ALL TAR RALLY – WP RALLY SECTION

The Killarney International Raceway hosted the annual, one of a kind, All Tar Rally on Saturday 12 July 2025. Now the first reaction is normally one of, this a walk in the park and not a true rally, but if that is your opinion please enter and you will soon prove yourself wrong!

It may be shorter than a regular round of the Western Cape Rally Championship and it has almost no liaison sections to cover, does not require any travelling by the service crews and offers a multitude of spectating options, but it requires 110% concentration and takes everything out of man and machine.

The scenery is totally unforgiving, room for error simply a terrifying thought, but when you find that perfect balance it is extremely satisfying and far more rewarding than what the results may reflect. And there is no hiding away as commentators Frank Heunis, Francois Butler, Jordan Hoeben enjoyed a clear view of all the action from the top of the Castrol Control Tower in the old pit complex.

Twenty two rally teams took on the intimidating walls of Killarney and there were a number of interesting combinations present. The morning started with the Super Special where two teams faced off against one another, each completing the stage twice, alternating lanes.

Danie van Niekerk and Francois Zwanepoel only won one special stage but still enjoyed a 1min10sec lead after six special stages had been completed. Their 490 WC2 BMW 130 3.0 well suited to the tight confines of the Killarney International Motorsport Complex and apart from a few wrinkles on the left they managed to complete the testing event fairly unscathed. Their only concern was running high temperatures in the tighter areas.

A sweet result for Danie van Niekerk who can now boast overall victory with a Challenge BMW E36 328i as well as a Rally BMW 130 3.0. Many years of track experience certainly brings benefits to the table and though gravel will certainly favour the 4×4 fraternity the Beemer has certainly proven that it can live with the front pack locally.

Keenan Sassman and Weston Peiser proved to be their consistent self and apart from pushing a few empty drums around they looked like they were simply cruising to a well deserved second overall in the 413 WC1 Subaru Impreza 2.0 Turbo 4×4.
Ismaeel Davids and Yusuf Ganief entered their recently completed 431 WC1 Toyota Yaris XP210 1.6 Turbo 4×4 as shakedown for it’s national debut in the 24-26 July 2025 ARC Algoa Rally but arrived with their regular Toyota Run X S2000 4×4.
Inus du Plessis chose a holiday over rallying and Leon Engelbrecht stepped in as substitute driver in what looked like a 4×4 491 WC2 Coastal Hire BMW E36 328i 3.0. Easily the car with the best ground clearance it looked somewhat out of place but the Gymkhana Champion enjoyed the tarmac format and with regular pathfinder, Piet Carinus, managed to bring the Beemer home fourth overall on debut as rally driver.

A single second behind the BMW came Shaheen Amlay and Ibraheem Amlay in their very good looking Amlay Motorsport 402 WC1 Subaru Impreza GC8 2.0 Turbo 4×4. The cousins followed by Jacques du Plessis and Riaan van Zyl in their Du Plessis Auto 453 WC3 Toyota Conquest 1.8 16v. Well known on the Gymkhana scene it has taken some time to adapt to rallying, but this class win was well deserved. Their only real mishap was spinning the on cold tyres in SS1.

Junayed Edas and Reyanah Edas seventh in their Edas Racing 466 WC4 Toyota Tazz 1.6. The Malmesbury based brother and sister enjoying a solid outing. In eighth spot it was Shaun Jones and Jason Thorpe in their Advanced Asphalting 424 WC1 Subaru Impreza 2.0 Turbo 4×4. Somewhat flustered as they managed to miss a lap on the opening stage and then designed their own route on SS5. They were trying to keep the Scoobie in one piece for the Algoa so officially they were simply taking things easy.

Erin Joshua and Leroy Petersen entertained the crowd with some neat ballad pirouettes in Turn 5 (Pertamina Fastron) but escaped without damage to the P7P Engineering 462 WC3 Toyota Tazz 1.6 20v and managed to Get-In-Gear to reach Parc Ferme in ninth position overall.

Pete Isaacs and Ashwine Isaacs making the top ten in their 471 WC3 Toyota Corolla RXi 1.6 20v with Johann and Petra Zulch eleventh overall in their Ceres Toyota 439 WC4 Ford Escort 1600 Sport. Thoroughly outgunned for power at Killarney the Ceres based husband and wife combination delivered their customary clean drive to the finish.

Julian Calvert and Nicholas Knights brought Liewe Lulu, their 409 WC3 Volkswagen Golf A3 GTi 2.0 8v, home in twelfth spot with Dane Sasman and Logan Hodges the final classified rally team home in thirteenth spot with their The Agents Garage 481 WC3 Volkswagen Golf A3 GTi 2.0 16v. A mighty 33minute time penalty dropping them from tenth to last.

Justin Engle had to call time on his day when a bout of motion sickness halted the progress of the 445 WC3 Toyota Corolla RXi 1.6 20v he shares with Ryan Pey after four stages. It happens.

Tyler Croy and Jayden Hendricks had to call time when their 447 WC4 Toyota Corolla RXi 1.6 broke a sideshaft on the startline and then continued under Super Rally rules.

Rupert van Zyl and Justin Gay was looking in fine form with the Hollandse Motors Spesialis 405 WC3 Volkswagen Polo 2.0 20v until in dropped a rod coming out of Turn 5 (Pertamina Fastron). Winston Neethling and Joshua Neethling already parked at the same spot with their Howard Centre 428 WC1 Nissan Sentra Sti 2.0 4×4 stranded with engine bearings run. Nur Amlay and Ridah Abrahams almost made it to the scrutineering bay with a blown headgasket on their Amlay Construction 452 WC4 Toyota Tazz 1.6.

Published by: Patrick Vermaak

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