The 2006 Hitachi Power Tools Rally
author: Leon Botha
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Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson - opens their scoreboard with maximum points
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It has never been difficult to stand on the sideline making snide remarks, criticise, shout, and give advice. Serving in the corner of a boxer makes it easy to say, “all you have to do is use your left, jab, him, stab him….” But when you get first hand experience in the bloody ring and no matter how you try to jab or stab, the other guy seems to read every step you are going to take, and moers you so hard you consider taking up gardening, then you realise it is not as easy as you thought it would be.
Then again when you get into the ring you announce to the world that you know what you are doing, and the world expects you to be able to jab, stab and at least defend yourself to such an extend that the ring doctor does not sit crying with you mother while you are getting slaughtered.
When I discovered half hour before the start of the event that I did not get the “safety notes” suddenly turned “semi pace notes” made by Tjaart van der Walt I knew I was going to have a hard time. Instead of getting myself organised to send out SMS results after stages, enjoying myself in a rally car for a change, albeit on the left hand side, I had to try and make the necessary changes to the route schedule in about 10 minutes flat as there was no readily available copies for me. I apparently signed for it at documentation and should probably have asked if notes were made.
Be that as it may, why the hell it was not in my (and it seems that I was the only navigator not to receive it) documents, I will never know and to be honest I won’t even worry about it further.
The start of the event due to lack of parking place, traffic irritations, construction etc. did nothing to make life easier for us and in a way did not help the sponsor’s cause either.
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The Total "noise maker" stand full of beautiful ladies!
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The big spoiling factor was the rain. Everything including the route was soaked after weeks of almost continuous downpour.
Natal however still offers you a choice between wet and dry even under these circumstances – because the surface of some of these roads is like sharkskin and a long slightly dry stage will eat up soft compound rubber like a silkworm vreets a moerbeiblaar!
It is a long time since I sat on the left-hand-side in a rally car and I knew that I would have my work cut out trying to keep up with the Subaru’s speed and read in the additional notes without landing us inside a sugar refinery.
The scene was set for a hell of a rally – there were more than just a few new cars, either brand new or new in the hands of their new owners and there were no class where things would just happen and a winner would come from automatically! It was going to be a fight from start to finish.
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Hergen Fekken and Pierre Aries - 2nd overall in their first S2000 outing.
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The unknown factor in S2000 was of course Hergen Fekken and we could not wait to see what he planned. Then again I suppose many of us forgot that he was in a new car, a new class and the last thing he wanted to do was phone Andre van der Watt or Migiel (hoe spel mens Migiel?) or someone he had to report to and say “Hello, she is Francois Duval’s cousin speaking….jawohl, si si, and goodbye!”
Kuun, on the other hand did not want a repeat from any other year he could remember, no matter how hard he tries to forget – sheeeeettt man I mean I had a knob in the throat on his behalf last year! So, he did not set out to shadow box to see who intended doing what, no sirree, he stormed in and gave every one a moerse klap in stage one already, notwithstanding Habig trying to get the psychological advantage of starting 2006 where he rounded off 2005!
Still, it was a close call and one that immediately indicated that no one could actually afford to blink an eye, look in a mirror to touch up the lipstick or miss a gear in a stage.
The season opened with a difference of two seconds between the first three cars. Yes, I know that is huge in some circles, but you must remember this was stage one of 2006, and it was not wet, it was true bred snot!
Kuun came home in 4m16; Habig in 4m17 and Serge in 4m18 – and probably only because we do not have the money to afford proper timing equipment to measure 10ths of seconds, but thank goodness we are at least past the stage where someone stands on the corner watching the marshal at the flying finish around the corner, who drops his flag when the car passes, the corner man tries to drop his simultaneously and then the person at the stop control hits the button of the stop watch!
I swear that was how it worked and the difference was also measured in seconds! In the Cape you had a bit of a advantage if you were a local, as some club-members dropped their flags when their buddies were still about ten meters away, while if they did not like you the marshal at the stop control hit the button when your navigator jumped out to come and check the time!
