The Volkswagen Sasolracing team claimed victory in the last round of the 2014 National Rally Championship (NRC) when Hans Weijs Jnr and Björn Degandt stormed to victory at Bela-Bela. The win also ensured that the duo finished the championship in second overall.
In what was a demanding and strenuous final round, the Volkswagen Sasolracing team managed to bring all three Polo S2000s home, with Gugu Zulu (fourth) and Carl Peskin rounding out the top five.
Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport , said that this win was a welcome end to a tough season: “This is a fitting end to the season for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team. It has been a fight for the Volkswagen Sasolracing S2000 Polos out on the stages this event, trading stage times with our competitors, at our most competitive level. We will be looking to starting the 2015 season on the same note.”
Weijs and Degandt had claimed five podium finishes over the course of the eight-round championship, with the win in Bela-Bela their best of 2014.
“I like technical stages and we were involved in a good fight at this event,” says Weijs. “This was a good rally for us, we pushed hard but it was very important to finish here in Bela-Bela, in order to claim second overall in the championship. We had to pace ourselves very carefully and keep the overall goal in mind.”
Reflecting on the race, Lategan concedes that the fight was hard, but that he is content with the result.
“We had some technical niggles throughout this event. Despite the problems, the results for the team are a morale booster and we produced a good result, a strong end to the season and one we can be happy with.”
For 2014 Champions Leeroy Poulter and his navigator Elvéne Coetzee in their Castrol Team Toyota Yaris S2000, the event ended on a low. After dominating Day 1 and heading into Day 2 with a 14 second lead, the pair retired their championship-winning Yaris S2000 after an engine misfire in Stage 7.
The Castrol Team Toyota won the overall NRC in 2014 – their first overall victory in ten years.
The teams will now enjoy a well-deserved break before final preparations will start for the 2015 National Rally Championship.
Top 5 finishers in 2014 National Rally Championship
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Class S2000 |
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| Driver/Co-driver | Team | Class | Points | |
| 1 | Leeroy Poulter/ Elvéne Coetzee | Team Castrol Toyota | S2000 | 149 |
| 2 | Hans Weisj/ Bjorn Degandt | Volkswagen Sasolracing | S2000 | 105,5 |
| 3 | Hergen Fekken/ Carolyn Swan | Team Castrol Toyota | S2000 | 100,5 |
| 4 | Mark Cronje/ Robin Houghton | Ford Dealer Team | S2000 | 87,5 |
| 5 | Giniel de Villiers/ Greg Godrich | Team Castrol Toyota | S2000 | 77 |
|
Class S1600 |
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| Driver/Co-driver | Team | Class | Points | |
| 1 | Guy Botterill/ Simon Vacy-Lyle | Simon Vacy-Lyle | S1600 | 155 |
| 2 | Matthew Vacy-Lyle/ Schalk Van Heerden | Simon Vacy-Lyle | S1600 | 95,5 |
| 3 | Andrew Heine/ Robbie Coetzee | Andrew Heine | S1600 | 91 |
| 4 | Paul Franken/ Henry Kohne | Henry Kohne | S1600 | 89 |
| 5 | Chad van Beurden/ Nico Swartz | Nico Swartz | S1600 | 87,5 |
|
Class S2000 Challenge |
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| Driver/Co-driver | Team | Class | Points | |
| 1 | Wilro Dippenaar/ Kes Naidoo | Wilro Dippenaar | S2000 Challenge | 36 |
| 2 | Piet Bakkes/ Shaun Visser | Piet Bakkes | S2000 Challenge | 21,5 |
| 3 | Thilo Himmel/ Armand Du Toit | Volkswagen Sasolracing | S2000 Challenge | 11 |
| 4 | Joos Stassen/ Gert Nienaber | Joos Stassen | S2000 Challenge | 6 |
| 5 | Nic vd Westhuizen/ Stefan Cilliers | SA Earthworks | S2000 Challenge | 0 |
|
Manufacturers |
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| Points | ||
| 1 | Toyota | 649 |
| 2 | Volkswagen | 527,5 |
| 3 | Ford | 356, |
| 4 | Subaru | 12 |
| 5 | Citroen | 6,5 |
