THE 2012 SASOL RALLY a review by Leon Botha
author: Leon Botha
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Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton - once again establised their superiority!
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Waiting at the end of Stage 1 for the cars to come through, I predicted a time of around 19m 40s, not really knowing what the road conditions would be after the bitbof rain and traffic since I went over it. I was a little worried about the rocks not behaving!
Then Mark Cronje popped out at the end in a time of 18:34.7 while sweeping the road and I knew my prediction was not only out, it was ridiculous.
The reason?
Well if Mark posted this sort of time while sweeping, then the rest had to break through the 18m20 barrier?
Leeroy followed next and managed an 18:56.2, then came Gemmell after spending only 18:34.6 in the stage and I was confused! He was only a tenth on a second quicker that Cronje!
No matter how sorry you feel for the rest, it remains a tall order to write about the Sasol Rally including more than two teams - Mark Cronje/Robin Houghton and on the other side Johnny Gemmell and Carolyn Swan?
Cronje swept (for those who do not understand the term - he ran first on the road clearing some loose topping off the road surface) from start to finish of the rally and Gemmell ran second on the road almost from the start if I recall correctly?
This meant that the two teams competed under almost exactly the same conditions.
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Jan Habig and Robert Paisley - a well deserved fourth spot for them.
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Much have been written about the closeness of this rally war and most fans will known that this could have gone either way, or could it?
An almost identical situation played off in Natal where Cronje came out on top.
The question therefore was if Mark developed the ability to control a rally on this level? The answer in my mind was a slightly reserved "yes" even if or rather because the result of the Sasol Rally eventually was too close for comfort!
Reporting on rallies you have to bear all the excuses and claims in mind.
You have to respect the ability of drivers to a realistic extent and try not to be influenced by silly claims in pre-event releases - where a Zero can be seen as a Hero because of some clever spinning! In many cases one little highlight gets lifted out of proportion and some of the readers will actually believe that they are reading about a real world champion in the making - while in reality the buck and talent stopped at the bank balance or sponsorship!
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Jon Williams and Cobus Vrey - just a question of time and they will be right there!
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Real rally drivers are far and in between, simply because it is the most difficult sport in the world to participate in. Of course it is talent driven - an outstanding driver can win in an inferior car, but in the "head" department no one can ever fool nature!
You either go into this sport emotionally prepared or you are stuffed before you start! This was, is, and will be the downfall of many good drivers!
I am in the wonderful position where I look at and listen to this important part of the game daily. I have seen how just a simple adjustment of the mindset can make or break a driver in an instant. I have heard a driver say a simple thing to the opposition before a stage and vóilà the stage (if you will excuse the pun) is set for the listener to go off or screw up BIG TIME!
The simple fact of rallying is that if you cannot control your mind - it will subconsciously and automatically determine your success or failure – while the mechanical side of the car obviously have to give you a fair chance but does not play such a big role.
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Japie van Niekerk and Gerhard Snyman - lost a bit of time late but were consistent around 7th fastest!
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Anyway, as this side of the sport is forming a bigger and bigger part of my business you will forgive me if I do not reveal too much? The only bad part of my business however is that it does not grow by word of mouth - I only have secret customers who will never admit let alone acknowledge or thank me afterwards for my services in the mind department!
What scares me though is when I listen to some of the advice people accept from others.
I have heard one of the worst drivers I have ever seen advise a fairly good driver on drive-lines through corners and about "apexes". I could not believe what I heard while the person who listened to this load of crap actually seemed to be impressed!
If you know something about rallying do yourself a favour and listen to comments of people standing next to the road, it will sometimes make you want to let your stomach go!
Back in the rally Cronje and Gemmell have shown those privileged enough to be standing next to the stages on the Sasol Rally what this sport is all about! The biggest factor is that both of them actually were still within their ability and in control, so don’t be surprised if you see the pace increased even more as the year progresses?