Ja swaer, in N4 Rueda was as hyped up as they come and the Spaniard showed that he was in a bull-fighting mood! When I saw Gemmel losing three seconds in stage one already I could not help to say “ole milagro!” or something to that effect because normally Fernando shows good manners and at least opens the fight with a few taps here and there before he launches his attack.
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Maximum Attack - Fernando Rueda and Martin Botha while the going was still good.
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In sixth place was Hergen – a massive 11 seconds off the pace, but I was relieved that he did not try to become world champion in stage one, talking about that, then followed Etienne Lourens after spending a bit of time next to the road on his way to stage one.
Nicolas Ryan went through SS1 - 8th fastest, while JP Damseaux followed in 9th, clearly showing the advantage the all wheel drive vehicles were going to have in the wet conditions.
In tenth followed Japie van Niekerk and Robin Houghton, while I shared 11th spot with my driver – Jacques Botha (the one and only!) after I duct-taped his mouth and wonder glued the back of his helmet to the seat!
Charl Wilken’s nightmare started already and he prepared himself for a long, long rally!
Visser du Plessis and Dave Lewkowicz managed a lowly 13th spot with the first signs of their coming gearbox problems already popping out!
Kobus Roos and Irma du Plooy in 15th overall spot led class N3 with Chris de Wit and Patrick Yende no further than one count away!
Eugene Lourens and Derick Jacobs were showing the pace in A6, while Michael Houghton and Bryn Doherty were leading in A5.
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Michael Houghton & Bryn Doherty early start to their Class title defence
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The conditions in the stage were not too bad, but it was very clear that the rally was going to take its expensive toll.
In SS2 Enzo once again showed his determination not to let anything or anyone come between him and a rally win, and this time he beat Serge by two seconds, while Habig followed another 2 later.
Ettienne Lourens was 4th fastest 19 seconds off the pace, while Rueda still waved a red flag at Ryan and beat him by 11 seconds. The signs were there that Nic Ryan needed more than the “dated” version of the Impreza he was driving to catch the Mitsubishi on equal terms, and this will prove to be a problem later this year when Subaru tries to take the title back from the Mitsubishi privateer team.
Visser du Plessis’ car is the most advanced Subaru currently on the SA circuit and he may offer some resistance in future but whether that will be enough to keep the Gemmel, Rueda and Van Niekerk Mitsubishi brigade at bay, remains to be seen.
Talking about the Mitsubishi privateers, it is really sad to see that one of the most talented drivers, Richard Behm, is sitting at home watching TV, while the people who are supposed to spot talent conveniently (or maybe subjectively for other reasons) overlooked him in favour for lesser drivers. Sad, sad, sad – to say the least, and that is one of the reasons why it is so frustrating that we do not have anyone able to, who can afford to look for sponsors and market the sport all the time.
Once again this is purely because some people would rather let talent disappear before they will reach out and help – objectively, without any hidden agendas!
Problem seems that I am preaching to the converted, because those who have to read this have not the time to read it (except if they can read about themselves – then they won’t put the computer down) as they are too busy thinking of excuses why the sport is not growing, and looking at the event of this weekend, is in fifth gear going backwards.
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JP Damseaux and Cobus Vrey - an inspired drive opening the door for plenty of excitement in A7 this year.
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JP Damseaux was in a mean mudder of a mood and took no prisoners! He drove that two wheel driven Toyota as hard as the rubber on the sidewalls allowed, once again losing out on the all-wheel-drive vehicles, while Japie van Niekerk brought the Lancer in 12 seconds behind JP in 8th fastest time, and Charl who now had exhaust fumes coming into the car, and some other problems like punctures to content with, running in 9th, with Paul Pfeiffer and Duncan English making up the top ten through the stage.
The Botha’s were 11th while Hergen had a bad stage, finishing in 12th place through the stage. Chris de Wit was driving the hell out of the N3 Toyota, setting a pace that would prove too much for anyone else in that class. (World champion material or not!)
After two stages Enzo was leading the rally by 4 seconds from Serge, while Habig was 11 seconds down.
