Ballito’s rally star duo shine at first SA Champs event

Ballito was well represented at the season opener of the South African Rally Championship (SARC) as Guy Botterill came away with the overall victory, and Benjamin Habig placed first in his class. 

The rally was held in Secunda from September 11 – 12, and marked the first and second event of the SARC as organisers tried to make up lost time from lockdown.

Botterill is the reigning South African rally champion and aims to make it 4 in a row this year.

“It was nice to get a win under the belt. We had a bit of an issue on stage 1, but it was easily fixed and the car was good,” he said.

Habig was competing in his first SARC event after winning the DD2 SA Karting Championship last year.

He and navigator Barry White were competing with the Just Tools VW Polo GT, a car that they had only been able to test for 15kms. 

“It was a great experience and the main goal was to keep it clean, stay on the road and just get the general feel of the car, the way it handles on the different road surfaces and listen carefully to instructions from Barry, my very experienced navigator,” said Habig.

The second day marked the second rally of the year, bringing technical problems with it.

A broken sideshaft meant on-the-go repairs were necessary and they took a 5 minute penalty.

Ultimately Habig finished 2nd in class and 13th overall, a positive sign for the next event in the championship. 

“I believe the car has a lot of potential and I am impressed with the performance, it certainly proved competitive – way beyond my expectations. Overall we are very happy with the outcome,” he said.

Although a location has not been set, the next event in the series will be held on October 17.