The 2012 championship is going to be one of the most interesting and closed knit ones ever!
I have also been impressed by Hans Weijs who will win an event somewhere sometime this year given half a chance, but the driver whom impressed me most was young Henk Lategan. He screwed up well in the first rally in Natal (my opinion), smiled somewhat embarrassed and came out on the Sasol with the maturity that actually made my jaw drop!
At the start of the season I felt that it was too early to put him in an S2000 but if the Sasol is anything to go by, I am going to have to eat humble pie - big time, with my mouth so full I will not be able to make an excuse!
He truly impressed me most of anyone and I have no doubt that he is going to be a brilliant driver - IF he manages to build up and not spike up and down!
Then there was the Zulu Impi who refused to be fazed out while he sat in a well prepared car. I could not help smiling looking at his serious and focussed effort! The normally jovial “Gugu PR” hardly smiled and I knew that he was focussed and ready to prove a point, although I admit that I did not expect he would be able to withstand a very serious climb up the ladder from Hergen towards the end!
He did indeed!
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Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin - a career best drive!
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Well done Gugu, believe me when I say this is only the start - albeit a late career one, it will still be impressive!
Japie van Niekerk drove a strong car this time and posted consistent times and even managed to win his first stage overall in an S2000.
The rally drama started to unfold when Gemmell made his intentions very, very clear in SS1. He seemed to anticipate an early Cronje attack and posted a stage winning time.
Cronje on the other hand obviously planned to catch everyone with their pants down and he sent a screaming Ford through the stage like a master and limited the "time damage" to only one tenth of a second behind Gemmell!
I do believe Mark was a bit surprised when he heard Gemmells time?
The young Hans Sweijs came in third 11.4s off Gemmell's stage winning time.
The rally spooks struck early when Charl Wilken lost about 8minutes with a flat, Hergen also hit apparently the same rock and drove with a flat wheel for quite a distance. Hein Lategan also broke something on the back suspension of the Peugeot. Moosa and Weston both rolled their cars.
I thought it would be interesting to see what the "note making experience" all "over seas" teams have so much to say about would mean on this event?
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Hans Weijs and Bjorn Degandt in the BP Polo - once again proving they have lots of talent!
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This time they had the benefit of the Recce run over the stages and the DVD with the Route Notes I supplied.
According to the clever people our poor drivers with no experience would not stand a chance while stuck with the usual Route notes even with a chance to make a few changes during the recce run!
Then of course their was also the Dippenaar team who were going to show everyone the way after using the rally winning Jemba system or whatever the name is, on the recce? The results actually showed a worse performance than in Natal?
The S2000 Privateer class were all unpleasantly surprised by a "total make over" Gugu Zulu who simply dropped his head and creamed them!
I heard someone say after Stage 1 that "we will see later on" - after a short discussion I am now the proud owner of one of his R100 notes! Thanks Gugu!
Cronje countered in SS2 and took the lead by 8.1s from Gemmell while Weijs dropped back to 17.4 and Leeroy needed 41.8 to get back to the leaders! Enzo trailed Leeroy by 1.1s.
Stage 3 was a repeat of SS1 and by now Cronje and Gemmell would at least also benefit from a cleanly swept stage?
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JP Damseaux and Grant Martin - another steady drive into 8th spot overall
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The efficient use of Route Notes would be proven by a small difference between first and second runs through the stages with a little bit of grace for sweeping! Weijs improved a whole 10s on the second run, Gemmell who rewrites the notes to a "simpler" system gained 10.9s, while Cronje who uses standard notes and swept on the first run "only" managed to improve by 8.6s - maybe this will put all the clever opinions to bed, once and for all?
Gemmell did manage to pull back 2.6s by winning the stage from Cronje and the defect shrunk to 5.5s with Weijs falling back to +27.3
Meanwhile I kept a very worried eye on young Henk Lategan waiting for the "ball factor" to pop?
