The Subaru Bruma Rally had two sides.
author: Leon Botha
A two sided rally.
On overall evaluation it could be described as an "easy rally" but at the same time the next ingredient added was deceptive and then the result turned from easy to difficult.
Like Grandpa used to say when you made a statement that lacked sense, "Now if I have ever heard anything…"
How can an "easy rally" be difficult?
All you need to do is to hide a few snags under grass, run parts of the route over hidden wetland, and then most of all - allow a field of around 50 cars to do it twice - and you have a recipe for disaster!
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Evan Hutchison and Hennie Botes - 1st Overall
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When writing the route notes for the event I realised (that was while hoping that we were on the correct route, as the grass was so long in some places that we had to guess where we were supposed to be) that the Notes were going to be "good" for the first 20 or so cars only!
Loose sections were going to become better, wet sections worse, grassy places before risky braking points would probably offer more traction later on, but they could also turn into skidpans!
The "water-traps" would also offer excellent place for guys to murder their rally cars, while others would not even know they crossed water splashes as their cars are simply superior!
I felt sorry for the real amateur and rookie drivers and cars. They were going to suffer!
When the grass was reasonably cut on Friday it made it difficult for me to say what it would be like for rally cars. You need to remember that the cars run at various heights and most of all, some drivers tend to hunt a bit wider than the intention and road was. The latter group would have picked up serious radiator grass and even mud on this event, and that in itself made it almost impossible for me to say "what it would have been like".
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Gary Berndt and Lohan Spies
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If the grass were not cut I would have recommended that teams stay at home - that I can assure you. Most cars would have overheated severely and not even the Top10 would have been able to 'clear' the road - but luckily that was not such a big factor anymore?
A big factor was the number of changes due to the improvements such as cut grass and some other repairs.
At a section where they were busy laying pipes and the initial instructions were around and between and behind the pipes, they finished work and in my eagerness I instructed the competitors to 'delete complete line!' that included the Right 7 up! Luckily one of the better navigators Geoff Tyrer came to me to enquire what the hell happened to the R7?
A calm morning turned into a frantic rush to try and ensure that everyone corrected the mistake. A red hot sms went out, I started hunting down the navigators and even put up a sign at the service park exit!
Just when I thought I could not make a mistake - I was brought back to earth so fast my head spun! Luckily - although the corner was very visible and not dangerous - I got away with it and everyone knew about the corner that was, was not and then was again!
Then the importance of arrowing and bunting was once again highlighted!
If you want to use routes that offers short cuts, alternative roads where a crew can easily turn off - Route notes on its own will usually not suffice as crews simply do not understand the importance of every piece of detail in the notes.
At one specific spot where I heard at least one crew got it wrong neither the driver not the navigator paid attention to the fact that the call said "Grassy" - a simple word - but so important when you turn off late onto a road that contains no grass at all?
The another place I heard off - the distance from the one to the next instruction that was hidden was ignored and worse of all was the fact that we even gave a total distance at the specific instruction to help?
Another problem with this type of rally is that there are for instance long Right of Left One instructions over distances as long as a kilometre without any - and I mean "any" markers! Here it is vital for the navigator to stay with the distance and watch out not to leave driver and car behind! In the end this will cause confusion as the navigator will be at the end of the stage while the driver is still trying to get to the end of the long Left or Right corner!
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Picture by Jaco Louw for Rallystar
Natie Booysen and Robbie Kuhn
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The only way to get this right unfortunately is to practice and for that you need to do rallies or go to a facility with this type of corner in it.
The influence the big field would have over the route would also play a huge role and drivers who did not keep a look out for spots that could deteriorate on their first run, may have had a few unpleasant surprises the second time around?
Just before we get to the real McCoy I need to say that sometimes I get the feeling that some competitors truly believe that I select the routes?
No true - on National Championship events I do have a bit of a say whether a stage is fit to be used or not, but even there I have to bear all factors in the area in mind. If you are in Timbuktu you can not go and look for stages in Timbukthree?
On the regionals I can only tell you what it is like - but do not really have any authority to tell a CoC that his stage is unacceptable or not.
So please do not blame me for circumstances that changes due to route selection and the number of cars repeating stages - I am only to blame when I tell you to go left when it should have been right!
I have no clue how well or bad you can drive, how good or bad your suspension, brakes or car is in general. All I can tell you is what the route will do when I go over it and this is also subject to your navigator taking the trouble to tell you about it and you listening to what he or she says!
After almost five years of doing this job - I am still surprised at the fact that almost every driver that makes a balls up - first look at what the notes said! No matter if it is the second time or even sixth time he went over the specific stage!
I can understand it, but is still baffles the mind!
What may help is to show some of you a video of your incredible antics behind a steering wheel - but then a couple of drivers will without doubt battle to find anyone willing to climb into the seat next to him/her.
I have done a comparison of times on stages 4,5 and 6.