Rueda led the mere mortals in a good fourth, albeit 34 seconds behind the leader before the event started properly (I wonder what happened to the – equaliser intention between S2000 and N4 to make rallying in SA interesting?) while Lourens was 6 seconds behind him in the S2000 Toyota. Nic Ryan’s test would now start – would he drive wisely and bargain on Rueda making a mistake, or was he going to go all out and try to catch the Spaniard?
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Nicolas Ryan and Schalk van Heerden - first N4 and 4th overall after a great drive.
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JP was creeping up the scale into 7th overall, Japie was now 8th, Charl Wilken 9th while Hergen completed the Top 10 two minutes and 4 seconds behind his flying team mate, Kuun.
Chris de Wit was N3 leader, with Piazza-Musso in second and Aggie Stroh slowly but surely getting to grips with his new N3 Toyota. Gary Swemmer who improved 18 positions from stage 1 led in A5 while class champion Michael Houghton had his fair share of problems.
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Aggie Stroh & Jurg Steyn - small part, big clutch problem!
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Mohammed Moosa a bit back over the horizon was finding out about Natal and wet rallying the hard way, and when asked how it was going he just shook his head and walked away. Welcome to national rallying with only two wheels pulling you out of it, Mo!
Kobus Roos and Irma du Plooy dropped 9 places, while Jon Williams kissed 6 goodbye and Kosta Koumantarakis slipped 7 places down the ladder.
Most places were dropped by no less than 7 teams when they had to pack up and go home, some with minor and others with major problems.
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Kosta Koumatarakis and Barry White privateer winners in N2
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Johnny Gemmel and Gerhard Snyman packed up and went home, reducing Mitsubishi’s chances considerable while both Visser du Plessis and Rocky Reynecke had to withdraw their brand new Subaru Impreza N12 spec cars.
Visser withdrew due to losing all the oil from his brand new gearbox under what can be described as, mysterious circumstances! More about this matter later.
Richard and Natasha Vaughan also had to call it a day, while Schalk Burger and Wimpie van Greunen had an afternoon off.
Wayne Westermeyer and Nigel Hicks also went home and so did Bashier Kapery and Megan Stowe without me being able to get an idea of the abilities of Bashier who is sponsored by BP.
In SS3 Kuun once again set the pace, with Fernando taking second spot and Japie van Niekerk popping a “how does you are” out of the blue, just 5 seconds off the pace set by Rueda. Nic Ryan was still not fazed at all and calmly brought the Total Subaru home 6 seconds ahead of 5th quickest Fekken and two behind van Niekerk who woke up!
This time around, despite having lots of fumes in the car, Charl Wilken showed why he is driving the Castrol Toyota and posted 6th fastest while the Damsoetjies decided to clip the finish line on exactly the same second!
Kobus Roos decided to make up time and was the quickest N3, while de Wit was in 10th the second N3 and 3 seconds slower than Roos.
Kuun now led the rally by a massive 52 seconds from Serge, while Rueda in 3rd overall built a cushion of 30 seconds between him and a consistent Ryan.
Japie van Niekerk improved his position by 3 to move into 5th, JP was in 6th. Then followed Charl Wilken in 7th, Fekken in 8th, Pfeiffer in 9th and Jacques Botha in 10th.
Kobus Roos improved his overall position by 11 spots, while Tony Ball managed to better his by 10!
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Jan Habig & Douglas Judd - the Superally system may have helped to get a point or two?
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This stage also sadly brought about the demise of Jan Habig and Douglas Judd, Ettienne Lourens and Andre Vermeulen and a small release spring saw to it that Aggie Stroh became and instant spectator.
Jacques thankfully also called “enough is enough” when the fuel pump started overheating and starved the engine of the juice it needs to run. By now my voice was gone from the exhaust or turbo or whatever gas came into the car – I have never smelled anything like that and I know neither Jacques not myself ate anything funny before the event!
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Jacques Botha - Motul Subaru Impreza
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The fact that there was no service between SS3 and SS4 was the main reason why we simply could not carry on. Central servicing does not mean no servicing at all – especially not if the majority of your entrants are privateers. The service area was so up to shit anyway – especially getting to it, that we would have been just as badly off, servicing next to the road.
Thankfully I could now get back to what I seem to be best at, and that is to send out results via RallyStar/Subaru SA SMS!
