Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee claimed a commanding 18-second victory on the opening round of the South African National Rally Championship, held around the Welkom area of the Free State province. Winning six of the eleven stages, the 2015 championship runners-up led home a Toyota Gazoo Racing SA 1-2, with team-mates Giniel de Villiers and Carolyn Swan ending a comfortable second overall. The newly liveried Yaris S2000 did not miss a beat all weekend.
The final step of the podium went to the defending champion Mark Cronje and co-driver Barry White in their new NAD Volkswagen Polo S2000.
Cronje started the short day one on a mission, leading the event by a whisker after 12.5km of tarmac stages. Running first on the road, Cronje was overhauled by Poulter on Saturday morning, losing the lead as the VW pair haemorrhaged time in the sometimes rough stages. A puncture in stage five didn’t help the cause, and they fell behind the flying de Villiers.
The local hero, Ernie van der Walt and co-driver Greg Godrich claimed their first ever stage win and van der Walt’s career best result to date, ending 4th overall in their Vecto Petroleum Toyota Yaris S2000, just 6 seconds behind the SA champion.
Van der Walt, who hails from Hoopstad, was cheered to the rafters by a bevy of friends and family as they stormed through the eleven-stage event, the first time the series has been to the Free State in six years.
Fifth in their PZN Panelbeaters Ford Fiesta S2000 was Namibian Wilro Dippenaar and his Cape- Town-based co-driver Kesevan Naidoo. The Ford crew got quicker as they learned how to wring the last ounce of performance from their new car, and set competitive times as the event wore on. In stage 8, the pair beat the stage-winning time set when previously run.
Jose de Gouveia/Armand du Toit ended 6th in their Classiq Panelbeaters Toyota RunX, winning class NRC4 along the way.
It was situation normal in class S1600, with Guy Botterill – celebrating his 30th birthday – taking a comfortable 36-second win, giving him and his co-driver an early lead as they challenge for their third consecutive championship. The Yato Toyota Etios R2 never missed a beat in the sweltering conditions as they built up a their lead over Richard Leeke/Henry Kohne (ATS Ford Fiesta R2). Leeke won four stages, but was hampered in the others by fuel pump problems.
Paulus Franken and Pierre Arries drove their Manitou Volkswagen Polo to third place, albeit nearly six minutes adrift of the winners. Engine problems on day one cost sufficient time to make a wild challenge for the lead unviable.
George Smalberger/Chris Brand (Shield Car Care VW Polo R2) were the final finishers.