Jean Pierre Damseaux/Cobus Vrey in their class A7 Team Total RunX beat 2006 National Rally Champion Enzo Kuun navigated by Duncan English in their Class A7 VW Polo by 1 min 9 seconds at the Blue Crane Benefit Rally that ran September 30. Damseaux and Vrey took the bit between their teeth and charged to an overwhelming win, leading the rally from start to finish. Damseaux’s hope to clinch the Regional Championship is still alive.
As reported earlier, the Blue Crane Benefit Rally will not be the final event of the Western Cape Regional season. After heavy rains in the Klipdale area that rendered the route inaccessible to competitors the organizers were forced to postpone the Klipdale Rally to later this year.
The day didn’t start too well for second place Kuun and English. Kuun explains: ‘The intercom broke and we had no comms for stages one and two’. Despite this, Kuun said that they were going well and added in Afrikaans ‘Ons ry lekker’.
Who would think a 14-year old navigator would give his more seasoned opponents a run for their money? That is exactly what the young Ashley Haigh-Smith did. Ashley navigated dad Andy Haigh-Smith to third overall and first in class in his first ever rally in their class A6 React Toyota RXi. ‘It is brilliant, the best ever.’ he said and added: ‘It is much better than I expected it to be.’ Ashley spent time overseas at the rally school to sharpen his rally skills. On the future, Ashley had this to say: ‘I want to make rally my career.’ When asked which he preferred; driving or navigating he responded with a smile: ‘I have my eyes set on driving.’ Proud dad Andy said that the experience was wonderful and Ashley has been very mature in the car’. This was evident as Ashley kept reminding dad and service crew of the allotted time left before they need to exit the service park.
Fourth overall were Ettiene du Toit/Patrick Vermaak in their N2 McCarthy Toyota Corolla. Du Toit/Vermaak pushed very hard to catch the Haigh-Smiths. They had no odometers for the first two stages and for the better part of stage three. Still suffering a hard knock from the Subaru Cape Rally they couldn’t give it all. Vermaak explains: ‘Due to time constraints the car wasn’t set up properly which made the car’s response to handling very unpredictable.’
Fifth placed finishers Charl Strydom/Sakkie Bosman in their Sabre Paints A6 VW Polo had a clean run from start to finish. Strydom and Bosman rallied not putting a wheel wrong.
Finishing sixth overall were Thorsten Pey and Mark Palmer in their S4 BMW 325i. After suffering a broken engine bracket Pey said that he was nursing the car to the end.
Clinton Sassman/Andy Schreuder in their S4 BMW 325i finished seventh overall. Sassman jokingly said: ‘We are trying to keep on the road’.
Rupert van Zyl/Marius Rudolph in their S3 VW Citi Golf finished eighth overall. They had a clean run as Van Zyl commented: ‘The car goes like a dream’.
Ninth overall finishers Martin Esterhuyse and Francois Erasmus experienced any competitor’s worst nightmare. Esterhuyse explains: ‘In stage 4 the petrol pipe burst. On our way to the service park which was 14 kilometers away, there was a strong smell of petrol. We realized that the inside of the car was filled with fuel.’ Keeping their cool they made it to the service park where they cleared this problem. Due to this they took 13 minutes lateness that resulted in a 1 and a half minute penalty. Rally regulations stipulate for every minute competitors go beyond the allotted service time there is a time penalty.
For 10th overall finishers André George/Hilton Auffray in their S2 VW Golf the rally didn’t go all that smooth. ‘We had no odometers for the entire rally and we ran on memory’ Auffray said. Adding to their frustration were two punctures in stages four and eight for which they took one minute lateness. Despite this, they won their class.
Eugene Marais/Paul van Greunen in their S3 VW Golf finished eleventh overall despite having no brakes from stage six. Marais: ‘We had to use the hand brake.’
Rounding off the field of finishers were Gavin Grierson/David Delaney in their historic S2 Datsun 160 SSS that sports the logo “30 years of rallying”. ‘We’re slow, but persistent’ Grierson said and jokingly added ‘we are Die Hard III’.
Whilst for some the day went smoothly; for others it was over too soon.
Jon Williams navigated by father Doug in their A7 Gijima Ast VW Polo had to bow out in stage three due to mechanical failure. Shaun Jones/Billy Thorpe in their S5 VW Golf 2 surrendered to stage three with mechanical failure. Steven White/Dirk Malan in their N2 Mitsubishi Lancer 1.6 crashed into a tree in stage two. Neither were injured though the same couldn’t be said for the car. For Shane and Rob Williams in their A5 VW Chico it was all over in stage one when after carrying too much speed the rear of the car flipped up and they landed on their nose. Neither were injured.
Regional competitors will be preparing for the final round of the Western Cape Rally Championship at Klipdale, whereas JP Damseaux/Cobus Vrey has their National Class Championship to think about. Damseaux/Vrey need to win in Tzaneen to clinch the A7 title. Kuun will help navigator Guy Hodgson to clinch the National Navigators championship, while Jon and Doug Williams will also be fighting for position in class A7.
We wish our Cape Town heroes all the best in Tzaneen as we wait for the clash of the Titans at Klipdale to see who the 2006 Western Cape Champions are.