Rally’s drive to keep sport alive
QAC hosts Savva national event
The Queenstown Automobile Club (QAC), which hosted the 2022 Southern African Veteran Vintage Association (Savva) National Rally, is focused on attracting new blood to the club.
As a result, special prizes were awarded to younger participants.
Driver Colin Greyvenstein was the youngest participant who received a prize for coming in third place, while young competitor Jonathan Redgard was recognised for coming seventh.
QAC chair Giel Bester said Savva aimed to promote the sport to younger participants to keep clubs alive for generations.
This year’s first prize went to driver Neville Koch, with his wife Susan as the navigator, for achieving 82 penalties in a 1960 Rover Mk1.
Danie and Gwen Gerber came second, and Colin Greyvensteyn and Megan Woodward third.
QAC last hosted a national rally in 2011, when 60 cars were entered.
However, this year saw only 17 cars from Komani, Cape Town and Makhanda on the road.
Peter Bolze, who co-ordinated the three-day event, said drivers and their navigators had to reach a certain place at a specific time.
This meant late or early arrivals led to a penalty. “The sport is all about calculating and precision,” he said.
On the first day, competitors navigated their way from Elliot to Cacadu and Cala. They took a lunch break in Elliot before proceeding to Ida, past Dordrecht, and ending in Komani.
The second day was from Komani to Cathcart, past Hogsback to the Waterdown Dam, through Whittlesea and back to Komani.
The third day trip was to Stutterheim for lunch at the engine museum, where they started all the old stationary engines, and then back to Komani.
“It is a sport which attracts people who love vintage cars. They are fascinating because of the technology. If something goes wrong, you can fix it. The 1960 Rover was the oldest car model present,” Bolze said.
He believed the fewer number of participants this year was due to the high price of fuel, as vintage cars are quite heavy on fuel.
He said QAC was formed in 1916, and it eventually led to the Automobile Association, which produced road maps. Along the way, the club died down and was revived in the early 80s.
Navigator Redgard said being part of the club afforded him the opportunity to experience different vintage car brands first-hand.
“You get to experience how cars were made simple back then,” he said.