The Damseaux and Toyota partnership, synonymous for winning 74 national rallies and ten championships with Serge behind the wheel, took a new turn this weekend when Jean-Pierre Damseaux and co-driver Cobus Vrey extended the winning partnership with an aggressive, well controlled career first win.
It was a historic occasion for Serge and Jean-Pierre became the first father and son to win a round of the national rally championship. For JP, as he is known, the first victory came in only his second year in the top S2000 class.
The Total Evolution-backed Toyota RunX pair was on the pace from the first stage but had a panel-crunching incident in the first stage after going through a fence to avoid a herd of cows. Frustrated, Damseaux flattened a gate post later in the same stage and ended the first day’s action 2nd overall, 20 seconds adrift of the rally leaders Jan Habig/Douglas Judd in a BP Volkswagen Polo.
Day two dawned bright and sunny although the stages were still extremely wet following incessant rain in the run up to the penultimate round of the Sasol SA Rally Championship.
Damseaux put the hammer down and pulled back six seconds in the first stage of the day, taking the lead after the 48km long sixth stage, running on the faster but riskier soft tyre option. A third stage win saw Damseaux and Vrey with a 1 minute advantage, so backed off to preserve the car for the run back to the final stage in Cape Town.
“It was a bit of a gamble running wet tyres in the long stage, but fortunately for us the gamble paid off”, said a jubilant Damseaux. “When we had a minute in hand, I backed off because there was only one gravel and one tar stage remaining. I’m really happy we’ve won because it’s only our second year in a car that gives us the opportunity to win. It is a bonus that it happened down here in the Cape in front of a whole generation of Damseaux fans”.
JP added: “S2000 is an amazing class to race in – there are nine of us trying to win, so make no mistake it’s not easy. We’ve been quick all year but there have been quite a few annoying, niggly things that happened to us, so it’s really satisfying to finally pull it off”.
Johnny Gemmell and Peter Marsh brought their Castrol Toyota RunX home 4th overall after holding a podium place throughout the first day’s running, in spite of a failed clutch. “There wasn’t time to sort the clutch out before the tarmac stages at Killarney, so I had to start each stage on the starter motor. That cost us four to five seconds each time”, Gemmell related.
The well-oiled Castrol Toyota team replaced the faulty slave cylinder seal well within the allowed 45 minute service time, a task that necessitates removing the gearbox.
The Castrol Toyota pair encountered the same herd of cows as Damseaux did in stage 1, ending 15 seconds behind Damseaux. Gemmell continued to push hard on Saturday, relentlessly closing down the gap until a misfire started in stage 7 as a result of water in the stage.
“That was when we decided to nurse the car rather than risk any damage. 4th is better than nothing so we’ll take the points”, said Gemmell.
Mark Cronje and Robert Paisley had a short rally in the S2000 Castrol Toyota Auris. “We approached a long water splash and the engine ingested water. There was no warning and no second chance. It is extremely disappointing; more so because we know after the Osram Rally what the Castrol Auris is capable of”, lamented Cronje.
Japie van Niekerk/Robin Houghton retired their S2000 Toyota RunX after stage 4 when a bearing was about to fail after incurring water damage earlier in the day. Nicholas Ryan/Andre Vermeulen rolled their S2000 Philips/Jonnesway Toyota RunX in stage 6.
Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin were the first two wheel drive car home in their new Total Evolution Toyota Auris, claiming the Auris’ first win in rallying with a brilliant 10th overall and first in class A6. The Auris beat the bigger-engined class A7 cars, where Chris de Wit/Dean Redelinghuys top-scored for Toyota with a podium place.
“I’ve never driven the Auris in the wet, so I had no idea how to set her up for the conditions or what to expect. The car is so easy to drive: it goes, stops and turns so well – it’s brilliant”’ Moosa said of his new car.
Rodney Visagie and Carolyn Swan claimed the class N3 title with a strong drive in the tricky conditions, taking their Total Evolution Toyota RunX to their third win of the season and heading a Toyota 1-2-3-4 in the class. Capetonian Duncan English/Rob Williams was the class runner up in another RunX while Abduraghman Amlay/Yusuf Ganief (Toyota RunX) finished ahead of title hopeful Kosta Koumantarakis/Lou Zietsman in a another RunX.
Riaan and Hester Erasmus wrapped up the class N2 titles with another strong showing, their 4th winning performance of the year.
Toyota Motorsport Manger Wammy Haddad summed up the weekend: “It’s is an excellent result for JP. The weekend was pretty good all round – but expensive. We lost two engines because of all the water. The Auris has shown well in class A6 and will be a great platform for the next generation of privateer cars”.
