Gemmell does it by 1.5 second
author: Andries van der Walt
In another close finish Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in a Class S2000 Castrol Toyota Auris has be declared the provisional winner of the VW Rally that ended early this afternoon in Port Elizabeth. Gemmell took the lead on the rally at the end of the 4th stage yesterday and in spite of determined onslaughts by Enzo Kuun in a S2000 BP VW Polo and Conrad Rautenbach in a S2000 Ford Fiesta, managed to keep them at bay and clinch the win.
Kuun and his co-driver, Guy Hodgson who spent most of the rally in second position behind Gemmell, finished second. The win by Gemmell now puts him level on points on the Sasol SA National Rally Championship log/. Each has 88 points.
The "old man" of South African rallying, Jannie Habig and co-driver Ralph Pitchford in a BP VW Polo, was third overall 12 seconds behind his team mate Kuun. He remains third in the championship on 72 points. The Zimbabwean, Rautenbach and his co-driver, Peter Marsh finished fourth, 30.1 seconds behind Habig. A puncture on stage 8 put paid to any ideas that the Zimbabwean had of catching Gemmell after winning the first two of the five contested stages this morning.
Charl Wilken/Greg Godrich in the Basil Read Bizhub Ford Fiesta had their first finish in the Ford after a disastrous start to the season when Wilken's new Ford Fiesta burnt out on the first event of the year. He rejoined the championship on the Rally of South Africa, but did not finish. They finished 5th 2:37 seconds behind Rautenbach.
The competition was once again very close. The VW Rally was the fifth round of the Sasol SA National Rally championship and for the first time adopted the World Rally Championship format. Four of the stages completed yesterday was re-run today.
The event consisted of 11 stages with a total stage distance of 163 km.
The full final results will be available later.
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