Problem was that when I tried to get back to the rally to catch SS4 and SS5 results I did really not know where the finish of either was, or how the hell to get there.
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"I tell you, today is the day.........." Fred Vroomen speculating about Dieter's chances...
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To say the maps supplied were atrocious will honestly be the biggest lie I ever told, and kak does not describe it properly either!
Ag nee man, any person who has so little respect for other people’s time, money and their effort needs his ass kicked to kingdom come and back for dishing out such absolute amateur rubbish. There is simply not any excuse for such a stupid piece of misinformation!
What worried me as well was that there did not seem to be any radio marshals anywhere. I may be mistaken, but I made a point to ask end stage marshals and no one could give me an answer. What would have happened if someone were seriously injured – especially in places where there were no cell phone signals?
Lets get the complaints over with – on day two all of the regulars who usually try to get to the end of stages to pick up and report times, were running in circles, especially due to the fact that the end of SS7, which was also end SS11 was marked as ESS8!
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Don't believe what you see, it actually says ESS7 & 11
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If you have a map on which blotches indicate places, place name’s are left out and stages are indicated but not numbered, then the only ray of light is a directional arrow – and if that is wrong as well – you know that your soul will never land near heaven after such an experience.
Small wonder there were almost no spectators, or for that matter any interest in the rally – even the massive spectacle at the start and scrutineering did not draw thousands ……yes, I know it rained – I was there.
In soccer a red card would have been drawn out of even the TV ref’s pocket for this event.
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Willie du Plessis checking the next competitors time, while the three wise men look on.
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Everyone was waiting for Serge to retaliate and the attack came big time in SS4 when he won the stage by 14 seconds, although Enzo did get a flat wheel near the end of the stage.
Rueda again managed a comfortable 3rd best, with Hergen now getting the hang of the S2000 Polo coming home in fourth. Charl Wilken again beat JP, this time by 2 seconds, while Salie du Toit also paid the Top10 a visit, beating a determined Trott into 8th fastest through the stage.
Tony Ball paid a short-lived visit to the Top10, while Chris de Wit rounded it off.
Most impressive in the lesser classes in my book was Gary Swemmer who once again posted an excellent time in the A5 Golf.
Enzo’s lead shrunk to 38 seconds over Serge, while Fernando hovered over them waiting for someone to make a mistake. Hergen Fekken improved his position by 4 places in SS4 and was now lying less than two minutes behind Rueda.
Neither JP Damseaux, nor Charl Wilken could do a thing about the Fekken attack and they had to be content to move back a place, while Japie van Niekerk dropped two places and Nic Ryan had even worse luck dropping four spots.
Chris de Wit was securing N3 and lying in 9th place overall, while Salie du Toit clung to 10th.
Barry Grobbelaar and Mike Burrows played the last waltz while Jean Hendrick and Tania van der Merwe also danced out of the hall.
Meanwhile I was going up and down the roads looking for anything that resembled the end of SS4.
Once again Damseaux attacked and for the first time Enzo missed the top two places in a stage by posting a relatively slow time of 21 seconds behind Damseaux.
Hergen showed the first signs of aggression in the still unfamiliar S2000 Polo. Nicolas Ryan made up for the time he lost in SS4 and nailed Rueda good and solid through this stage taking back 25 seconds.
This time Piazza-Musso was quickest in N3, while Eugene Lourens took a turn to post a top ten time.
Chris de Wit was 9th fastest, and Charl Wilken filled the last Top10 spot.
Japie van Niekerk and also Paul Pfeiffer called it a day and the Mitsubishi onslaught shrunk to one single competitive car in the hands of Rueda, as the N4 Mitsubishi in the hands of Off-Road star Terence Marsh and Archie Rutherford did not shape at all, which probably proves my point in the past that Off-Road can not really be compared to rallying, but then again they may have experienced some problems all along.
The biggest change overall after SS5 was that Serge shrunk the deficit to Kuun to merely 17 seconds, while Hergen shrunk the space between him and Rueda by one minute 20 seconds to 35s.
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"Ja meneer en omdat jy kak praat, skryf ek sommer vir jou nog een omdat jy jou hoed oor jou oë dra!"
