Round four of the national rally championship took place in Port Elizabeth and surrounding areas over this last weekend. As predicted reigning champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton claimed victory and their third win of the 2013 rally season.
The Ford mounted pair took seven of the 12 stages and won by over a minute. Second place was another Ford Fiesta of rally stalwarts Jan Habig and Robert Paisley.
The biggest challenge to the Fords came from Toyota. Initially the S2000 Yaris of Leeroy Poulter and Elvene Coetzee did the chase work, but last moment mechanical maladies caused their retirement. This opened the door for another Toyota crew, of 2009 Dakar winner Giniel de Villiers and navigator Greg Godrich to claim the final podium position.
In the S2000 Challenge class JP Damseaux and co-driver Hilton Auffrey won in their Toyota Auris S2000. Morne Janse van Rensburg/Rikus Fourie (Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000) claimed second in Class on their home event, while Nic van der Westehuizen/Stefan Cilliers (Toyota Auris S2000) took the final class podium step.
“We came here to win, and winning is what we do best,” grinned Cronje. “Going hard from the start helps as to perform at 100 per cent, and also puts the pressure on the opposition. I think that showed.”
“The season is halfway, and we’re leading by a small margin from Jan (Habig) in another Ford Fiesta, but a lot can still happen,” added Cronje. “We’re going to continue taking it event by event, and we’re certainly not at the point where we’re thinking any further down the road than that in terms of strategy.”
Round five of the championship, the Ford Dealer Rally takes place in Gauteng on August 16 and 17.