Chad van Beurden and Nico Swartz (Beurden Construction VW Polo R2) have taken control of the S1600 two-wheel drive category of the Imperial Toyota Cullinan Rally in Gauteng after day one today. Carrying on from their fine performance in the previous round of the SA National Rally Championship, when they finished second in the Volkswagen Rally in the Eastern Cape in July after leading at the end of the first day, they edged current championship leaders Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle (Yato Tools Toyota Etios R2) by 11 seconds at the end of six special stages and some 77 kilometres of gravel road racing.
It is only the second time this season that Botterill and Vacy-Lyle have been headed at the end of a day’s rallying as they seek an unprecedented fifth consecutive rally victory. Both crews reported relatively clean runs with Van Beurden winning four of the six stages (he shared the honours with Botterill in stage five) while Botterill, was quickest on his own in stage six after encountering a small engine misfire on the previous stage.
Ernie van der Walt and James Aldridge (Ferodo Ford Fiesta R2) were third, 26 seconds behind the leaders and 14 seconds behind Botterill after winning stage four. Fourth was the Castrol Ford Fiesta of Ashley Haigh-Smith and Damian van Ass, who did well to finish only 55 sec behind the leaders after suffering a persistent engine misfire throughout the day.
Fifth were Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne (Manitou Group VW Polo R2), 1 min 20 sec behind the leaders and just 25 second off fourth place. Andrew Heine and former S1600 champion co-driver Robbie Coetzee (Toyota Auris) are sixth at the overnight stop at Zonderwater Correctional Services facility in Cullinan, 1 min 41 sec in arrears.
AC Potgieter and Tommy du Toit (VW Polo) are seventh, just nine seconds off Heine and Coetzee and 51 sec ahead of ninth-placed Matthew Vacy-Lyle and Schalk van Heerden (Fragram Tools Toyota Etios R2), Vacy-Lyle reported he was, regaining confidence after his roll in the previous round.
Rounding out the top 10 were Marko Himmel of Namibia and Francois Schoonbee (VW Polo) and Chris Coertse and 16-year-old Mari van der Walt (Electrothread Toyota Etios R2).
Eighteen-year-old Richard Leeke Jnr (ATS Ford Fiesta R2) and Rikus Fourie struggled to a disappointed 11th place after completing the opening special stage in seventh place and then encountering gear cut problems in stage two.
Tomorrow’s action starts from Zonderwater at 08h30 and features the same six special stages raced today. The first car is expected at the finish back at Zonderwater at around 13h00.