The reigning South African National Rally Champions Benjamin Habig and Barry White got their title defense off to a perfect start after storming to victory on the iCAM All Tar Rally, building a 2’06” advantage over their nearest challengers. The KwaZulu Natal driver had a near faultless drive, winning four of the seven stages with just a minor overshoot on the first stage to report and an intermittent misfire across the final two wet stages.
“It’s a great way to start our season,” he beamed at the Zwartkops Raceway finish. “It was a learning day for me, racing on tarmac with rally tyres for the first time, but it turned out well.”
Second overall, after an absence of a year, was the 2022 and 2024 NRC Champion Chris Coertse, teamed with a new co-driver, Matt Kohler. The Rally Technics Mazda2 machine performed faultlessly.
“I drove it, the team serviced it, we fitted new tyres and added fuel. I built up my speed after a year away and had a new navigator, so all in all it was a good day.”
Stunning the rally fraternity on their special stage debut, Kent and Justin Rutherford claimed the final step of the podium and won class NRC3 in their Shield Volkswagen Polo following a perfect run across the seven-stage event, setting three top-four stage times as the youngsters came to grips with special-stage rallying.
Fourth overall was Paul van Niekerk and co-driver Willemjan Hugo in their Volkswagen Polo. The Mpumalanga businessman suffered a loss of power on the opening stage due to overheating, and during stage three, they suffered gearbox issues that left them to complete the rest of the rally with only second gear, limiting the Polo to a top speed of just 96 km/h. Despite this, they finished a tantalising 34.8 seconds off the podium.
Johan Strauss and Caro Storm brought their new Subaru Impreza STI home in fifth place overall, taking the NRC2 victory, 27.3 seconds behind their Polo rivals.
Toyota Gazoo Racing South Africa made a welcome return to the national rally scene with a prototype GR Yaris driven by motoring journalist Mark Jones and navigated by the experienced Kes Naidoo. Jones had raced before but never rallied, and Naidoo spent the event coaching his driver to great effect, ending sixth overall and claiming second place in NRC2.
Anton and Isabel Raaths had a strong run to seventh in their venerable Toyota RunX, taking the NRC3 victory as an added bonus after suffering from intermittent brake issues on the demanding stages. George Smalberger and Carolyn Swan ended eighth overall and second in their class in their Shield Volkswagen Polo after suffering brake issues on the daunting Gerotek mountain stage.
Johan Pretorius and Jack Radford brought their NRC3 Polo home in ninth, followed by the standout drive of the day, which came from Girlie Lukhele and Shaun Visser. Girlie started her career in the virtual world of SIM racing and made a seamless transition to rallying, taking the NRC4 class victory in her Shield Toyota RunX.
Major retirements included Jono van Wyk and Nico Swarts in their brand-new NRC1 Volkswagen Polo after suffering terminal engine issues and Nico and Juandre Nienaber, who had gearbox issues in their Hyundai i20 NRC1.
The iCAM All Tar Rally included the first round of the Northern Regions Rally Championship, which was won by Juan de Wet and Gert Nienaber in their Subaru Impreza STi. Van Niekerk came home second in his Polo, followed by the Raath husband and wife pairing in their Toyota RunX. Johan Strauss Jr and Francois Keyser claimed fourth in their Subaru Impreza, followed by the father and daughter pairing of Johan Fourie/Natasha Fourie-Kotze in their Toyota Conquest.
Michael Mullany and Lehohonolo Leluka rounded out the top six in the regional standings. Held for the first time in 15 years, the iCAM All Tar Rally was a short, sharp, and action-packed event held at the Gerotek testing facility west of Pretoria, with the final two stages run at Zwartkops Raceway.
The next round of the SA National Rally Championship is the Swartland Rally in the Western Cape on 24 and 25 April.
For further information, please contact William Louw: william@nrcsa.co.za
Published by: Dave Ledbitter
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