VAN BEURDEN/SWARTZ TAKE S1600 HONOURS IN IMPERIAL TOYOTA CULLINAN RALLY
The four-race winning streak of Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle (Yato Tools Toyota Etios R2) finally came to an end in round five of the SA National Rally Championship for S1600 two-wheel drive cars when Chad van Beurden and Nico Swartz (Beurden Construction VW Polo R2) won the Imperial Toyota Cullinan Rally in Gauteng this afternoon.
In the process they closed the gap to the championship leaders from 44 to 24 points with three rounds remaining after Botterill and Vacy-Lyle, second overnight and only 11 seconds behind day one winners Van Beurden and Swartz, suffered a broken drive shaft on special stage eight this morning and finished 11th under Super Rally rules.
Van Beurden and Swartz followed up their fine performance in finishing second to Botterill and Vacy-Lyle in the previous round, the VW Rally in the Eastern Cape in July by winning four of yesterday’s six special stages and another three today to take the overall honours for the first time in their career. They led throughout the event. .
Their winning margin over second-placed Ashley Haigh-Smith and Damian van Ass (Castrol Ford Fiesta R2) after two days, 12 special stages and 155 kilometres of high-speed racing on private gravel farm roads in the Cullinan and Bronkhorstspruit areas was 29 seconds. Haigh-Smith won three stages on Saturday on his way to equalling his best result of the season in the PMC Gauteng Rally in May and improving his overnight position of fourth.
Third were Andrew Heine and former S1600 champion co-driver Robbie Coetzee (Toyota Auris), who had a great day, improving their overnight position of sixth, 1 min 41 sec behind the day one leaders, to finish 2 min 49 sec in arrears. Matthew Vacy-Lyle and Schalk van Heerden improved from ninth overnight to fifth at the finish, 3 min 35 sec in arrears after a strong run today.
Ernie van der Walt and James Aldridge (Ferodo Ford Fiesta R2) had a hard day at the office, enduring various problems that saw them drop from third overnight and 26 seconds off the pace to fifth, 7 min 30 sec behind the winners. Namibian Marko Himmel and South African co-driver Francois Schoonbee (VW Polo) were sixth, ahead of Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne (Manitou Group VW Polo R2) and AC Potgieter and Tommy du Toit (VW Polo).
Richard Leeke Jnr and Rikus Fourie (ATS Ford Fiesta R2) were classified ninth under Super Rally rules and given half points after losing a lot of time on Friday with gear cut problems. Chris Coertse and 16-year-old Mari van der Walt (Electrothread Toyota Etios R2) also finished under Super Rally rules and were classified 10th.
The next round of the championship is the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally in the Western Cape on September 19 and 20.