The fifth round of the 2026 SA Rally Driver’s and Navigator’s championship, the Ingco Ermelo Rally was an exciting one for Volkswagen South Africa, with three NRC1 Polo’s on the top steps of the podium, albeit all privateer entries.
Friday was the opening day of Round 5 of the Championship, and a very exciting, competitive day with five NRC1 4WD machines out to do battle. Reigning Champions, Benjamin Habig and Barry White made a bold statement by clinching the first 3 stages, stage 4 and 5 went to Paul van Niekerk, before Habig and White took stages 6 and 7. Jono van Wyk and Nico Swartz had a good run as their new VW Polo is continuously being developed and showed excellent pace taking special stage 8. Noteworthy – Jono and Paul did battle for 2nd and 3rd places on the stages with five 2nd spots to Paul and Jono one, and Habig one.
Overnight leaders were Habig and White with a margin of just over 32 seconds, with Paul van Niekerk in 2nd, and Jono van Wyk in 3rd.
Saturday morning, as it is often the case in this unpredictable sport, a different story unfolded. The #1 Polo of Ben and Barry got stuck in 3rd gear mid the first special stage of the day. With service another stage and liaisons in between, the duo pressed on, losing valuable seconds but clinging onto the lead. A 30 minute service was not enough time to carry out major repairs, so 3rd gear it was.
“It was a matter of it is what it is, and we will Rally the remaining 70 odd kilometres in 3rd – either it will pay off, or we would have to retire,” said Ben.
“It was frustrating, took a whack of hard work and a calculating drive to start a stage in 3rd – that was fun. Then to stay in third, go into a sharp corner and you can’t shift up or down. Our biggest fear was that the clutch was going to give up on us, but it held its own until the very last stage.
We managed to still post 2nd or 3rd fastest times on the stages, and this kept us in the points.”
Paul took over the lead, but he suffered a broken power steering 4 stages from the end after a strong drive, with two stage wins and two 2nd places. This opened the door for Jono and Nico, who went on to win the final 6 stages, and a well deserved overall win. Habig and White finished 2nd overall, with Paul van Niekerk in 3rd.
“Super happy – points got another boost, so the final three events are going to be challenging,” said Barry.
“Rallying is all about fight the fight on the stages, and at the end you celebrate together and have a combined post mortem. It was mixed feelings for me, a little disappointed that we couldn’t give it our all, but Jannie Daddy – get a dozen of those clutches as spares. But happy for Jono van Wyk that his VW Polo ran faultlessly, and at the same time, very sad for Paul van Niekerk, so close yet so far.”
“It was a great weekend, the organisers and sponsors put up an incredible event. Thanks to all the marshals and officials and I believe rallying is slowly being elevated to its rightful place in Motorsport in South Africa. The new sponsors who have come on board is appreciated,” concluded Ben.
We will see you at the Algoa Rally on 24 and 25 September, one of my favourite events.
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