REVIEW OF THE 4th VV4 Transport / AWI Wolseley Gymkhana
author: Patrick Vermaak
4th VV4 Transport / AWI Wolseley Gymkhana
Witzenberg Motorklub
10 September 2005
“A new heir to the throne”
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The King is (at least half) dead - long life the King! Mike Nathan and Andre Dreyer
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It was a fierce battle to the very end with neither party willing to accept defeat! The war was fair and the result decisive, a new champion was crowned in the Boland when popular Saldanha Steel engineer, André Dreyer finally rid himself of his 2nd place status by convincingly winning the 4th VV4 Transport / AWI Wolseley Gymkhana in his Weskaap Bakwerke class A WBMK VW Golf GTi 2.0 16v. Regular navigator, Stoffel Bezuidenhout, was present as spectator and it was young Christiaan Bezuidenhout who had the pleasure to share victory. Additional support for this project coming from Supa Quick 2 Vredenburg and Van Dyk Precast .
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André Dreyer and Christiaan Bezuidenhout - Overall victory at last!
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Mike Nathan 1st Class I
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Defending his title for the fourth consecutive Wolseley event saw Mike Nathan and Patrick Vermaak wring everything (plus a little extra) from the AWI / Dals class B WBMK Mazda Rustler 1700 but this time “daai bleddie blou bakkie” was forced to magnanimously accept defeat. As the title sponsor of the event Mike was determined to retain his title and a broken CV on his first run was adequate proof of his intentions. Going into the final run a sub 45sec time was required and though it felt great the clocks did not agree.
Duncan Jepthas and Mike Nathan shared the third placed M.A.I.D. to Order class B VW Golf Citi 1660 and the sheer effort that Duncan puts into his driving is simply amazing. The sheer pace of this man is incredible as he drives with only the use of one arm.
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36 Duncan Jepthas
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25 Eugene Bower and Jo-Anne Groenewald
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Eugene Bower and Jo-Anne Groenewald finished in an impressive fourth overall with their Black Ice class C MSGRC Toyota Conquest RSi 1600 after some impressive runs in this well sorted Garden Route entry. Nathan Turner and Eugene Brand driving the latter’s class B Honda Ballade 1800 V Tec to a fine fifth overall.
Nathan Turner and Janine Victor also sharing their Duncan’s Auctioneers class C Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 (Better known as Loslap 2) in sixth overall. Must the Nathan name as Mike Nathan and Nathan Turner share an abundance of enthusiasm where motorsport are concerned, they will race a soapbox if it meant they got an additional opportunity behind the wheel!
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15 Nathan Turner and Janine Victor
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Seventh overall amongst serious company was a great result for the young West Coast combination of Attie Groenewald and Renier Olivier in their class D WBMK Opel Kadett 1400. Gawie Smit and Jahandro Meissenheimer the top Ceres based entry with eighth spot in their Koue Bokkeveld Auto class B WBMK VW Golf CTi 1800. Having “borrowed” the engine from Shrek whilst Pieter Hugo tried his hand at golf for the weekend saw Gawie comfortably break into the top ten even greener CTi. Eugene Brand and Nathan Turner (see what I mean) ninth in the hard working Duncan’s Auctioneers class C Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 and in tenth spot it was the neat class C Honda Ballade V Tec 1600 of Willie Basson and Gerhard Louw. Another team quietly making a name for them.
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16 Shaun Fairbairn and Mynell de Jongh
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The purple class C Honda Civic V Tec 1600 of Shaun Fairbairn and Mynell de Jongh found the VV4 Transport route a touch intimidating and settled for a cautious eleventh overall on the day. Eugene Brand and Keith Dorrell twelfth in the class B Honda ballade V Tec 1800. Danye and Marcille Louw shared a very neat class C Opel Astra 1600 in thirteenth spot and the young winemaker impressed with his determined but neat approach. At the rate he changes cars one can only speculate as to what he might be driving at Mykonos come November 5.
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35 Danye and Marcille Louw
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Regular winemakers team, Danye Louw and Jehan de Jongh, sharing their rapidly driven class D VW Golf 1300 Chico in fourteenth spot. No sign of the neat red GT this time so we have to accept that white wine was the victor on this occasion.