In stages one and two he contained the adrenaline and posted respectable 13th and 12th fastest times and I sighed with relief. Then as he stopped the clock after SS3 I quickly calculated and saw that he did not do the expected 19 minutes like everyone around him, but that he broke into the 18 minute barrier like only the top runners could.
Not too sure of my calcs I waited and saw frowns between the eyes of a few of the normal circus of time keepers, shit stirrers and tyre temperature gaugers standing around.
Someone said "this is a mistake - surely it has to be 19m52s?" looking at me and thank goodness I saved my reputation by saying, "no that will be 18 minutes - he can drive those times, but I wish he would not do it right now!"
I could not help thinking about the first time during initial training when I went with this young talented driver and after a while said to him that he could take a certain corner flat out - meaning in third gear which was the gear he used in that corner all day long.
On the next run as we approached he went up to fourth, I saw this corner approaching and started to take my cell phone out to phone Hein (his father) to explain why we had such an accident!
He did not even pretend to tap off and we made it through the corner with a smile on his face and a near ball in my pants! Then I realised that we had something here! It was going to be a hell of an accident or I was fortunate to be in the car with a future champ!
....but time still needs to play its role. All I am saying is that the few sponsors we have can actually look locally and will be surprised to know that young Henk Lategan is not all we have got.
I will make a list of a few drivers out there in the cold that will hold their own against some of the current heroes anytime of the week!
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Henk Lategan and Barry White - simply a fantastic effort by this team!
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Special Stage 4 belonged to Cronje and he managed to open the gap between him and Gemmell to 13.2 seconds. Habig started posting times more suited to the "Habig reputation" and brought the Basil Read Ford in third quickest. Poulter was also putting up a good fight while Hans Weijs managed a fifth fastest over the second run of the previous stage 2.
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Werner Koekemoer and Etienne Lourens
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Gugu was leading S2000 Privateers with Lategan trailing by 6 seconds and Werner Koekemoer in third after an exciting but steady drive so far! I am so glad old Werner is back especially to entertain the crowd with his sometimes slow but always spectacular antics!
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Ashley Haigh-Smith and Craig Parry - led by the proverbial mile when bad luck struck.
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In the S1600 class Ashley Haigh-Smith was killing the opposition by posting respectable S2000 times! In four stages he opened almost three minutes on his nearest rivals!
I agree absolutely with the strategy used on this young driver - this year will be the year he will reach the limits of the S1600 class and will then with only a few changes he will be able to stir the pot seriously in S2000.
I can only hope a full effort is in place to ensure the sponsors for his future career, because he has a career in motorsport coming his way! Here you have the looks, the personality and most of all the talent - a perfect marketing package where you don't have to bullshit or look for something to lift out or pretend that there is potential.
Four "Spectator Stages" now followed and at the end of Stage 8 where Cronje picked up a 20s penalty the positions were as follows: Gemmell led the event, with Cronje in second trailing by 13.5s. Weijs in 3rd spot was on +38.8; Habig 4th on +80.9 and in fifth followed Jon Williams on 128.3.
So we had a serious rally on our hands and everyone of the normal clan meeting at the end of stages, where many things are decided, worked out and spoken about, waited to see who was going to strike first?
Some expected Mark to close the gap immediately while others kept in mind that he would still be sweeping the road!
I need to say here that after the recce runs on Wednesday light rain fell and this helped settle the surface a bit, secondly the fact that at least 60 recce cars travelled over the route did help clean some dirt off the surface.
The big factor now would be the behaviour of the rocky surface? Stage 10 was my biggest concern where there were serious rocky areas. The leaders would pull out or loosen the rocks and from car four or five on the road that risks of hitting one wrong for a free puncture would start. This stage would be repeated as SS12 and that was where the real trick came into play!
Leading the field on this event was however not such a hell of a handicap, as was the case in Natal, where the slippy surface played havoc with those leading the field.
