Tzaneen NTT Rally a thrilling affair
Group A's Theuns Joubert and navigator, Schalk van Heerden were the overall NTT Motor Group Tzaneen Rally winners recently.
They were followed by Kenneth Venter and Kemaine Venter of Group C in second position, while the team of Vladimir Sibirko and Danie Rossouw in Group A were third overall.
Local motorsport fans were treated to a two day rally, which started on Friday until Saturday afternoon.
On Friday afternoon, the teams met at the Tzaneen Showground and left for the ceremonial event at NTT Toyota in Agatha street, before they could hit the road and gravel.
Eddie Simpson, who was competing in Group D and also part of the organising comittee for the Tzaneen event, said he was happy with how the event turned out.
Although he did not manage to finish the race with navigator, Louis Menge, after they had an accident in the 9th stage, two levels from the finishing line.
“We are a bit disappointed that we did not manage to complete the event, but happy that our time was good. Hopefully we will redeem ourselves in the next event,” he said.
Also read: Tzaneen driver, a National Rally Champion
In the same group fellow, Tzaneen driver, Peter Pilusa and navigator, Kabelo, also did not have a good race, as their front-right shock absorber was broken on Friday night at Agatha street.
“I’m just glad that we managed to finish all stages.
“On Saturday we had to drive a bit slow, because we had put on standard shock absorbers in order to finish the race.
“I hope I can redeem myself in the next round,’ Pilusa explained.
Also read: Team Limpopo takes over the race course
In Group D log, Pilusa is still second and for the Tzaneen event he was 17th overall.
Bianca Theunissen (26) from Sabie, was the only female driver in the Tzaneen edition.
She managed to attain position three in Group D with her father, Nick Theunissen as her navigator and they ended in 13th position overall.
She told the Herald that she is not intimidated by male drivers and she was happy to be able to make her mark in this round.
“I’m already working on fixing the car and making it a bit faster for the next round,” she told the Herald.
The next event will be in Secunda in Mpumalanga on October 8 and November in Dullstroom.
