National Rally Championship
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DRIVERS Click to order your pics
The Toyota Dealer Great North Rally, which was the last round of the 2002 season, also determined a number of class championships.
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Jan Habig
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Habig was leading Enzo by 10 points, and anything could happen in this class. Enzo however blew it when he hit a sump rock at great speed, cracking the sump and causing damage that took almost an hour repair. Enzo was thereafter disqualified for excessive lateness, and Habig walked away with A8 and the overall Championship.
The most unlikely one to be taken away was N4 where Rueda (Mitsubishi) was leading with a comfortable 19 points from Botha (Pretoria Subaru STi). Botha started his campaign only during the fourth event of the year, and it was very unlikely that he would manage to pull off the N4 Championship for Subaru again. To everybody’s surprise, the 53 year old, won the class in his first rally after a five-year lay off.
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Leon Botha
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He completed the season finishing all five events he entered, winning the class no less than three times, with one second and one third, and all in the top ten.
His fourth overall and class win during this weekend saw him take N4 by ONE point from a charging Rueda.
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Etienne Lourens
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Etienne Lourens pulled of his first ever overall National Championship win, and by doing that, he also secured the Class A7 championship. A suitable and deserved finish to a season that did not start too well for this sometimes underestimated driver. He drove a consistent if not brilliantly planned rally.
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Jean Pierre Damseaux
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The younger Damseaux, JP won the A6 Championship with a brilliant and also steady drive taking him to a third overall position in the rally and fourth overall in the National Championship ahead of some real big guns.
Class N2 was won by Dean Sanders and he deservedly also claimed the overall Production Car Trophy. Dean seemed to have settled nicely after finding the right pace to rally at. He deserves the win through and through.
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Dean Sanders
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Then came A5 where Rodney Visagie and Kobus Roos finished on the same points, 75. The Rally committee decided in Visagie’s favour based on performance through the year. If you also take in consideration that Visagie was disqualified in one event due to a technicality, it was a good decision and a well-deserved win.
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Rodney Visagie
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The Geriatrics team of Geoff Mortimer and Gerry Gericke won N3. They could actually afford not to compete in the Subaru Cape Rally, and still win the championship. Gericke however scored an extra few navigation points in the Cape by navigating for Leon Botha in the Subaru STi.
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Geoff Mortimer
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Dean Sanders did not win N2 he actually walked it! He finished all but one event he entered and consistently build on his points. A performance like that deserves trophies.
The “little class” N1 was won by Gregory Bloomer but with only a 50% finishing rate, he has the talent to do a lot better. It is actually strange that the N1 cars do not complete every event they enter for. Danie Craven used to say, “Look at the score board, a win by one point is a win” Gregory won by a larger margin, but we hope to see some serious improvement in this class.
The Total Team, in this class had a real nightmare, as they must have wondered where, and when their next accident would happen. Vusi Mabanga will have to get his act together, opportunities such as this one, tends to knock only once.
The overall lack of finishes in this class, makes one wonder if the small and underpowered cars are actually up to it? The stages this year were very rough at times and conditions tended to go to the absolute extremes.
NAVIGATORS
Let us start at the lower classes for a change. Gregory Wood won the Class N1 championship and will probably be sitting next to Gregory Bloomer again next year.
The Gericke family managed to win both classes N2 and N3. If we are not mistaken, this is the first time a father and son, won two navigator titles in the same year?
Ashley won N2 and Gerry N3.
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Gerry Gericke
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Martin Botha managed to pull off the N4 navigators Championship as Leon Botha used four different navigators during his five rallies.
Brendan Nunan claimed class A5 co-driving for Kobus Roos. Roos’ excellent result says a lot for the young Nunan’s ability.
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Carolyn Swan
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Having virtually grown up surrounded by rally cars, it is good to see Gerhard Snyman winning the A6 Championship. We predict that he is on his way to become one of the sought after navigators in the country.
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Andre Vermeulen
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If there was a prize for dedication, Andre Vermeulen, who won Class A7 with Etienne Lourens, would be a deserved winner. There was some criticism in the beginning when Etienne decided on him, as he was a big guy, and the critics felt that Etienne should go for a smaller navigator.
Andre did his share; by shaking, a lot of extra weight, getting fit, even stopped having a beer or two!
Best of all is of course the fact that he did an excellent job in a quicker car than he was used to, proving that anybody with the will to win, and the ability not to get confused, scared, car sick, or whatever it is, some navigators suffer from, can do it!
Well done Andre, you deserve this championship.
Twice in a row, also back to back, and part of one of the best rally teams in South Africa, Douglas Judd deservedly shares the top honours with Jannie Habig.
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Douglas Judd
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Worthy South Africa Champions – each and every one of them.
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