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The pressure was now full on Rueda and one could only hold thumbs that he would not over do it in an attempt to stay ahead of Fekken in the more powerful car.
Claudio Piazza-Musso managed to improve by three places and was now lying in 10th, while Theuns Joubert as well as Rodney Visagie moved up 3 spots each.
Craig Trott was now leading A6 only 2 seconds behind Tony Ball in the much more powerful A7 Polo, while Theuns Joubert and Lourens du Plessis made up three positions in that stage.
Kobus Roos and Irma du Plooy managed to loose 9 positions in this stage, and Gary Swemmer 8.
What happened in SS6 is not a secret – Serge took 10 seconds from Enzo and the deficit shrunk to 7 seconds, and then as we all got our Valiums, Klipdift and lagtwak out, that is for the nerves, the Castrol Toyota was standing next to the road between stages 6 and 7 and I have a feeling that only Serge, Robert and Whammy will ever know what the hell really went wrong. Could it have been fuel?
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Sergcing for the road - look carefully, you don't see this often.....
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The only serious change in the stage was that Jon Williams gained 3 places and Gary Swemmer, and Tony Ball went to watch Super 14 rugby.
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Jon and Doug Williams - maiden outing in the A7 Polo
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Needless to say, Enzo won SS7 but the demise of Serge Damseaux seemed to inspire Hergen Fekken, who was only 3 seconds slower than Enzo, but at the same time he chipped away 10 seconds from Fernando’s time. This of course is like hitting him with a red flag and true to form, Fernando attacked!
Charl Wilken was back on JP’s pace while Paul Pfeiffer now running in the “mock” Superally that we will once again test this year equalled JP’s time.
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Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich - eventful event!
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Chris de Wit was 8th fastest through the stage, and the Verlaque sisters showed that mud did not scare them that much and they posted their first Top10 stage time for the event.
Jon Williams rounded off the fastest ten through the stage.
In overall positions both Salie du Toit (Total Subaru) and Eugene Lourens (Total Toyota) dropped 9 positions, the former to 18th and the latter to 24th overall, while Bertus Labuschagne and Lou Zietsman went home.
SS8 saw the demise of Fernando Rueda and Martin Botha after one of their finest drives ever, while hard trying Theuns Joubert and Lourens du Plessis loaded their Polo on the trailer, Danie de Kock and Vaughan Robinson also went home.
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Theuns Joubert & Lourens du Plessis - out in SS8 after a good run
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One can not help but feel sorry for Fernando for going off the road at the start of SS8 – he came so close to pulling off a great win in the production car class, while one silly mistake put all his efforts at bay.
Hergen Fekken now moved into 2nd overall and Volkswagen looked set to score a 1-2 for openers. JP Damseaux was now the leading Toyota and 4th placed Nicolas Ryan led the production car class in the Subaru Impreza.
Enzo Kuun did not have to win any more stages, I mean when do you stop proving a point, but try telling that to him. He simply kept the pressure on himself and everyone around him and blitzed through SS9 eleven seconds faster than Hergen Fekken who probably wanted to show his real pace, but was not willing to risk his fine placing at that stage.
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The Enzo Kuun Fan Club!
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In SS10 Hergen did take the chance I thought he would not take, while Kuun may have slowed slightly braking a bit harder and earlier, here and there – probably recalling similar situations where he threw everything away, unnecessary.
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One of quite a few destroyed wheels for Nicolas Ryan. A number of drivers suffered the same fate.
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Nicolas Ryan still had a small ray of hope going into SS10 to maybe take JP’s 3rd spot away, but that disappeared when he once again had a flat wheel – albeit near the end of the stage. He lost 6 seconds to a flying Damseaux, instead of gaining anything.
Charl Wilken a but further back was taking it very easy, praying all the way as he had a cracked gearbox housing, and a number of other small issues waiting to take him out of the event.
The only positional changes in SS10 were Jon Williams slipping by Piazza-Musso into 8th overall, Salie du Toit getting by Ettienne Malherbe to take 13th, and Eugene Lourens moving past Terence Marsh into 19th.