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14 Jeandré Pepper and Conrad du Toit
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Jeandré Pepper and Conrad du Toit achieved a fine fifteenth overall in their elder class C VW Golf MkI 1600 with the much bigger and heavier Supertrucks class E WBMK Nissan Skyline 2.8 of Dirkie Boonstra and Louise Kellerman once again proving extremely entertaining despite the very tight confines of the premises.
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Dirkie Boonstra
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Tertius van Tonder and Conrad du Toit next up in the same class C VW Golf MkI driven by Pepper.
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12 Gawie Smit and Dewald Nortjé
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The first standard LDV crew home and a very respectable 18th overall went to the Koue Bokkeveld Auto class C VW Caddy 1600 of Gawie Smit and Dewald Nortjé. Jean Meyer and Eugene Brand next in the class B Honda Ballade V Tec 1800.
Johann and Petra Zulch completed the top twenty with the legendary white class F WBMK Ford Escort 1600 Sport rally car, just beating themselves in the standard class C WBMK Mazda Rustler 1600 LDV.
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19 Johann and Petra Zulch
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Making a welcome return to the sport was Roy Laing and Lourens van Litsenborgh in a class E BMW 325i and it was clear that the passion was still there, though somewhat spoilt by rust, which will no doubt, soon wear off. Ebert Coetzee and Ilse Rabe also returned in the Castle class B WBMK VW Golf CTi 1800 and decided not to risk any heroics on their return event.
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22 Donevan and Hillary Denyssen
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Driving in only their second ever gymkhana was Saldanha based Donevan and Hillary Denyssen and 22nd spot was very encouraging for the class B Opel Kadett 1800 T car.
Paul van der Westhuizen and Lukas Jansen van Vuren shared a neatly prepared class A VW Golf A3 2.0 and with some more experience they should soon move higher in the results. With no intention to move higher in any result other than sheer entertainment value it was Mynhardt and Mynell de Jongh that had the crowd cheering for more every time the Berns Panelshop BMW M3 stuck its nose out of the starting gates. Mynhardt was a doubtful starter after having fallen ill during the week and despite not feeling 100% it certainly did not reflect in his driving. Why should you drive straight if you could be doing it sideways? The red M3 simply untouchable for sheer spectacle on the day. In fact 10-year-old Phillip Webster found the red BMW so impressive he proudly presented Mynhardt with a hand drawn picture entitled “the best car”.
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37 Mynhardt de Jongh and At Strydom sideways
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Walter van Dyk and Lourens van Litsenborgh shared a wheezing class G VW Golf CTi 2.0 Turbo, clearly battling to utilize the formidable machine.
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29 Altus Prins and Albertus Kotzé
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Altus Prins and Albertus Kotzé demonstrated axle tramp to the big crowd with their little Nissan LDV 1400 working hard all afternoon. Chris Möller and Frangelique Zauch shared a neat class E BMW 325i but failed to utilize the benefits of the slicks they were, simply smoking the inside rear wheel at every opportunity. Solly van Rooyen and Herman Julyan did not enjoy a great day with the Silver Star class C MSGRC Toyota Conquest 1600 and simply could not find a good rhythm.
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10 Gunter Drotschie and Jacques Coetzee
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Gunter Drotschie and Jacques Coetzee returned with their tyre smoking and gloriously sounding class E Opel Rekord 6.1 V8 and despite the fact that the car eventually succumbed to a tired differential the potential of this car is only starting to show. Watch this team at Mykonos. Meghan Nortjé and Ilse Rabe the first Ladies crew home in the red WBMK VW Golf CTi 1800 of Ebert Coetzee. Marius Roux and Anette Vermaak had the silver WBMK class A Mazda 323 EGi 2.0 living dangerously and with Marius hard of hearing they rarely stayed on the correct route.
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48 Louise Kellerman and Desiré Smuts
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Louise Kellerman and Desiré Smuts not only took care of event documentation, they also competed in the Gawie Smit Golf CTi 1800 and finished a respectable second in class. Final team classified as official finishers were Willie van der Westhuizen and Lukas Jansen van Vuren in their class A VW Caddy 2.0. They enjoyed a troubled debut in the Caddy.
