A7 debut victory for A&E Motorsport Toyota
author: Patrick Vermaak
After almost a full season on the sidelines Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak found themselves on the top step of the class A7 podium when the dust settled after the 2010 edition of the Overberg Grand Prix, driving their A&E Motorsport Toyota Run X RSi 2.0 20v to a debut class victory. To finish first one first have to finish and the class newcomers took this age old adage to heart from the Caledon Casino start on Friday.
The eleven stage Toyota Dealer Rally living up to expectations as the fastest rally on the annual Sasol South African Rally Championship and thanks to the arrival of the Route Notes any benefits possible through local knowledge have been negated. With the likes of Gavin Cronjé, Chris de Witt and Gugulethu Zulu entered the big dogs were out to play and they were not going to take any prisoners.
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Pic by Frank Pey
Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak - winners Class A7
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Under no illusions of the challenge ahead Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak started their event with a clean slate, learning whilst running sometimes the best schoolmaster and we were finding it to be the most challenging environment we have ever encountered. Take it easy and these guys will embarrass you, push too hard and you will be embarrassed when they eventually find you in the bush. Yes, we wanted to see what we could do against this standard of opposition, but the A7 Toyota demanded respect and a few wide-eyed moments quickly trimmed us down to size on the opening two stages.
Having failed to complete a single stage on the Kwik-Fit Bredasdorp regional rally the A&E Motorsport team wisely decided to waive the Tour Natal Rally in favour of intensive preparation of team and machine and many hours went into the preparation of the complex A7 machine. Finishing was our first objective as we needed the kilometres to learn the demands of the new class and drove our own rally on Friday. No new tyres available and experimenting with everything from tyre pressures to fuel levels the team slowly settled into an acceptable rhythm.
Unbeknown to us the opposition were having their own challenges to contend with as racing ace Gavin Cronjé (karting and Le Mans series world champion) and Van Aardt Schoeman (former Gp N3 Ford Fiesta navigator with Martin Steyn) did some damage to the suspension on their VW Polo. They won the opening two stages but the rough in SS2 saw them ailing for the balance of the opening day. Gugulethu Zulu (class A5 national rally champion) and Shaun Visser (former navigator for Vusi Mabanga in class A5 Yaris) claimed stage three but then electrical maladies slowed their BP Ultimate VW Polo. Chris de Wit (former A7 national champion) and Dean Redelinghuys quietly stayed in contention with the Automark Toyota Run X RSi 2.0 20v, picking the right moment to strike. Chris won the opening round in Natal with Riaan Erasmus as navigator and simply needed a finish in the Cape to retain his championship points lead.
Keeping their noses clean Ettiene and Patrick suddenly found themselves to be the quickest of the A7 entries without having to risk their necks. Crashing the car would obviously prove painful in some way, but having to face the team would after all their work would have been even worse. Taking a debut stage win in A7 on just the fourth special was an unexpected bonus and to win SS5 and SS6 topped a great opening day. Gavin Cronjé and Van Aardt Schoeman led the class by 3.8 seconds but had to mend a wounded Polo. Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak surprised to find themselves second and the Run X still in perfect nick. The Toyota had plenty in reserve but we could not use it yet. Gugulethu Zulu and Shaun Visser a bit of an unknown as they would be quick and then slow due to the electrical maladies whilst the performance of Chris de Wit and Dean Redelinghuys had us suspecting that all was not well in the Automark camp – or was Chris simply playing a waiting game.
Saturday dawned with no rain in sight and a strong wind to clear the dust in the valleys. Gavin and Van Aardt had the Polo purring after service and were clearly the team to beat. Gugu and Shaun made it a VW one-two though when Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak learned a few more lessons in just how quickly one could screw up. Stalling off the startline the Run X valuable seconds ticked away before all the candles got lit-up again. Running really well we lost more time when we encountered an upside down JP and thick dust had us stop at the crossing.
Feeling sorry for Jannie Habig who walked quite a distance to spectate we put a smile on his face when a comedy of errors saw the Toyota turn left instead of right, stall when reverse could eventually be selected. The only positive side was that Jannie could not see us blush and we could not hear him call us idiots! Having gotten my drivers attention we completed the stage with good pace but knew we were going to have our backsides kicked by everyone else. For all practical reasons we threw all chances of staying with Gavin and Gugu down the tubes as they would undoubtedly enjoy the 40 second bonus we presented to them on a platter.
Chris de Wit and Dean Redelinghuys retired in SS7 with engine maladies on the Automark Toyota, supporting our theory that all was not well in their camp. But, being second on the road we did not have any information regarding Chris and were hopefull that we could at least recover to second in the class. We did learn that Gugu had incurred a penalty leaving Parc Ferme when the electrical gremlins saw them struggling to start the BP Polo.
Motorsport has to rate as one of the cruellest sports around as Gavin Cronjé and Van Aardt Schoeman dropped almost twenty three minutes on SS8 when the VW Polo came to a grinding halt with throttle cable problems. Gugu Zulu and Shaun Visser even more unfortunate when their BP Ultimate Polo cut out altogether, forcing them to retire. Clearly working on their car as we passed we knew that we were in with a shout and tried to maintain a comfortable but quick pace as we had no idea what our position was relative to Gugu as he was still following behind us on the road.
Driving their own rally again Ettiene du Toit and Patrick Vermaak unwittingly won SS9 to take a commanding lead in class A7. Gavin and Van Aardt addng to their miseries when the strong wind almost ripped the drivers door off their Polo and Gaving had to drive with one hand on the door whilst Van Aardt changed gears, another three minutes gone! With all the pressure gone the final two stages simply had to be completed without incident but Ettiene was starting to complain about not being able to select first gear on the Run X?
Gavin and Van Aardt had the Polo on song again and we were happy to let them push as hard as they wanted. We were determined to bring the Run X home unscathed and would not be drawn into a fight with anyone. Nine kilometres into the final 21,87km we had a heart stopping moment when suddenly Ettiene failed to select any gears, then second , then third , then fourth and finally fifth before the lever fell back in into the cockpit of the car. Fast roads, fifth gear – the decision was made to continue for as long as we could and thought it felt as though minutes were being lost Gavin only took 25 seconds off us. Driving back to the Caledon Casino with our hearts in our throats we were extremely relieved to make it into Parc Ferme.
Only to bump into Judge Dredd (alias Jerry Bailey). The last time the MSA Technical Delegate invited us for a post rally strip we also missed the girls and were disqualified from a class win. No matter how confident you are that everything on your car has been done according to the book the final technical evaluation must represent the worst part of any event. Needless to say there were worrying moments when three different intake sizes presented themselves for evaluation. Fortunately the one in the car was found to be the correct one and the dry lump in my throat found some lubrication to drop back into my stomach.
Eleventh overall, first two wheel drive team and first in class A7 a dream start to our season. The gearbox maladies proved to be no worse than a broken linkage bolt. To have run competitively first time out on second hand tyres was extremely pleasing.
A great big thank you to team owner Alan du Toit and service crew Albertus and Jacobus Loubser, Ian Erasmus and Neels. There might only be two of us in the car but we cannot achieve anything without you guys.
Still so much to learn!
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