Ceres Toyota / Speedy Brackenfell Rally
author: Patrick Vermaak
Witzenberg Motor Club WP Round 7 / 05
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Paul Pfeiffer and Carl Peskin
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Compliments to Jannie Habig and Douglas Judd on winning the Sasol SA Rally Championship in their S2000 BP VW Polo 4x4 with a season finale win on the PMC Tzaneen event. The good news is that we will now see a hungry Serge Damseaux return in 2006 to chase that elusive eleventh SA drivers title to equal the record set by Sarel van der Merwe.
The WP season will come to a close on Saturday 29 October when the very popular 268km Ceres Toyota / Speedy Brackenfell Rally takes the teams on another challenging course through the Koue Bokkeveld. Thanks to the efforts of Francois van Wyk and Wynand Loubser the 10 stage (104.3km) event promises to be a great spectacle. Local spectators will head for the traditional high speed yump at Rocklands and superb vantage points in close proximity of each other make this the most spectator friendly event on the annual WP calendar. Spectators will be advised to watch all the cars at one of the two points on stage two (Molenrivier 1) before heading for Rocklands 1, then at a tight fit stage 6 (Remhoogte) could be considered before heading back to Rocklands 2 and to end off one of the two spots at stage 9 (Molenrivier 2).
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Jon and Doug Williams
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Road servicing only after stages 1 to 3 and then a central service park at Op-die-Berg after stages 4 to 6 followed by road service for stages 7 to 9. Very much the same format as in 2004 with the emphasis on good spectating. Stage distances are Witklippies 13.3km, Molenrivier 1 18.13km, Rocklands 1 5.78km, Bronaar 8.28km, Langrivier 14.8km, Remhoogte 7.43km, Rocklands 2 5.78km, Witklippies 2 13.3km en Molenrivier 2 18.13km. All are gravel stages.
Leading the drivers points log going into the final event of the year is talented young Jon Williams in the Gijima ASt Gp N3 SWMC Toyota Run X RSi. Though second on the log, Paul Pfeiffer, must rate as the favourite to win his second regional rally in the Arc-en-Ciel Gp N4 CPMCC Mitsubishi Evo 6 Turbo 4x4. The presence of Richard Behm in the Sasol Gp N4 SWMC Mitsubishi Evo 6 Turbo 4x4 could however spice things up as he would almost certainly enjoy winning the event as much as Jean-Pierre Damseaux would in the Team Total class A7 SWMC Toyota Corolla RXi 2.0. Should Paul Pfeiffer succeed in winning the rally Jon Williams would have finish third to win the title, just the type of challenge he enjoys!
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Inus du Plessis and Jaén Fouché S4 BMW
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Fernando Rueda the only other serious challenger for the title have not entered whilst lady luck could favour Mike Nathan in the AWI Gp N2 CPMCC Toyota Corolla RXi 1600. Whilst Jon Williams (N3) and JP Damseaux (A7) went down to the wire in their respective classes Mike Nathan succeeded in winning the Sasol SA Gp N2 title for 2005. Should none of the above finish then Jean-Pierre Damseaux could still win the WP drivers champion by a single point in the Team Total Corolla so technically anyone of five drivers could become champion in Ceres.
Charl Strydom tops the A6 log in the Sabre Paints CPMCC VW Golf after yet another consistent season. Heading for his best ever WP season is Malmesbury based Jacques Brits in the Lize Signs class S3 Toyota Conquest RSi 1600. Kobus Edas also hails from Malmesbury and could still take top honours in class A6 with his Castrol Toyota Corolla RXi 1600, having gradually found his feet in the more powerful car. No less than three 325 BMW’s should provide ample reason to be in Ceres this weekend as the tail wagging antics of these rear wheel driven cars is a spectacle on its own. Jean du Plessis finds himself with split interests at this stage as he is busy building an E36 BMW 325 for 2006 and has little time to prepare his existing E30 325, but hopefully this spectacular Swartland driver will defend his status against younger brother, Inus, who believes he does not need a new car to beat “ouboet” fair and square. Making a welcome return will be Clinton Sassman and Andy Schreuder in yet another E30 325i.
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Charl Strydom and Sakkie Bosman
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Peter Heyer-Cleave and Brendon Schultz could put the class S5 CPMCC Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 3 to good use with 4x4 and Turbo assistance just what they need in the mountain. Eugene Marais and Paul van Greunen is another team finding their feet again and the Fetch & Carry class S3 WBMK VW Golf GTi 1800 is starting to show a good turn of speed which should keep Jacques Brits on his toes. Having finished their first event in the Augustyn’s Springworks class S4 WBMK Opel Astra have done wonders for the morale of Leon Esterhuyse and Marco Hamilton and they are keen to build on their achievement.
Kesevan Naidoo and Garth Scholtz are also turning up the heat in their Fix-A-Smash class S3 CCMCC Toyota Conquest RSi 1600 and could very well be mixing it with Eugene Marais on this event. Nishaad Murudker and Adrienne Swart another team with potential in class S3 as they are armed with the Murway Motors / Silverstone Tyres CCMCC Toyota Conquest RSi 1700. Lance Slabbert and Ria de Ronde have really taken to their Fetch & Carry Gp N1 CPMCC / WBMK VW Golf 1400 like the proverbial duck to water and he is driving better than ever before. Leon Oosthuizen and Mark Pym the final team entered in their class S4 CPMCC VW Jetta 2.0.
Unfortunately an expensive blown turbo have put paid to the entry of John Peiser and Brian Hoskins in the Speed Pro Cycling Gp N4 Subaru Impreza GT 4x4 Turbo. Never ending gearbox problems seems to be the achilles heel of the class S5 VW Golf Synchro 4x4 of Shaun Jones and Billy Thorpe whilst the class S3 VW Golf GTi 1800 of Neels van Wyk and Jeremy Northcote have simply reached retirement age. The Gp N2 McCarthy Toyota Corolla of Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak can unfortunately not be prepared in time but both André George might still enter. Rupert van Zyl got his dates mixed up and he has opted for a weekend at the Vredendal Rittelfees.
Thanks to a number of events as navigator for Fernando Rueda the navigators title is virtually wrapped up for Duncan English (N4) as he is 21 points clear of Doug Williams (N3) with Cobus Vrey (A7) third. Sakkie Bosman (A6) has enjoyed his best season to date by slotting into fourth spot and in fifth Johan la Grange (S3) is also enjoying his best performance to date. Graham Hooper has the N2 national award sewn up so his overall regional position would be of little significance. Should he however navigate for Richard Behm this weekend he might just make a considerable advance on the points log.
This will be the last opportunity to see the rally cars in action for 2005 and it promises to be a very entertaining event for both competitors and spectators. First car leaves Ceres Toyota at 10h00.
Be there !
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