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24 Willie van der Westhuizen and Lukas Jansen van Vuren
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Mike Nathan managed to win the single seater category with the AWI Rustler with André Dreyer second in the black Weskaap Bakwerke Golf GTi and Duncan Jepthas third in the M.A.I.D.to Order Golf Citi. Eugene Bower taking fourth in the Black Ice Conquest with Attie Groenewald a fighting fifth in the 1400 Kadett.
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Attie Groenewald and Renier Olivier
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Jean Meyer and Shiraaj Mauritz was impressive with their silver
class E BMW 325i but the recently converted 323 simply could not withstand the punishment on this occasion and the car was retired with a failing hub. A number of media members were once again on hand to obtain a personal opinion on the sport and for the first time Neels Rabe of Radio Tygerberg 104Fm was present as event commentator. He soon had the crowd involvement reaching new levels with his sharp wit and excellent commentary and proved an invaluable asset to the event. Jan-Hendrik Kleynhans and At Strydom of Radio Namakwaland 93.4Fm unofficially contested the event and they left grinning from ear to ear, determined to find a suitable venue for an event in Vredendal.
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Neels Rabe driving the microphones
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Unfortunately software guru, André Mitchell, was enjoying a holiday in England and minor glitches saw the results posted later than anticipated. In the ongoing process of improving our systems to the benefit of both the competitors and the spectators, within the confines of a non-existent budget the odd problem unfortunately occur and we would like to thank the bulk of the competitors that understood and supported the team behind the scenes. We trust that you will soon reap the benefits of all this work.
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39 Marius Roux and Anette Vermaak
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This only hiccup in what must rate as the best VV4 Transport and AWI Wolseley Gymkhana to date. The route was set up by Pieter Hugo and provided a great spectacle for both front and rear wheel driven vehicles whilst the Lions contingent must be complimented on making the best hamburgers ever encountered at any gymkhana (at a reasonable price too). To Dirk Viljoen and Dirk Louw of VV4 Transport another big thank you for the tremendous facilities offered to our sport, moving those crates takes many hours of hard labour. The perfect weather allowed for a fantastic atmosphere and the local community once again showed great support for the event.
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42 Meghan Nortjé and Ilse Rabe
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Where else could you win a hamper that includes a parcel of fresh carrots, a 7kg pumpkin, fruit juices and tasty apples? AWI provided truly impressive glass trophies, which must have taken more than a few hours to produce. With Hyperformance Camshaft Specialists taking the initiative to produce different trophies for each event at Club Mykonos earning the rights to a gymkhana trophy has taken another step in the right direction.
Behind the scenes many work hard to ensure the success of any event and few are ever thanked. Louise Kellerman and Desiré Smuts handled documentation on the day with Neville Gleeson once again in charge of the Jayen Timer and scoring was in the safe hands of Anette Vermaak. John McLinden and Ruhan Oosthuizen (both enjoying short breaks from their R.O.V. duties) assisting with the set up. Dewald Nortjé became start - and finish-marshal with assistance from Danie Smuts. Danie a frustrated official after his BMW 325i succumbed to a suspected blown head gasket before the start of the event. Most disappointed crew of the day simply had to be Anton van Bosch and Wouter Zwart. They left Cape Town early morning and only arrived at Wolseley by late afternoon after having experienced a full day of disasters. Their “new” supercharged Bosch Tech VW Fox failing to make the start of the event.
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Anton van Bosch and Wouter Zwart never started
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Family participation has always been one of the main objects with this entry level of rallying and this event once again proved why it works with various husband and wife combinations (Johann and Petra Zulch) father and daughter (Mynhardt and Mynell de Jongh) competing and officiating (Danie and Desiré Smuts). It was also a pleasure noticing the presence of Bredasdorp based rallying enthusiasts, Lance and Rosemarie Maytham.
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Pierre van der Westhuizen and Danie Smuts
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With many of the old hand having indicated that they intend competing at Langebaan when the 16th Hyperformance Club Mykonos Resort and Casino Gymkhana are presented on 5 November 2005 this promises to be the greatest spectacle ever. Now resident in Warmbaths, Werner Koekemoer is set to make the trip simply to come and please his army of supporters and together with Mynhardt de Jongh BMW fever should have the crowd begging for more.
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17 Mynhardt and Mynell de Jongh
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