Former national rally navigator champion Spotti Woodhead and Graham Mephius, driving a diesel-powered Citroen C4 Picasso, won the overall Index of Fuel Efficiency Award at the end of the 32nd TOTAL Economy Run at the weekend.
They achieved an index figure of 3,077 litres per 100 km per ton. Their actual fuel consumption was 5,463 l/100 km.
Winners of the petrol-powered category on index were road safety expert and paramedic Philip Hull and rally personality Willie du Plessis in a Mazda6 with a figure of 3,850 l/100 km/ton. Their actual fuel consumption was 6,360 l/100 km in the three-day 1 050-km event.
It was Woodhead’s and Citroen’s second successive victory in the diesel category following the TOTAL Economy Run regular’s win in a Citroen C2 in last year’s event.
Second on index in the diesel category (there were 13 competitors) were Roger Rouessart and Johan Seiling in a Ford Ikon 1.4 TDCi with a figure of 3,098 l/100 km /ton. Roger Hills and Gordon Stewart made it a very tight 2-3 for Ford in their Fiesta Tdi with a figure of 3,099l/100 km/ton.
Jack and Ivor Wiid (Renault Megane GT) were runners-up in the petrol powered category on index (there were 23 entries) with a figure of 6,671 l/100 km/ton. Third were Andrew Carter and Manfred Hertz in a Peugeot 308XS (6,719).
The lowest actual fuel consumption recorded was 4,446 l/100 km, achieved by Rouessart and Seiling’s diesel-powered Ford Ikon. The lowest actual fuel consumption by a petrol-engined car was 4,976 l/100 km/ton, recorded by the Daihatsu Charade of motoring journalist Wynter Murdoch and Dorian Radue.
Among the 13 class winners in a field made up of 43 vehicles and 22 different brand names were three from Ford, two each from Chevrolet and Mazda and one each from Chrysler, Daihatsu, Seat, SsangYong, Toyota and Volvo.
Overall results and the results of the two classes for sport utility vehicles (SUVs) are calculated on the l/100 km/ton formula while the results of all the other classes are determined by the overall l/100 km consumption.
CLASS WINNERS
Class A – Wynter Murdoch/Dorian Radue (Daihatsu Charade) 4,98 l/100 km
Class B – Stuart Greig/Wynand Gerber (Mazda2) 5,78 l/100 km
Class C – Harry Young/Riette Wannenburg (Ford Ikon) 6,41 l/100 km
Class D – Philip Hull/Willie du Plessis (Mazda6) 6,36 l/100 km
Class F – Geoff Mortimer/Martin Ciolkosk (Chevrolet Lumina) 9,85 l/100 km
Class G – Keith Burford/Div de Wit (Chrysler 300C) 9,75 l/100 km
Class H – Roger Rouessart/Johan Seiling (Ford Ikon) 4,44 l/100 km
Class I – Roger Hills/Gordon Stewart (Ford Fiesta) 4,66 l/100 km
Class J – Etienne Lourens/Carolyn Swan (Seat Leon) 5,59 l/100 km
Class K – Gordon Noble/Graham Bate (Volvo S40) 6,16 l/100 km
Class L – Ben & Isabel van der Westhuizen (Chevrolet Captiva) 4,340 l/100km/ton
Class M – Jerry Paice/Karel de Waal (SsangYong Kyron) 3,120 l/100 km/ton
Experimental Class – Eugene Lourens/Huibert Phielex (Toyota Yaris) 5,80 l/100 km
Special Awards were presented to the first automatic petrol-powered vehicle (the Van der Westhuizen’s Chev Captiva), the first automatic diesel-engined vehicle (the Volvo S40 of Noble and Bate) and the highest-placed dealer entry, which went to Lazarus Ford for the class H-winning Ford Ikon of Rouessart and Seiling. The Chrysler 300C of Burford and De Wit was adjudged the car with the ‘cleanest’ engine in terms of air pollution.
According to clerk of the course Adri van den Berg, this year’s event was tougher than usual thanks to the hilly terrain encountered in Mpumalanga. Last year’s event was flatter and that’s why last year’s record fuel consumption (4,412 l/100 km by a Citroen C1 1.0) was not beaten this year.
“Happily, we had no serious accidents or misfortunes, the weather was kind to us and the event went off without a hitch. Once again, we have to thank TOTAL South Africa for their very long-standing and incredibly enthusiastic support. They have been behind our economy run for 32 years, which must be a record for continuous sponsorship in motor sport in South Africa. Once again competitors enjoyed complimentary TOTAL Evolution fuel and TOTAL Quartz lubricants,” added Van den Berg.
Full results can be accessed on the website www.totalmotorsport.co.za.
