The Ford Performance crew of Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton in a Ford Performance S2000 Ford Fiesta, took the lead on the first of the day’s four stages this morning when the Imperial Toyota Rally started in Pretoria this morning. The rally is round six of the SA National Rally Championship.
Cronje had the Team Castrol Toyota Yaris of Leeroy Poulter and Elvene Coetzee on his tail for most of the day and will start the second day’s six stages at Cullinan tomorrow with a lead of 12.2 seconds. The only casualty of the day was Henk Lategan in the lead Sasolracing Volkswagen Polo who had to withdraw from the event with a broken sump after the end of stage three.
Lategan was third overall at the e4nd of stage three when he had to withdraw. That movdd Japie van Niekerk in the NAD Ford Fiesta into fourth place, but he experienced problems that dropped him down to 9th overall at the end of the day.
Giniel de Villiers took over third overall 33.0 seconds behind Cronje, followed by Hergen Fekken in a Sasolracing Volkswagfen Polo on 39.0 seconds off the lead.
Thilo Himmel in another Volkswagen Polo was 5th +51.7 followed by Gugu Zulu also in a Volkswagen Polo +55.5.
Wilro Dippenaar in a NR4 Toyota Auris ewas in 6th place +1:00.7, with Ernie van der Walt in a Veco Toyota Yaris chaswing him on +1:14.2.
In eigth place overall was the luckless Japie van Niekerk trailing Cronje by 1:36.3 and 9th was Theuns Joubert also in a NR 4 Toyota +2:14.0.
Guy Botterill in a Toyota Etios R2 was leading the 1600 R2 class. Second was Chad van Beurden 9.1 seconds behind Botterill in a R2 Volkswagen Polo.
The rally is being contested over ten stages with a total stage distance of 200km. It finishes at the Zonderwater Correctional Facility in Cullinan tomorrow afternoon.