The factory-entered Castrol Toyota RunX RSi of ten-times rally driver’s champion Serge Damseaux and co-driver Robert Paisley were in the thick of the battle for overall honours, closing in on the early rally leaders Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson’s VW Polo.
Damseaux and Paisley won the final two stages on Friday to end the day’s racing, run in persistent rain, just 17 seconds off the leaders. Day two saw Serge and Robert put in a superb time on the first Saturday stage, taking another 7 seconds out of their deficit. It all went wrong for the Somerset West driver in stage 8, the Castrol RunX rolling to a stop with suspected engine valve problems.
Serge said: “It’s a pity we couldn’t finish because the car was great. The team has sorted out the handling and the car is much easier to drive, but we’ll be back in Cape Town at the end of the month”
Charl Wilken and new-for-2006 co-driver Greg Godrich top scored for the Castrol Toyota team, claiming 5th overall and second in class A7. Wilken endured a frustrating rally that included a puncture in stage 2 which cost 30 seconds and a double puncture on both right-hand wheels in stage 5.
On Saturday, Charl had his RunX’s alternator belt come off in stage 6, and with no service before stage 7, had to run two stages with reduced power. Water splashes in stages 8 and 9 caused the RunX’s motor to misfire, costing further precious time.
The final two stages of the rally saw Charl conserving his car with a cracked gearbox casing and he was relieved and delighted with his points and high finishing position.
“It’s great to start the season with a strong result – it gives us a good start to our campaign, but there’s a long way to go this year”, said Charl at the Umhlanga finish.
Mark Cronje and Chris Birkin were interested spectators throughout the 11-stage rally. Mark and Chris will make their rally debut in a class A6 Castrol Toyota RunX RS on the Toyota Dealer Rally in the Western Cape on 24 and 25 March, the second round of the Sasol SA Rally Championship.
Toyota privateers scored five class wins and a podium position on the Tour Natal Rally.
JP Damseaux and Cobus Vrey finished an excellent 3rd overall and won class A7 in their Team Total Toyota RunX RSi after a trouble-free run in the trying conditions. The defending class A6 champions Craig Trott/John Costa headed a 1-2 class result. Eugene Lourens/Derek Jacobs made their A6 debut in their Team Total Toyota Conquest, and in spite of losing 8 minutes with a puncture, managed a very credible result.
Class A5 was another Toyota benefit with Michael Houghton/Bryn Doherty (Team Total Toyota Tazz) embroiled in a rally long fight with Etienne Malherbe/Hennie Botes in a similar Aprillia Racing Tazz.
Michael is the class A5 champion, but lost time with a malfunctioning odometer, and suffered punctures in stages 7 that was re-run as 11, the punctures occurring in the exact same corner! Etienne Malherbe ran the final stages without the benefit of front brakes and suffered a broken gearbox mounting, leaving the warring Tazz teams 1 second apart.
Toyota also won class N3 thanks to the efforts of Claudio Piazza Musso and Greg Gericke in their Sasol-backed Toyota RunX RSi. The brand new RunX was driven to the Durban arriving at 2am on the morning of the event. The car ran faultlessly, barring a brake problem in stage 10.
The second Sasol RunX of Kobus Roos/Irma du Plooy ended last after a catalogue of problems, but the young team was happy to record a result after losing 6 minutes with a puncture on day 1.
Kosta Koumantarakis and Barry White won class N2 in their Toyota Corolla RSi after a trouble free run through the cane fields of the North and South coast regions of KwaZulu Natal.
Wammy Haddad, Motorsport Manager said: “3rd and 5th is a good result for us, but we have to win the big one as well. The engine problem on Serge’s car is undetermined at the moment. We have two weeks before we leave for Cape Town and still have a few things to sort out. With the off-road season starting a week before the Toyota Dealer Rally, it’s going to be a very busy few weeks for all of us at Toyota Motorsport.”