Apie and Frederick are overall winners of Secunda Speed Rally
Father and son teams dominated the days event with Apie and Frederik Kotzee taking the overall win in their R66.
Competitors took to the skies at the annual SAPFA Secunda Speed Rally on Saturday, August 28.
A briefing was held on Friday, August 27, on what to expect for the following day’s event in terms of the planned route, turn points, distance, departure, arrivals protocols, as well as the scoring system procedure and expected weather conditions.
Before take-off, competitors received an envelope with a map, photos of the turn points, a minute maker and a GPS for record tracking.
Despite the cold and increasing wind speeds, the race took off from Kitty Hawk at 10:00 with a tailwind of 30 knots to Secunda.
Competitors had to face a 15-knot crosswind upon landing.
The route had a mix of easy and challenging turn points.
The first aircraft landed just before noon and was followed by at least three-quarters of the field within one minute with tail-enders bringing up the rear.
Because of poor weather, it was decided for competitors to return to their home base by 14:30 and have the prizegiving done virtually.
Father-and-son teams dominated the event with Apie and Frederik Kotzee taking the overall win in their R66.
Second place went to father-and-son duo Johan Whiteman and Quintin Kruger in their Cherokee 235 ZS-FVV.
Claiming third place was another father-and-son team, Hendrik and Jandre Loots, flying their Slinger ZU-IHK.
In the handicap category, Deidre Batchelor and Dave Naude claimed first place victory in their Jabiru ZU-EBU.
Second place went to Mike Blackburn and Steven Briggs, with third place going to Jonty and Jonathan Esser.
