Round two of the Petrefuel Algoa Rally Championship saw Neels Vosloo and Rikus Fourie bounce back to their winning ways as they brought their Hella-backed VW Polo home to win the EMI Paardepoort Rally against some stiff opposition.
The rally, made up of three stages covering a total race distance of 78km, was based at the Wolwefontein Hotel in the Jansenville district.
There were a mix of fast-flowing stages, along with high- speed jumps, mixed with some extremely technical sections on rocky roads that led to the demise of some of the entries.
The first to fall foul to the tough conditions were Oliver de Man and Ingrid Jeacocks in their classic Ocean Truck Sales Toyota Corolla, fresh from their class win in the Cape Swartland Rally.
They damaged a tyre early in stage one that halted their race.
Ruan and Chanell van Tonder hit a rock that damaged the suspension of their VW Polo that led to an early retirement as well.
Championship leaders Nick Davidson and Ashley Bezuidenhout set the pace in stage one in their Stu Davidson & Son-sponsored Toyota Auris, winning the stage by nine seconds from Vosloo and Fourie, but their car then developed a misfire that scuppered their chance of overall honours.
The ever-consistent husband and wife team of Juan and Tarryn van Rooyen, in their Innova backed VW Polo, put in another great run as defending champions to finish third in stage one.
Stage two was a virtual mirror image of stage one and Vosloo and Fourie stormed to the stage win taking 28 seconds off their stage one time.
The Van Rooyens came home in second followed by the hard-charging Triple L Plant Hire Toyota Etios of Deon Kretzmann and Jason Schreiber in third.
Disaster struck for the Daniel Pienaar Technical High School VW Golf of Tashne Wait and Wesley Schultz after they miscalculated a jump and rolled out of contention.
Stage three was a high-speed stage over a distance of 40km that continued to claim more victims as Johan and Juane Viljoen broke the clutch on their VW Polo and Jody van Zummeren and James Johnston suffered engine failure on their Border Towing Datsun P510 SSS Coupe.
Jeandre Marais and stand-in navigator Henry Adams had a massive roll at high speed in their Motul VW Polo.
The Vosloo/Fourie Hella Polo was unstoppable as they won the stage by 16 seconds from the Innova Polo of the Van Rooyens and the Triple L Toyota of Kretzmann in third.
The brother and sister team of Ross and Roxanne Bartle made a welcome return to rallying in their newly branded Indy Oil VW Polo and got quicker and quicker as the rally progressed, leading to them securing fifth place overall as well as taking their class win.
Top 10 finishers:
1 Neels Vosloo & Rikus Fourie, VW Polo
2 Juan & Tarryn van Rooyen, VW Polo
3 Deon Kretzmann & Jason Schreiber, Toyota Etios
4 Riekus Schmidt & Sherilee Pieterse, VW Polo
5 Ross & Roxanne Bartle, VW Polo
6 Francois Vermaak & Handre van Schalkwyk, VW Golf A1
7 Francois Laubscher & Mark Irvine, VW Polo 250 1 L-Turbo
8 Martin Kleingeld Snr & Jnr, Toyota Corolla KE35
9 Marco Griesel & Francois Anker, VW Polo A13
10th Winley Martin & Kaylin Kapp, VW Polo 250 1 L-Turbo
HeraldLIVE
Vosloo and Fourie win rally of attrition
Rocky roads take their toll on several cars in Jansenville district event
Image: DARRYL KUKARD
Round two of the Petrefuel Algoa Rally Championship saw Neels Vosloo and Rikus Fourie bounce back to their winning ways as they brought their Hella-backed VW Polo home to win the EMI Paardepoort Rally against some stiff opposition.
The rally, made up of three stages covering a total race distance of 78km, was based at the Wolwefontein Hotel in the Jansenville district.
There were a mix of fast-flowing stages, along with high- speed jumps, mixed with some extremely technical sections on rocky roads that led to the demise of some of the entries.
The first to fall foul to the tough conditions were Oliver de Man and Ingrid Jeacocks in their classic Ocean Truck Sales Toyota Corolla, fresh from their class win in the Cape Swartland Rally.
They damaged a tyre early in stage one that halted their race.
Ruan and Chanell van Tonder hit a rock that damaged the suspension of their VW Polo that led to an early retirement as well.
Championship leaders Nick Davidson and Ashley Bezuidenhout set the pace in stage one in their Stu Davidson & Son-sponsored Toyota Auris, winning the stage by nine seconds from Vosloo and Fourie, but their car then developed a misfire that scuppered their chance of overall honours.
The ever-consistent husband and wife team of Juan and Tarryn van Rooyen, in their Innova backed VW Polo, put in another great run as defending champions to finish third in stage one.
Stage two was a virtual mirror image of stage one and Vosloo and Fourie stormed to the stage win taking 28 seconds off their stage one time.
The Van Rooyens came home in second followed by the hard-charging Triple L Plant Hire Toyota Etios of Deon Kretzmann and Jason Schreiber in third.
Disaster struck for the Daniel Pienaar Technical High School VW Golf of Tashne Wait and Wesley Schultz after they miscalculated a jump and rolled out of contention.
Stage three was a high-speed stage over a distance of 40km that continued to claim more victims as Johan and Juane Viljoen broke the clutch on their VW Polo and Jody van Zummeren and James Johnston suffered engine failure on their Border Towing Datsun P510 SSS Coupe.
Jeandre Marais and stand-in navigator Henry Adams had a massive roll at high speed in their Motul VW Polo.
The Vosloo/Fourie Hella Polo was unstoppable as they won the stage by 16 seconds from the Innova Polo of the Van Rooyens and the Triple L Toyota of Kretzmann in third.
The brother and sister team of Ross and Roxanne Bartle made a welcome return to rallying in their newly branded Indy Oil VW Polo and got quicker and quicker as the rally progressed, leading to them securing fifth place overall as well as taking their class win.
Top 10 finishers:
1 Neels Vosloo & Rikus Fourie, VW Polo
2 Juan & Tarryn van Rooyen, VW Polo
3 Deon Kretzmann & Jason Schreiber, Toyota Etios
4 Riekus Schmidt & Sherilee Pieterse, VW Polo
5 Ross & Roxanne Bartle, VW Polo
6 Francois Vermaak & Handre van Schalkwyk, VW Golf A1
7 Francois Laubscher & Mark Irvine, VW Polo 250 1 L-Turbo
8 Martin Kleingeld Snr & Jnr, Toyota Corolla KE35
9 Marco Griesel & Francois Anker, VW Polo A13
10th Winley Martin & Kaylin Kapp, VW Polo 250 1 L-Turbo
HeraldLIVE
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