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Etienne Malherbe & Hennie Botes - 2nd in Class A5 by only 11 seconds
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Salie was only 3 seconds behind Michael Hougton the A5 leader and he would surely be able to make up that position in the last stage of the event?
Kuun repeated what he did in almost all the stages of the rally and won the last one as well.
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Paul Pfeiffer & Duncan English would have finished 6th overall if we were fortunate enough to use the Superally system properly.
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It is interesting to see the effect Pfeiffer would have had if he were allowed to score points after receiving a 5 minute penalty for missing one stage. Look for yourself and think how many guys would have made an extra effort to return to the event if they knew they could score points. We could for instance have driven straight to the service area, fixed the problem and rejoin the rally. Jerry Bailey and or other scrutineers were readily available to check the cars quickly – but …… once again never mind hindsight – even that may still be lacking with some clever people!
Salie did manage to reel in Houghton, and the rest is as follows:
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POS
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DRIVER / CO-DRIVER
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CAR
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Class
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SS11
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1
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Enzo KUUN Guy HODGSON
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VOLKSWAGEN POLO PLAYA
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S2000
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2:23:11
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2
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Hergen FEKKEN Pierre ARRIES
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VOLKSWAGEN POLO
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S2000
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2:26:34
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3
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Jean-Pierre DAMSEAUX Cobus VREY
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TOYOTA RUN-X
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A7
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2:31:22
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4
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Nicholas RYAN Schalk VAN HEERDEN
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SUBARU WRX STI
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N4
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2:32:15
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5
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Charl WILKEN Greg GODRICH
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TOYOTA RUN-X RSi
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A7
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2:35:52
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Paul PFEIFFER Duncan ENGLISH
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MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO
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N4
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6
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Chris DE WIT Patrick YENDE
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TOYOTA RUN-X
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N3
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2:41:18
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7
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John WILLIAMS Douglas WILLIAMS
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VOLKSWAGEN POLO PLAYA
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A7
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2:42:50
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8
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Claudio PIAZZA-MUSSO Greg GERICKE
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TOYOTA RUN-X RSi
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N3
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2:43:45
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9
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Craig TROTT John COSTA
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TOYOTA COROLLA RS
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A6
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2:44:00
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10
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Rodney VISAGIE Arno LA GRANGE
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TOYOTA RUN-X
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N3
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2:47:12
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11
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Salie DU TOIT Gert JANSE VAN RENSBURG
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SUBARU IMPREZA
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N4
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2:47:22
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12
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Michael HOUGHTON Bryn DOHERTY
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TOYOTA TAZZ
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A5
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2:49:18
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13
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Ettienne MALHERBE Hennie BOTES
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TOYOTA TAZZ
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A5
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2:49:19
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14
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Kosta KOUMANTARAKIS Barry WHITE
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TOYOTA COROLLA
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N2
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2:49:21
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15
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Lola VERLAQUE Megan VERLAQUE
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SUBARU STI
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N4
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2:50:16
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17
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Brian SCOTT Kirsty SCOTT
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VOLKSWAGEN POLO PLAYA
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2:52:39
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16
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Mike NATHAN Rikus FOURIE
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TOYOTA COROLLA
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N2
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2:53:19
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18
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Terence MARSH Archie RUTHERFORD
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MITSUBISHI LANCER EVO
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2:55:49
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19
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KOBUS ROOS Irma DU PLOOY
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TOYOTA RUN-X RSi
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N3
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2:56:27
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20
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Heinrich LATEGAN Johan VAN DER MERWE
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VOLKSWAGEN GOLF
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N4
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2:56:43
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21
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Eugene LOURENS Derick JACOBS
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TOYOTA TAZZ
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A6
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2:58:00
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22
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Gugulethu ZULU Llewellyn FOURIE
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VOLKSWAGEN CIT GOLF
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A5
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3:00:27
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23
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Mohammed MOOSA Henry DEARLOVE
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TOYOTA RUN-X
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N3
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3:25:53
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24
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Clyde VICTOR Mark KING
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TOYOTA COROLLA RS
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3:44:10
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45
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Piet BAKKES Gert NIENABER
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TOYOTA TAZZ
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A5
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T/B
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