Reigning national rally champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton have ended the 2014 season with a hard-fought second place on the Bela-Bala Rally, which ended in the popular holiday resort on November 22.
The Ford Dealer Team duo came tantalising close to a win, fighting a cat and mouse battle with the Volkswagen of Hans Weijs – initially for second place and then for the win – once the Toyota of Leeroy Poulter had retired with a blown motor. Late in the event Cronje/Houghton were within 1.8 seconds of the Belgian, but a pucture on the eighth stage – of 10 -forced them to settle for the runner-up spot.
“Overall it was a good weekend in the office for us,” said Cronje. “It would’ve been great to end the season with a win, but we had a fantastic battle with Weijs, and apart from the puncture which probably cost us victory, we had an event which was largely trouble-free. We thoroughly enjoyed going to Bela-Bela, which was a refreshing change, and though second place is not what we wanted to give our sponsors and fans, it was good to spray champagne again anyway!”
The result of the final round hasn’t changed the order in the South African National Rally Championship, and Cronje/Houghton ended 2014 fourth overall: their year started badly with a rally-ending crash in KZN, and then suspension problems on the Sasol Rally immediately thereafter. They fought their way back into contention with back to back wins, but finished off the podium for the next two and retired on the penultimate event in Polokwana.
“It hasn’t been a vintage year by our standards, and it just goes to show how relatively small events can stack up to put you on the back foot,” commented Cronje. “The competition is intense at this level, and I’m proud how our small privateer outfit conducted itself against the might of two well-funded Works teams. We intend keeping them on their toes once again in 2015!”