Toyota team wins its second rally in a row
The factory Castrol Toyota team's Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee consolidated their lead in the 2014 South African Rally Championship with a comfortable second round win in the Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga over the weekend.
TWO-WHEEL. Guy Botteril/Simon Vacy-Lyle (Yato Tools Toyota Etios) won the S1600 category for two-wheel drive vehicles.
In an event that saw several of their main rivals drop out with punctures and mechanical problems, the Toyota pair had a relatively trouble-free run.
Their pace and consistency ensured they led the event from special stage four on Friday through to the finish.
Second, 1 min 46 sec in arrears, were former national champion Enzo Kuun and Rikus Fourie, making their first appearance in a New Africa Developments Ford Fiesta.
Hergen Fekken and Carolyn Swan brought the second Castrol Team Toyota Yaris home in third place, a distant 7 min 57 sec behind their team-mates.
Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin (Sasol Volkswagen Polo) did well to finish fourth in only their second outing with an S2000 car despite two punctures and a damaged diff on Friday.
Fifth overall and first in the S2000 Challenge for older specification four-wheel drive cars were Thilo Himmel of Namibia and Armand du Toit (VW Polo).
Henk Lategan and Barry White (Sasol VW Polo) were sixth overall. They lost time on Friday with a loose steering rack on stages two and three, with puncture troubles on stages four and five.
Seventh were Giniel de Villiers/Greg Godrich (Imperial Toyota Yaris), who lost over 10 minutes on Friday after struggling through the first three stages with only two-wheel drive.
Defending champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton (Ford Dealer Team Fiesta) were classified eighth under Super Rally rules after retiring with suspension problems on stage 12.
Joos Stassen and Gert Nienaber were ninth overall and second in the S2000 Challenge in a Subaru Impreza.
Hans Weijs and Bjorn Degandt (Sasol VW Polo), who dropped out of Friday’s opening stage, rounded out the top 10.
* Winners of the second round of the FIA African Rally Championship, run in conjunction with the Sasol Rally, were 2012 drivers’ champion Mohammed Essa of Zambia and Gareth Dawe of Zimbabwe (Subaru Impreza).
Second were Gary Chaynes/ Comas Romain of the Ivory Coast (Mitsubishi Evo 10). Third were Jassy Singh of Kenya and David Sihoka of Zambia (Subaru Impreza), ahead of Zambians Kenneth Mukosa and Nash Chisenga in a Subaru Impreza.
* Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle (Yato Tools Toyota Etios) won the S1600 category.
They finished a comfortable 4 min 48 sec ahead of their nearest rivals, Chad van Beurden/Nico Swartz (Beurden Construction VW Polo).
17-year-old Richard Leeke Jnr and Pierre Jordaan (ATS Ford Fiesta R2) were third.
Willie van Straaten and Scott Howden (Toyota RunX) were fourth ahead of Matthew Vacy-Lyle/Schalk van Heerden (Fragram Tools Toyota Etios), Ashley Haigh-Smith/Damian van Ass (Castrol Ford Fiesta R2), Ernie van der Walt/James Aldridge (Ferodo Ford Fiesta), Chris Coertse/Mari van der Walt (Electrothread Toyota Etios), and Paulus Franken/Henry Kohne in a Manitou Group VW Polo.
The next round of the 2014 SA Rally Championship is the PMC Rally in Gauteng on May 23 and 24. – Own Correspondent
