2007 Barloworld Rally
author: Patrick Vermaak
Not since 1966 have the area between Vredenburg and Moorreesburg seen this much rain and though the area was magnificently green it held more than it’s normal share of surprises. Celebrating his 50th birthday Herman Aukamp welcomed the eighteen teams at Malmesbury Motors in overcast conditions. It was going to be wet and most started the event on mud tyres.
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A7 Jean-Pierre Damseaux & Cobus Vrey winning the event with only the rain and mud as challenge for the Toyota
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Sadly there was no sign of Enzo Kuun or Paul Pfeiffer and Charl Strydom withdrew his Golf with gearbox maladies. Starting first was the impressive Team Total A7 Toyota Corolla RXi 2.0 20v of Somerset West based Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Cobus Vrey and they took no prisoners on the day. Whatever they were trying to shake did not have a chance as the Toyota set a blistering pace enroute to an impressive victory in difficult conditions. Given the current weather patterns 2007 could well see the Total Swartland Rally in September face similar conditions and this “practice” could just be considered valuable.
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John Peiser - Brian Hoskins N4 Subaru Impreza
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Petter van der Peiser, alias John Peiser and Brian Hoskins suffered one puncture and they certainly tried hard in the Speed Pro Cycling Equipment N4 CPMCC Subaru Impreza GT 4x4 Turbo but after stage one they had second place written behind their names. Another good points finish to possibly the most improved team in the Cape.
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Thorsten Pey & Rallystar Cape Editor Patrick Vermaak in the S4 BMW
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Running third overall for three stages was the Winning Business Solutions S4 WBMK BMW 325i of the Teletubbies, Thorsten Pey and Patrick Vermaak. The first time “Pau” and “Dipsy” attempted a rally together and they were just settling into a rhythm when the BMW lost it’s drive belt, forcing the team into retirement 6km into stage 4 with an overheating engine. A hard landing on stage one failed to amuse and many teams suffered damage on an unmarked contour. André Cleenwerck and Derek Jacobs said thank you very much and netted a fine third overall in the agile BP Ultimate A5 CCMCC VW Citi Golf 1.4i after another confidence building drive.
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A5 Golf with André Cleenwerck and Derek Jacobs in control
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Andy Haigh-Smith and Dirk Malan in the A6 Toyota
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Andy Haigh-Smith and Dirk Malan had a below par outing in the Team REACT A6 CPMCC Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 and found themselves trailing the A5 Golf before the Corolla expired with suspected crown wheel and pinion failure. Better fortune smiled upon Steven White and fourteen year old Ashley Haigh-Smith (son of Andy) as they kept their noses clean enroute to a career best fourth overall in the Team REACT N2 CPMCC Mitsubishi Lancer 1600. Jean du Plessis and JC Barnard started third on the road in their (Swartland) All Parts S4 WBMK BMW 325i but tore the rear suspension out of the body on stage one and then the fan destroyed the radiator in one of the many watersplashes, making it a very short debut. Inus du Plessis and Piet Carinus also lost their rear suspension on the stage one contours but soldiered on to the finish. Thanks to the high attrition rate they still managed a class win and fifth overall in the second (Swartland) S4 WBMK BMW 325i.
The ever reliable S3 CCMCC VW Golf MkI 1800 of André George and Hilton Auffray finishing sixth and the final team home the big Automotive Solutions S5 WBMK Nissan Skyline 2.8 GTX of Gavin Grierson and David Delaney. Retirements included the Schwarzland Autohaus A6 CCMCC Toyota Corolla RXi 1600 of Swartland father and daughter combination, Kobus and Reyanah Edas. The seventeen year old Gr 11 Schoonspruit Secondary student unfortunate to have a very short debut as navigator.
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Kobus and Reyanah Edas A6
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Leon Esterhuyse and Harry Giliomee in the S4 OPel Kadett
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Leon Esterhuyse and Harry Giliomee returned home early when their Heavy Duty Alignment Centre S4 WBMK Opel Kadett GSi 2.0 destroyed it’s gearbox. The Howard Centre Motors S4 CCMCC BMW 325i of Clinton Sassman and Andy Schreuder already heading for home as was the S3 CCMCC Toyota Conquest RSi 1600’s of Abduraghman Amlay / Yusuf Ganief (Amlay Motor Spares) and Kesevan Naidoo / Garth Ritsch (Freightmore).
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Steven White - Ashley Haigh-Smith in their N2 Mitsubishi
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Rupert van Zyl and Marius Rudolph ran out of gears on their Die Hollandse Motor Spesialis S3 CPMCC VW Golf GTi 1800 whilst the Fetch & Carry S3 WBMK Toyota Conquest RSi 1600 of Martin Esterhuyse and Paul van Greunen enjoyed a valve for brunch. Winston Neethling and Redewaan Paulse celebrated their return to action by beaching the 2.8 powered Grand Auto S4 CPMCC Datsun 120Y.