This shows a pattern and also that some drivers were caught out by deterioration of the stages. It is also obvious that a few drivers do not listen to the notes first time around and depend very much on vision rather than what they hear. The second time around you will see a substantial decrease in time taken through the stage notwithstanding the fact that the stage deteriorated!
This could also indicate a problem on the navigator side, or simply that neither of them understand the workings of the notes.
Predictably - Evan Hutchison and Hennie Botes won stage 1 and it would have been a nasty surprise if they did not.
Jose and Marco Ferreira did well to grab second fastest time, but the gap between him and the leader was 22 seconds or THREE seconds per kilometre - which obviously made this a no-contest from the outset.
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Schalk Burger and Armand du Toit in the A7 Toyota
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Making a comeback using his A7 car was Schalk Burger Junior with Armand du Toit at his side. Schalk was 8 seconds off Ferreira's pace but led the two wheel drive brigade.
Then followed Joos and Danie Stassen with Colin Wilson and Geoff Tyrer right on their heals.
Murray Lloyd and Ralph Lehman were 6th fastest while Aggie Stroh and Megan Verlaque posted an impressive 7th fastest time in between the much more powerful cars.
Etienne and Mauritz Malherbe were 8th, while Nico Higgs and Gert Nienaber already had a few problems and could only manage 9th.
Tjaart Coetzee and Pierre Jordaan completed the Top10 for the first stage.
It was sad to see the teams of Natie Booysen/Robbie Kuhn, Jose de Gouveia/Robbie Coetzee and Henk Lategan/Barry White reaching the end of their runs so soon.
Stage 2 saw the Top three unchanged bit Tjaart Coetzee shot up to a stage 4th from a previous tenth.
Wilson remained in 5th, while Malherbe moved up two stage spots with Stroh also consistent in 7th. Lloyd dropped two spots, while Stassen only managed 9th this time around.
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Pics by Jonty Brown for Rallystar
Shaun Parsons and Gert J van Rensburg - 2nd in Class S3 6th Overall
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Shaun Parsons and Leon Marais shared 10th fastest spot once again indicating the fun we will have if both these talented young drivers get their hands on better equipment and more money!
No less than six teams packed up their goodies after this stage and it was especially sad to see Christoff and Celeste Snyders who normally stick it out to the very end while giving everyone a run for their money, under the retirements.
Gavin Cronje and van Aardt Schoeman also needed some more kilometres behind the steering wheel of their rally car, but that was it - they had to pack up and go home.
The retirements also included two of the regional front runners in the form of Michael Otto and also Nico Higgs. Johann and Natasha Fourie and Zylie Joubert/Hannes de Beer also called it a day.
After stage 2 Even was leading Jose by 42 seconds and he in turn led Schalk Burger by 8.
Colin Wilson was trailing the leader by 79 seconds while Tjaart Coetzee in fifth needed 89 to get to the front.
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Picture by Jaco Louw for Rallystar
Christo and Rene Coetzee
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Quite a few competitors experienced a problem or two in this stage with Christo and Rene Coetzee as well as Danie Duursema and Derek Benecke got stuck for ages in the last corner of the stage that turned into a mud-bath as the rally progressed.
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Picture by Jaco Louw for Rallystar
Jose & Marco Ferreira 3rd overall after a bad Stage 3
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Stage 3 the longest of the event caused a bit of a problem for Jose and Marco Ferreira - the one apparently called late and the other braked late! The results - and excursion to have a look if the grass were greener on the other side of a barbed wire. After spending about two minutes having a check they came back onto the stage and did their best to catch up but only managed 6th spot - 2m36s behind stage winner Evan Hutchison.
Schalk Burger was 2nd fastest while Tjaart Coetzee made good use of the all wheel drive through a difficult stage to post third fastest - but Agie Stroh was again most impressive bringing the S3 Toyota home in 4th fastest time!
Sean and Gavin Hewitt shot up 9 stage positions from SS2 to post 5th fastest, Ferreira was 6th, Parsons 7th and Gavin Harrison also popped into the Top10 followed by Karl and Simon du Plessis in the Chevy while Hans Himmel and Greg Godrich also appeared in the Top10.
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Picture by Jaco Louw for Rallystar
Hans Himmel and Greg Godrich
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Etienne Malherbe got stuck in the stage - while Colin Wilson and Geoof Tyrer were joined by Erik de Jager and Herman Groenewald on their way home!
Hutchison extended his lead to 75 seconds but Schalk Burger was now in 2nd spot. Tjaart moved up two positions into 3rd, while Jose dropped 2 to fourth. Agie Stroh and Megan Verlaque was now in 5th overall while Shaun Hewitt moved up 8 positions into 6th.
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Aggie Stroh and Megan Verlaque - 1st Class and 4th Overall!
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Shaun Parsons was now in 7th clear from any possible threat from Leon Mare who had a problem with water or mud in this stage.
Karl du Plessis was 8th, Gavin Harrison 9th and Joos Stassen topped the first ten.
