Ballito rally driver Benjamin Habig and navigator Barry White have secured a second victory in the SA Rally Championships series.

The duo posted a commanding performance in the fifth round of the championships in the Algoa Rally held at Jeffreys Bay last Friday, finishing 1min 27sec ahead of their closest rivals despite a minor setback in the first stage when a wrong slot cost them eight seconds.

“We had a clean run except for a wrong slot. The car (VW Polo) never skipped a beat, Barry was on point, and we are happy being on the top spot of the podium again and banking some good points,” said Habig.

Their Algoa win marked their second victory in the NRC1 category, following their debut podium finish in Secunda.

A broken exhaust caused the pair grief in the sixth round on Saturday, with a flame burning a hydraulic fluid line during stage 2.

“The toxic smoke in the cockpit was extremely challenging. Concerned about the car catching fire we stopped twice to check underneath, but with no visible flames we continued with the 20km stage,” said Benjamin. The team lost two minutes in the stage.

“The team of technicians worked under tremendous pressure to weld the cracked exhaust and get the Polo rally-ready. The 11 minute lateness resulted in a 1 min 50 sec penalty, pushing us way down the results to 9th place,

3min 55sec behind the leaders,” said White.

But despite the setback they came back with guns blazing and secured third place.

“We are happy that we were able to put in a solid challenge and finish on the podium. An overall victory on Friday and today’s 3rd have earned us valuable points,” said Habig.With one event’s location still to he confirmed, replacing the cancelled season opener, there is still room for movement in the championship.

“Last but not least, gratitude to my dad and my support crew. We could never have done this without the reliable, well prepared racing machine,” said Habig.

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