Bredasdorp Rally
author: Patrick Vermaak
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Jon and Doug Williams in the event winning S2000 Polo
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Jon and Doug Williams took an expected overall victory in round one of the 2008 WP Rally Championship with their regional S2000 Guma / WRT VW Polo 4x4 but the day represented an even more valuable victory for sport in the Western Cape.
Second overall after most entertaining tussle it was Thorsten Pey and Mark Palmer in the Winning Business Solutions / Forsdicks class S4 BMW 325i, undoubtedly their best performance to date with Thorsten really pushing for this position, the big E36 BMW never missing a beat until the final stage where they risked going light on fuel and nearly threw the position away! Finally making their local debut in the Sabre Paints class A6 VW Polo it was Charl Strydom and Sakkie Bosman finishing third by a scant seven seconds. Charl is really starting to enjoy the new toy by the end of the day.
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Thorsten Pey and Mark Palmer S4 BMW 325i - second overall
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Andy and Ashley Haigh-Smith teamed up in the Team REACT Class A6 Toyota Corolla RXi 1600. Running in a new engine saw them taking things rather easily. Extending a farmyard crossing sportingly allowed the BMW and Polo a breath of fresh air and the Corolla settled for a safe fourth overall. A determined final fling around the oval track saw Martin Esterhuyse Snr and Paul van Greunen record their best ever result in the Fetch & Carry class S3 Toyota Conquest RSi 1600, pipping newcomers, Llewellyn Jones and Craig Gray in the SAC class S5 VW Golf V TDi a scant two seconds. Misfiring from stage one it was a somewhat frustrated Inus du Plessis and Piet Carinus in seventh spot with the E30 BMW 325i. The BMW challenge unfortunately depleted with Jean du Plessis rolling his E30 heavily during practice and Clinton Sassman blowing an engine shortly before this event.
Steven White and Dirk Malan joined forces in the rebodied Team REACT Gp N2 Mitsubishi Lancer GT1600 and enjoyed a steady drive to eighth overall. Gavin Grierson and David Delaney enjoyed another steady outing in their big class S4 Nissan Skyline 2.8GTX, finishing ninth without any incidents. Final official finishers going to Kesevan Naidoo and Garth Ritsch in their ailing Freightmore class S3 Toyota Conquest RSi 1600.
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Charl Strydom and Sakkie Bosman A6 VW
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Unfortunately the region cannot claim 50 entries per event with healthy title sponsorship at this stage but look behind the scenes and you will note a serious effort to rebuild at all levels. I have always maintained that the way you play a game should always outweigh any successes achieved and in this respect it’s hat’s off to Paul Pfeiffer and Cindi Harding. Cindi refuses to rally without safety notes and she has a tendency to get her way, but for Paul to willingly gave up his right to score points in the regional championship by making himself , car and navigator available for the making of the DVD for the benefit of all the other local competitors deserves applause! In the same breath a crisis with regards marshals in the region saw “real” marshals (those individuals such as Anthony Tope who do this because they really love the sport) return to save the day. Almost unnoticed as per normal Hugh Young and the radio marshals maintained communications in a difficult area.
What Paul and Cindi lost in acknowledgement on the result sheet was gained hand over fist in valuable experience as they put in the performance always expected from the Nobili Gp N4 Mtsubishi Lancer Evo 6 4x4 Turbo. Trading times with the S2000 Polo they could have taken a victory by 1min20 – still doubting the difference safety notes make? Jon and Doug were in equally impressive mode, especially crossing the main road on stage three. Taps in sixth gear put the Polo into lunar mode, landing some distance beyond the narrow gate on the far side - fortunately Doug could not see the gate as they were both still looking down onto the road whilst returning to our atmosphere! Returning for take two on special stage six had Doug rewriting his will facing the yump in question and Jon had to gear down to fourth for Dad to stay calm! A time consuming puncture and interesting mixture of tyre sizes provided a few interesting moments but the team found the seat time valuable as they prepare for national battle.
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Paul Pfeiffer and Cindi Harding N4 Mitsubishi Evo
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Unfortunately John Peiser and Brian Hoskins only enjoyed a brief outing in the Speed Pro Cycling Equipment Gp N4 Subaru Impreza GT 4x4 Turbo, the turbocharger only lasting one stage. Shaun Jones and Billy Thorpe seemingly have become simply too physical for the now orange coloured class S5 VW Golf Synchro 4x4. They actually reached the spectator point in stage one (a whole two corners after the start of
the event) and Shaun got so excited that he broke the gearlever out of the box putting on a show!
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Gavin Grierson and David Delaney S4 Nissan Skyline 2
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Though there were no title sponsorship for this event a number of contributors need to be thanked for their valued support. A&E Powder Coaters (Bill Bright), Trident Press (Doug Williams), Fetch & Carry (Paul van Greunen) and then individual assistance from Lance and Rosemarie Maytham (Route/Permissions/Follow-Up), Johann Zulch and Danie Smuts (Ceres Toyota 0 Car), Leon Esterhuyse and Morné Roux (00 Car), Pieter Hugo and Kobus Hagen (Follow Up) and the new trio of scrutineers Marius Roux – Morné Roux and Johann Zulch. A special word of thanks to Bredasdorp Toyota as start venue and the members of the Bredasdorp Motorklub who really made the prizegiving a pleasant conclusion to the activities of the day.
André George found spectating rather frustrating as he has deceided to give 2008 a miss in favour of building a new car as did regular navigator, Hilton Auffray. Hilton will find himself alongside young Ashley Haigh-Smith on the national scene in a brand new class A5 Toyota Yaris and cannot wait to get to Durban.
Shane and Rob Williams also found spectating a bit of a bore even though they had some international visitors present, including one Mrs Hans Stuck. With the A5 Golf’s having been traded in favour of the second S2000 it will be interesting to see what the younger Williams brothers will actually be campaigning in Durban as the German Polo Cup series only starts middle April this year.
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Llewellyn Jones and Craig Gray S5 VW
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Having sold his awesome class A7 Corolla to Schalk Burger Jnr and awaiting components for the S2000 Total Run X saw Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Cobus Vrey out of action for the weekend. Schalk Jnr certainly putting the car to good use on the Northern Regions event in Belfast.
Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak were set to shakedown their new steed during the Northern Province regional but a delay in delivery of much needed components put their plans on hold and with the engine of the Gp N2 Corolla also not ready they could not do the local event either.
Adrian Karth and Duncan English another team failing to make the startline in the PE based Netconnect class A7 VW Polo.
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Martin Esterhuyse Snr and Paul van Greunen S3 Conquest
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It was however great to note that “our” Werner Koekemoer and new navigator, Dries van der Walt, managed third overall on their debut event in the ex-Topcar class S6 BMW. Many niggling problems frustrated the team but Werner is confident of much better performances later in the year. Good news is that he definitely intends doing his “home” event, the Swartland Rally in September.
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