Action at ARC 50k challenge
THERE was plenty of action in the second round of the Algoa Rally Club 50k challenge at the Baywest Mall at the weekend. The overall winners were Rikus Schmidt and Sherilee Pieterse, driving a Volkswagen Polo 1 600.
Johan and Juane Viljoen, winners of the Volkswagen Polo first prize in 2015, exchanged stage wins but it was Schmidt who won the rally by less than a minute.
They were followed home by Jacques Du Toit and Ronald Rens from Bloemfontein, in a Nissan Sentra.
Class winners Darren Murphy and Roxanne Bartle won the 1 400cc class driving a Volkswagen Golf, followed by Pierre Van der Berg and Dion Engels also driving Volkswagens.
The 1 600cc winners were Schmidt and Pieterse, in second place was Rufus Neethling and Henry Adams driving Volkswagen Polos, and third spot went to Neels Vosloo and Kevin Futcher in a Toyota Yaris.
The first stage was won by Ettienne and Mauritz Malherbe driving a Datsun 160U SSS who rolled out of contention after mounting a burm at Jachtvlage in stage four.
The second stage winner Ross Bartle and Matthew Kohler, Volkswagen Polo, succumbed to a blown engine, also in stage four.
Other potential winners Bryan and Keith Heine, in a Datsun SSS, and Iddo Steyn and Mark Irvine, Ford Escort, also fell out of the rally with mechanical woes.
Andrew Dillon and Justin van Acker driving a Volkswagen Golf 1 400 in their second rally, rolled in the Jagvlakte stage.
They managed to get the car back onto its wheels and carried on until the penultimate stage at the mall when they collided with an armco barrier pole, destroying the front end of the car.
Driver and navigator were taken to hospital for observation and discharged with bruises.
The next ARC 50k challenge will be incorporated into the Volkswagen National Rally taking place on July 15 and 16 in the Longmore Forests, Uitenhage and an evening stage at Baywest Mall is in the planning stages.