Being first on the road there almost guaranteed going off somewhere!
The stages of the Sasol would actuality in most cases deteriorate somewhat and in rocky areas would offer traps you did not want with an overall win in sight.
Both Gemmell and Cronje must have realised this going over the stages the first time.
The Cronje supporters were right, he did indeed shrink the 13.9 second lead of Gemmell to 4.1 when the curtain raised on the first gravel stage of the day.
Hergen Fekken also decided that enough was enough and he posted third fastest time with a Polo that seemed not to have the same grunt than that of Weijs and even in places the one driven by van Niekerk.
It may have been my imagination as I did not really time the cars over sections, but both the Polo’s of Enzo and Hergen seemed to lack the punch I have been looking forward to see! The handling and suspension setup genuinely looked superior but there was something missing?
Ashley Haigh-Smith picked up a problem and lost minutes in this stage to drop behind the new class S1600 leader Botterill while Janse van Rensburg remained in third spot.
In SS10 Cronje brought the time difference down to 2.4 seconds with Fekken again claiming 2nd fastest through the stage!
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Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries - at least a better run than in Natal.
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Cronje was relentless in his attack and after SS11 the time difference was a blink of an eye or to be more specific, eight tenths of one second!
I knew that Mark was going to take care through Stage 12 as the loose rocks through this specific stage would offer a definite threat and then I expected him to come up with an all or nothing attack in SS13. This was also where I decided I had enough and cruised back to Pretoria upsetting everything and everybody in the car through the mountain passes. Man I love those roads!
As expected Johnny Gemmell took time back in SS12 and Mark trailed by 3.4 going into the penultimate stage of the rally!
One slip, one wrong gear, one fart or false start and that would be it! I don't think I have the nerve for this crap anymore!
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Johnny Gemmell and Carolin Swan - incredible drive against the best in S2000
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Cronje wiped out the deficit in SS13 and built a lead of 2.8s going into the final stage of this exciting rally. Charl Wilken suddenly threw his "live to fight another day" philosophy overboard, and left a reminder that he remains a force to be reckoned with in the minds of all by posting second fastest time with Gemmell 6.2s off the pace when it really mattered.
SS14 did not feature either Cronje or Gemmell in the top two while Wilken won it, followed by Jon Williams in the second Sasol Ford.
Cronje managed to pull away another half second to win the event by a mere 3.1s from Gemmell who also has to receive much credit for something that can only be described as a superb drive!
The top 10 places were filled by Cronje; 2. Gemmell +3.1; 3. Weijs +97.4; 4. Habig +126.4; 5. Williams +197.8; Zulu +271.9 winning S2000 privateers.
The Rallystar Man of the Rally? I truly believe that this time it has to go to Gugu Zulu with Henk Lategan in close second spot.
What a rally - all we now still need to do is to get the old atmosphere back where everyone can enjoy the sport without being overwhelmed by floating egos?
Well done once again to Willie and his team - you set a new standard and to everyone at Sasol who managed and presented their event without allowing anyone to interfere – even you will have a hard time to generate this sort of success again! Magnificent to say the least!
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Morne Janse van Rensburg and Rikus Fourie - S1600 winners!
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The overall championship standing will be approximately as follows:
1 CRONJE 50
2 GEMMELL 42
3 HABIG 34
4 WEIJS 34
5 WILLIAMS 28
6 DAMSEAUX 27
7 WILKEN 27
8 ZULU 24
9 MOOSA 20
10 Kuun 16
11 FEKKEN 14
12 LATEGAN HENK 12
13 VAN NIEKERK 11
14 Dippenaar 11
15 POULTER 10
16 Klaassen 10
17 KOEKEMOER 9
18 Trott 8
19 LLOYD 7
20 VERLAQUE 7
21 VaceLyle 7
22 STASSEN 6
23 LATEGAN HEIN 5
24 V RENSBURG 4
25 SNYDERS 2
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