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Jean du Plessis & JC Barnard BMW 325
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Gavin Grierson & David Delaney in the Nissan Skyline
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Now the action moves to the Boland when the Witzenberg Motorklub organized Ceres Toyota Rally takes place on Saturday 11 August 2007.
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Food for thought!
It’s an old topic but having been on both sides of the fence I have to fend for these regional competitors as they form the backbone of the sport in the Western Cape with limited modifications to standard cars. The concept of having a regional crew assist with the organizing of each event was canned when Wessel Venter and Patrick Johnson actually won the navigators title overall. In my opinion they deserved to do so and by assisting the organizers they might actually have prevented someone from destroying their car as those almost unnoticed contours encountered in a bakkie whilst plotting represents a potential danger at speed in any rally car.
Stage one on the Barloworld set the perfect example as unmarked contours had more than a few cars sustain damage when these unsighted obstacles were hit at speeds in excess of 140km/h. Cape Town International complained about the sudden aerial activity in the area but not even their radar could prevent these heavy projectiles from damage as they returned to terra firma. Yes, they do not cost the same as those dedicated works machines (limited to the Team Total A7 Toyota on this event) but the bulk of the eighteen strong field are actually worth even more to their owners as it is paid from genuinely personal funding (not sponsorship). Crashing on own accord is easier to accept than actually damaging a car because of an unexpected surprise contour.
We cannot afford to lose a single entry in the local series. Maybe it’s time to initiate a senior and junior regional championship to allow the real privateers to actually win an overall championship and earn his or her colours on merit – it will inevitably lead to more entries as it would become more affordable to compete for a real reward. If somebody wins the championship because he assisted organizing – well maybe they deserved it after all. What would your answer be if asked what you have done to improve the standards of WP rallying? Possibly the question one should be asking before offering the spontaneous criticism!
Everybody works around the clock to give themselves maximum opportunity to succeed, only a few work around the clock to give everybody a better event to compete in. The gap between the well heeled entries and the genuine regional privateer is constantly growing and something have to be done to make it worth their while to continue – not to chase them away. Yes, it is indeed a privilege to see JP Damseaux set blistering times in a phenomenal car, but it is even more impressive to see a bog standard, privately funded, BMW 325i with a genuine 150 000km on it’s engine and an open differential set times faster than the “works” A6 and A5 entries on the same event. Hitting a contour hard with Proflex is an utterly different experience to hitting it with Bilstein shocks and there is no comparison when it’s almost standard shocks.
Eliminating half the field in the first stage is no achievement, it should be a serious concern. Quick to point out that these retirements were mechanical, might one risk adding that whatever broke was as a direct result of initial damage done over those same contours! These cars are prepared by volunteers, after hours with no remuneration other than the satisfaction to reach the finish and be part of reaching their own personal goals. Yes, in a perfect world we would like to see twenty A7 entries at regional level, but reality could see ten or more really entertaining and well prepared S4 entries lead to one or more serious contenders at higher level.
Ian Glass shocks impressed me no end and the first set of Bilsteins felt like another world but nothing compares to modern Proflex suspension
Did anyone bother looking at the general condition of the cars present at the Barloworld. They might not have wowed the scrutineers and technical fundies with high tech go faster goodies but they all looked pretty respectable, something that will keep any series sponsor happy and could see more individual sponsorships return. It’s not about front or rear wheel drive, it’s about getting “our” sport to grow in both quality and numbers. Do what is best for the sport, not the selfish individual.
Put a rally car on the road to plot events and mark potential dangers and give those crews credit for their efforts. They will grow as competitors as they will understand the organizers better, whilst the organizers will get a better understanding of competitors needs. Give more credit in the form of recognition. If your name is not Rueda, Damseaux or Kuun the odds are stacked against you ever winning the WP title, even less regarding colours.
Even in rugby you simply have to make the team nominations and colours are in the kitty. Cater for the “elite” but even they look like nobody if they are already winning everything on paper. They look pretty average to the general spectator if they win events with six finishers. If a manufacturer wants to make a plotting / organizers car available for this purpose – put experienced competitors behind it’s controls.
Hats off to Total for their efforts to support the regional championships but we cannot expect a sponsor to fix everything with money. Go beyond personal ego’s and the sport could see numbers rise to thirty cars. It is still the ultimate international form of motorsport, but at regional level it should be simply the ultimate sport!
Total’s concept of payment to only the real regional competitors go some way towards improving the situation but splitting rewards should be supported by allowing those same competitors the opportunity to actually win a championship and earn their colours, even if that relates to it being considered a senior and junior championship. Win the junior championship and you automatically become a senior competitor. If this had been going for the past twenty odd years the senior championship could have been very strong and new blood would feature every year. Now all we have to show is the 17 year dominance of somebody who certainly deserves his accolades, but it did little to encourage others.
Manufacturers could then enter works cars as test beds in the regional championships without stealing the limelight from the regional privateers – in fact this will then hopefully encourage more situations such as the Cleenwerck / Jacobs A5 Golf .
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