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Murray Lloyd and Ralph Lehman went well until Stage 5
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Most spectacular drops in positions went to Murray Lloyd and Ralph Lehman who took a nicer road than the one they should have been on dropped an impressive 20 spots, Etienne Malherbe did even better by losing 22 by getting stuck, and Leon Marais topped them all with an inspiring loss of 23 places while battling to get out of a bit of mud!
Evan won SS4 and improved his time from the first run by one second. Tjaart Coetzee on the other hand improved by 46 seconds on his second run - while Jose came third and improved by 5 seconds.
Agie posted fourth fastest and 10 better than his first run, while Etienne Malherbe - fresh from a mudhole did 9 better than the first time.
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Pics by Jonty Brown for Rallystar
Ettiene and Mauritz Malherbe
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Schalk Burger dropped 28 seconds compared to run one, while the Lady of the stage prize goes to Michelle Lourens who lost no less than 21 minutes compared to her first run! That bloody navigator…..
The Stassens called it a day after the Scoobie started to overheat due to lots of grass and mud blocking the radiator.
Hutchison led Coetzee who now moved into 2nd by 129s. Schalk Burgers loss of time in SS4 cost him an overall position while Jose remained in 4th.
Agie Stroh also clung to his 5th position while young Shaun Parsons moved into 6th at the detriment of Sean Hewitt who moved down to 7th.
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Sean and Gavin Hewitt
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Then followed Harrison, du Plessis and Himmel to complete the Top10.
Michelle Lourens lost 11 places in the process.
Evan won stage 5 but was 1 second slower than the first time through. Tjaart Coetzee was seconds fastest but again 17 seconds quicker that the first time. Jose was 3rd quickest followed by Schalk Burger.
Kosie van der Merwe and Karel Snyman as well as Murray Lloyd and Ralph Lehman dropped out of the race.
In overall positions the only movement in the Top10 was when Gavin Harrison moved past Shaun Parsons into 6th.
The final stage of the day arrived. The teams would repeat the long stage three and this time around Evan took 24 seconds off his first time! Tjaart lost 27 compard to his first run of the stage while Jose did 38 better than the first time around.
Schalk Burger and Armand du Toit had a horrible stage and lost 6 minutes compared to their first time over it.
Etienne and Mauritz Malherbe; Dick Pallas and Rene Botha, Kosie van der Merwe and Karel Snyman as well as Murray Lloyd and Ralph Lehman could not complete the stage.
Evan Hutchison and Hennie Botes won overall by no less than 222s, Tjaart Coetzee and Pierre Jordaan were third and Jose and Marco Ferreira were 3rd.
Agie Stroh and Megan Verlaque won S3 and finished in an excellent 4th overall after a very consistent run.
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Pics by Jonty Brown for Rallystar
Pierre de Clerq and Vanny Geldenhuys S2 Winners
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Schalk Burger and Armand du Toit won S4, Karl and Simon du Plessis took S6, while Pierre de Clercq and Vanny Geldenhuys took S2.
Eddie Simpson and Marco Lottering took S1.
You can see the full results and stage/overall analysis plus the stage time comparisons by clicking the button top right of this article.
It was heartening to see the number of entries back at 50 but in a way sad to see that the regional competitors do not get what they deserve…
Read all about the Rallystar views tomorrow - same time same place!
PRESS RELEASES:
MDJ Motorsport’s luckless run continues
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Erik de Jager and Herman Groenewald
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The Meyes and de Jager motorsport team had to be content with no championship points after yet another luckless run on the third round of the Northern regions Rally Championship, the Subaru Bruma Rally.
The rally started off badly on the short open section to stage 1 when the team realized that the car’s handling wasn’t what it should be. Erik and Herman managed to finish the stage, but knew that they lost loads of time due to the cars bad handling.
During service the team worked furiously to solve the problem to no avail and the team lost even more time during stage two.
Midway through stage three the car’s handling deteriorated dramatically up until the point that there was no handling to speak of. “Coming in to a long left one, in fourth gear, the left front wheel struts sheared off! With the car heading sideways and on three wheels into the mielies, there wasn’t much we could do, but to try and keep it on it’s wheels. We eventually came to a stand still after the car hit a contour and landed on it’s nose. How we managed not to roll is still a mystery to me, but it was most certainly the scariest moment of my rally career” Erik explained.
“The say bad luck happens in three’s so hopefully that was our bad luck for the season. During the long break we will do a thorough check on the car, regroup and come back fighting during the second half of the championship.” Erik Said
The Meyes and de Jager motorsport team would like to thank the following sponsors: Mr Auto Engineering, Masenduck Construction, WMC Sheet Metal, Blue Dot Group, Dan Auto, Motormaster Panebeaters , Mega Lube, and Midas Tzaneen. Then last but definitely not least a very BIG thank you to Autozone in Mokopane and Chris Roux for helping us with roadside repairs on the trailer until late Friday night
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