes into preparation for their home event, the Volkswagen Rally, on Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16, where they will compete in front of their home crowd.