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"EN TOE" AKSIE or N2 Action as you wish!

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Author: Patrick Vermaak

Publishing date: 13.04.2005 04:35

Aggie Stroh and Jurg Steyn Class N2 winners in the NPS Toyota. Pictures for this article by Thorsten Pey and Patrick Embury

With no less than sixty teams entered for the second round of the Sasol SA Rally Championship the popular SWMC organised Toyota Dealer Rally created quite an interest in the Western Cape. Documentation and scrutineering took place at the McCarthy Booma and paddock of the Killarney racetrack near Milnerton with competitive entries in all classes setting the scene for a great event.

Stage one was a dry and dusty Tweekuil, near Malmesbury, and from the word go it was Serge Damseaux and Robert Paisley that set a scintillating pace in their Castrol class S2000 Toyota Run X 4x4. Taking some 27 seconds from a field that includes the best talent in SA was nothing short of devastatingly fast! Moving onto the intimidating Paarlberg stage the challenge stepped up a gear and stage three, Idas Valley near Stellenbosch, proved as impossible as ever. Paarlberg is very rewarding when you get it right, but there simply is no right for Idas Valley as the combination of narrow, rough, twisty and dusty results in more frustration than success and the only enjoyable element involved is to get through it unschathed.

Stage four was potentially an opportunity to let the hair down and “make up” some lost time whilst entertaining a big crowd at Killarney where four laps had to be completed in the reverse direction around the main circuit. Thoroughly enjoyable we gave it everything as Ettiene du Toit has a wealth of racing experience under his belt despite his tender age of 21 and the McCarthy Corolla responded perfectly. Engen corner is a dog in reverse but this time it proved a pleasure whilst running wide through Sabat as the brakes started to overheat was great for spectators in the main stand and somewhat strenuous for navigators who could do little else but sweat it out next to their kamikaze pilots.

Not at all pleasing then to be told that the clocks had failed and all your efforts were in vain as everyone was awarded the same time rather than lose the stage kilometers by canceling the stage. Reaching the overnight stop at Brackenfell presented its own interest when all the “En Toe” entries found themselves herded together in the Parc Ferme where MSA Technical Delegate, Mr Jerry Bailey, intended to complete technical data checks. Good news was that all were allowed to restart Saturday, but more of the same was promised. Leading the tussle was Aggie Ströh and Jurg Steyn (NPS Corolla) with Mike Nathan and Rickus Smit (AWI Corolla) second, Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak (McCarthy N1 City Corolla) third with Kosta Koumantarakis and Barry White (Dunlop Corolla) fourth. They had to replace a rear window (R1500) thanks to locals stoning their car in Idas Valley!

Kosta Koumantarakis and Barry White - Class N2 action

Ready to attack on the tarmac stage through Steenbrasdam had us positive of another comeback early on Saturday morning only to be told that permission was withdrawn and this stage had to be cancelled. Stuck on our back foot as our planned attack had effectively been neutralized we opted to go as hard as possible for the remaining six gravel stages in an effort to claim a respectable result.

Despite having never rallied in the Grabouw forests before, Ettiene proved more than capable when we closed to within one second of Mike Nathan / Rickus Smit after just one stage. Really motivated we set off at the same pace for the second Grabouw stage and were confident of winning again when we punctured a left front wheel. Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries hit the same rock earlier in their class A7 VW Golf 4 and the car was hanging in between the trees when we arrived on the same line. The embedded rock in the road affected many cars but we were unfortunately counted amongst the worst hit as the rock pierced and bend the rim that was now scraping against the brake caliper.

Ettiene du Toit & Patrick Vermaak in the McCarthy N2 Toyota Corolla RXi 1600

Changing a wheel on the rocky forest surfaces is challenging at best and having found a semi level piece of ground we succeeded to change the wheel with a four-minute loss, effectively ruining our chances of a good result. Needless to say the mood was not too happy in the car but we also realised that good points could still be earned and others might also still encounter problems. Thus we set off trying to maintain a consistent pace without risking too much.

Much to our own surprise we managed to set the fastest time in GpN2 on four of the remaining stages, Kosta wining the final stage. Still we had to settle for fourth in class and 17th place overall.

So close and yet so far, but it was very encouraging to be able to match the front runners on sheer pace. Aggie Ströh and Jurg Steyn made their trip from Polokwane worthwhile by winning Gp N2 in their NPS Oils Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 with Durban based Kosta Koumantarakis and Barry White second (8 seconds behind) in their Dunlop Toyota Corolla RXi 1600. Third went to Cape based, Mike Nathan and Rickus Smit, in their AWI Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 (they lost 3 min with a puncture) and fourth was Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak in their McCarthy N1 City Toyota Corolla RXi 1600.

Craigh Baragwanath and Jannie Kuun

“En Toe” is proving extremely competitive this year and as Janie Habig warned Serge during prize-giving, Aggie should also not be too comfortable as class leader. There is nothing to choose between at least four Corolla based teams and with six events to go this could still provide plenty of action during 2005.

Overall Serge Damseaux made world history by posting the first international FIA S2000 win and at the same time taking his 67th SA rally victory (passing the 66 mark set by legendary Sarel van der Merwe).

Mike Nathan and Rickus Smit 3rd in N2 after a serious battle in this class.

Toyota also won the manufacturers prize and took five class wins on the event. For Serge to achieve this result on home soil was great and he must be the odds-on favourite to take a record equalling eleventh SA driver’s title at the end of 2005.

Jannie Habig and Douglas Judd gave it their all but simply had to settle for second spot in the class A7 BP VW Golf 4 GTi 2.0 with an elated Nicholas Ryan and Schalk van Heerden placing the Gp N4 Bosal Subaru WRX STi 4x4 Turbo third overall. Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Cobus Vrey fourth in the Team Total class A7 Toyota Run X RSi 2.0 after a very good outing which saw them pipped on the final stage. Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson fifth in the second class A7 BP VW Golf 4. Their biggest problem having completed an additional lap at Killarney!

Sixty cars started the event and only 29 were eventually classified as finishers. Gary Swemmer rolled his class A5 VW golf for the second rally in succession whilst mechanical maladies saw the remainder retire.

On 5-7 May the Total Rallye of SA will take place in the Pretoria – Badplaas region and this very demanding event also forms part of the FIA African Continent Championship. For us this should prove extremely demanding, as the Total rally roughly equals five WP regional events over a period of two days!

This is without a doubt the longest, toughest, roughest and most exhausting event on the Sasol SA Rally Championship. But then if you want to play with the big dogs ………………………………

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