Blue Crane Benefit Rally
author: Patrick Vermaak
|
|
Just for a change from dirty rally cars to .......
|
On the calendar as the final round of the Total WP Rally Championship, but now becoming the penultimate (hopefully) round of the 2006 season thanks to the atrocious weather which saw the Vangate Mall Rally postponed at the end of August. Also running in the Overberg district one could expect the normally very fast routes to be rough, but the good news is that the organisers expect good road conditions and dry weather.
Leading the twenty car entry away coming Saturday new SA champion driver Enzo Kuun will start with a fifteen point lead in the regional drivers championship whilst Duncan English will be hoping to secure enough points to close the seven point advantage Cobus Vrey enjoys as navigator. One could expect the class A7 BP VW Polo 2.0 20v to be thrown around in spectacular style as Enzo thoroughly enjoys this car. They will give their all to reach the finish intact and intend to be ahead of the Team Total class A7 SWMC / CPMCC Toyota Corolla RXi 2.0 20v of Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Cobus Vrey. JP celebrated his birthday as a frustrated spectator during the recent Subaru Cape Rally when their national spec Run X broke its gearbox. Unfortunately it would seem as though Paul Pfeiffer did even more damage to the Gp N4 Mitsubishi Evo 6 and has not entered this event. In the absence of Paul Pfeiffer only JP could spoil a double championship bid by Enzo and he will certainly let him work for it. As with the SA title Enzo have done enough to sit back and stay out of trouble whilst JP has to score maximum points.
Jon and Douglas Williams have been keeping the Toyota’s honest in class A7 on national events but their regional score have been somewhat frustrating in the older SWMC class A7 Trident Press VW Polo Playa 2.0. Hopefully some reliability will allow this team to show their full potential as they certainly have the ability to upset at the front of the field. Possibly the most improved regional team of the 2006 season, John Peiser and Brian Hoskins will be fourth off the line in their CPMCC / WPMC Gp N4 Speed Pro Cycling Equipment Subaru Impreza and after a frustrating national event they are determined to finish on the podium.
With his N2 national title chances on tract again Mike Nathan will have Carl Peskin in the hot seat of his recently acquired (ex-Etienne Lourens) class A6 CPMCC AWI Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 and one can only expect fireworks from this very determined driver. Carl currently finds himself only two points behind Cobus Vrey in the navigators title chase and he will be motivating Nathan to go as hard as possible. Shaun Jones and Billy Thorpe return in the much-improved class S5 VW Golf Synchro 4x4 and they are long overdue for a good result in the yellow car. Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak start seventh in their CPMCC / WBMK Gp N2 McCarthy N1 City Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 and with a poor record on this specific event they intend making it to the finish this time.
Charl Strydom and Sakkie Bosman are gradually becoming accustomed to their new Sabre Paints class A6 CPMCC VW Polo 1.6 and the always immaculately prepared car gets faster and more reliable with each outing. They will be rallying in home territory and could be expected to shape well. The SWMC kamikaze kids will once again do things to an N1 Golf that should not even be attempted in a proper A5 version but very little fazes Shane and Rob Williams. Doug only too grateful that he runs at the head of the pack and does not have to watch his younger sons in action! Spectators love them though as rough only means you have to enter harder and clear the obstacle instead of driving over it so expect quite an impact from the Trident Press B Team.
Andy Haigh-Smith won class A6 on the national with Carl Peskin as navigator but it will be young Ashley Haigh-Smith that will be guiding the way for the REACT Racing CPMCC Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 on this occasion. Truly developing new talent and obviously Dad will enjoy the outing with his son! Clutch Pey and Mark Palmer will have to wind up the Forsdicks Service Centre class S4 WBMK BMW 325i and with no water being forecast the traditional clutch excuse will hopefully not influence their performance this weekend. Just stay off the quad Thorsten!
Eugene Marais and Paul van Greunen might be changing their mode of transport soon but will enjoy another outing in the Fetch & Carry class S3 WBMK VW Golf GTi 1800. Thenswille Overmeyer and Wesley van Heerden have a finish under the belt in their CCMCC Gp N2 Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 and will be looking for another confidence building result. The Team Economic class S4 CCMCC BMW 325i of Clinton Sassman and Andy Schreuder returns and might just surprise on the day whilst the ever consistent (no longer yellow) class S2 CCMCC VW Golf MkI 1600 of André George and Hilton Auffray will be there to irritate much faster cars throughout the event. Rupert van Zyl and Marius Rudolph need a good finish in their class S3 CPMCC VW Golf MkII as does Kes Naidoo and Denzil Isaacs in their CCMCC class S3 Fix-a-Smash Toyota Conquest RSi 1600.
Martin Esterhuyse and Francois Erasmus will have their Cressida powered class S4 WBMK Toyota Corolla ready for action and this could become a firm favourite with the spectators as this car will now have enough power to simply remain sideways throughout the day. Gavin Grierson and David Delaney enjoyed a very short national event but the trusty thirty-year-old class S2 WBMK Datsun 160U SSS will return for more this weekend.
The CPMCC development team, Steven White and Dirk Malan, found the national somewhat challenging and with the Team REACT Gp N2 Mitsubishi Lancer GLX 1600 straightened out again they will be driving for a finish. Ten stages totalling some 108km will put the teams to the test and the event will start and finish at the Caledon Casino. It’s an early day for competing crews as documentation and scrutineering takes place from 06h30 on Saturday.
Spectator guides will be available at the Caledon Hotel Spa Casino complex.
|
|
