Toyota once again scored a 1-2-3 finish in the SA National Rally Championship when Leeroy Poulter won the Heidelberg Rally, his fifth consecutive victory in the S2000 Toyota GazooToyota Yaris. Second overall was Ernie van der Walt also in a Toyota Yaris who moved into second after Giniel de Villiers in the other Toyota Gazoo Toyota Yaris withdrew.
The rally started with 14 national championship entries of which only four were entered in Class S2000. Given the current situation in the championship, one would have been safe if you had bet on Poulter walking away with the honours again.
Poulter finished the rally with a lead of 1:31.5 over van der Walt and 7:33.3 over the NRC4 Toyota Auris of Theuns Joubert in third place.
In fourth and to the surprise of many, Richard Leeke in a S1600 Ford Fiesta R2 finished 4th one position up on the current championship leader, Guy Botterill in a Toyota Etios.. Leeke trailed the winner by 10:01.9 and Botterill was 10:16.1 slower than Poulter.
They were followed by Chris Coertse in a Toyota and Ashley Haigh Smith in a Ford Fiesta R2.
With five of the seven rounds of the SA National; Rally Championship completed, the championship is probably done and dusted and the last two rounds will be run as a formality. It is going to be interesting to see how the controlling body of rallying is going to award a national rally drivers and co-drivers championship where some of the events had only four Class S 2000 entries.