Zwartkops Raceway, the scene of the Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally finale, was also the setting for Jon William’s maiden win. The Sasol Racing Rally team Ford Fiesta’s co-driver Cobus Very scored his second National Rally Championship victory.
Jean-Pierre Damseux and Grant Martin looked set to take second overall (Team Total Toyota Auris) until the last stage 16 km stage at Zwartkops, where former circuit racing champion Hein Lategan and Johan van der Merwe (SAC Peugeot 207) capitalised on Lategan’s track experience to snatch second place from the Toyota duo – finishing a mere 4,9 seconds ahead of Damseux and Martin.
Jan Habig and Robert Paisley (Basil Read Ford Fiesta) were leading the event overnight from Saturday by 35 seconds, but lost the lead after a losing almost two minutes due to a puncture during Sunday’s seconds stage. The former champs dodged a bullet on Saturday during the opening stage when they survived a tough 28 km that saw no less than 14 cars suffer punctures.
The Dutch/Belgian duo of Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt (BP Volkswagen Polo) finished fifth, 13,1 seconds ahead of Johnny Gemmell and Carolyn Swan (Castrol Team Toyota Auris). The Toyota pair, who started the weekend in second place in the championship behind were among the opening stage casualties.
Cronje and Houghton, who won both of the two previous rounds, were also early casualties. They destroyed their rear suspension after hitting a ditch just one and a half kilometres into the opening stage and played no further part in Saturday’s proceedings. They were able to rejoin the rally on Sunday under the Super Rally rules after their service crew repaired the car overnight and they went on to finish 11th and pick up 10 championship points after winning two of today’s five stages. In the process they retained their championship lead over Gemmell and Swan, now reduced to three points. Williams and Vrey move up to third, seven points in arrears.
The next round of the championship is the Volkswagen Rally in Port Elizabeth on July 13 and 14.
