Luke Botha and Barry White inscribed their names in the history books by taking their maiden National Rally victory, claiming line honours on the Hallspeed Rally which ended in Bronkhorstspruit today. The Force Fuel Ford Fiesta S2000 pair, liveried in a tribute “S2000” colour scheme for the occasion, led from start to finish – barring a brief moment after stage 3 – in spite of alternator problems during day 2 of the final round of the championship.
Botha won six of the eight stages, chased hard on the opening day by Namibian Wilro Dippenaar/Kesevan Naidoo in their PZN Panelbeaters Toyota Auris S2000. After two stages and 39km of rallying on Friday, Botha’s lead was a mere 7/10ths of a second. Dippenaar took the lead after stage three, opening up a 12 second lead, but in stage four, disaster struck the Toyota crew when the car ground to a halt with engine failure.
“It is a humbling experience to win a National Rally and have your name inscribed in the record books. I had a great fight with Wilro; it is a pity he retired so soon”, said Botha at the finish.
Second overall and taking their fifth victory of the year was the triple S1600 championship pairing of Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle in their Yato Tools Toyota Etios R2. They had a comfortable 36 second cushion over Namibian Marko Himmel and Rikus Fourie in their Electrothread Toyota Etios R2. This was Himmel’s first rally of the year and an excellent performance in the circumstances. Himmel survived a near roll in the penultimate stage.
Richard Leeke and Henry Kohne (P1 Nutrition/ATS Ford Fiesta R2) just missed out on a podium place by a scant 2.3 seconds. The gap between Himmel and Leeke was a constant 16 seconds until stage six, when it dropped to six seconds. After stage seven, Himmel had only 1.7 seconds in hand but a superb drive by the young Namibian saw the final gap open up so Leeke had to be content with fourth spot.
AC Potgieter/Tommy du Toit brought their Lake Umuzi Volkswagen Polo R2 home fifth overall after overcoming handling problems. Potgieter, also entered in the concurrently run Northern Regions Rally Championship, ran out the overall winner of the series, much to their delight.
Rounding out the six National finishers, George Smalberger and Chris Brand were delighted to end their season with a strong finish, the Shield Car Care VW Polo R2 running cleanly through the 146km event.
Leading retirements included the impressive newcomer Jono Van Wyk and Scott Howden in their Swazi Cowboy Ford Fiesta R2. Van Wyk looked immediately at home in a S1600 car and was running in sixth place when the crew retired the car after the exhaust system fell off in successive stages.
Jaco and George Baker retired their elderly Toyota Conquest, running in class NRC 2, with fuel pump problems in the open section after completing stage five.
Chris Coertse/Greg Godrich managed to roll twice in 18 hours, the first time at the end of stage two with minor cosmetic damage, and the second time in stage three; this time the Electrothread Toyota Etios R2 came to rest on its side, and the crew was unable to push it back onto its wheels.
Rocky Reyneke/Gert Nienaber (Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) retired in stage two with crank sensor failure, and Paulus Franken/Pierre Arries, from Cape Town, retired their Manitou VW Polo R2 with engine failure just four km into the opening stage.
With several national competitors also entered in the Northern Regions Rally Championship, Luke Botha/Barry White also won that rally-within-a rally, from Leeke/Kohne, Potgieter/Du Toit and Nicholas Ryan/Adam Tyrer VW Polo)
Story by: National Rally Commission
Photo: Dave Ledbitter