Witzenberg Motorklub

Saturday 16 May 2009 will see a small field of just thirteen entries contest the third round of the Western Cape Rally Championship in Ceres. Present at the numbers function to enlighten the regional competitors on what it takes to contest the World Rally Championship was the winner of round one in the 2009 Pirelli Star Challenge , our own Jon Williams. This talented South African making history during the recent Rally of Portugal when he was the only Pirelli Star entry who could complete the grueling event without needing the super rally concession, winning his debut event without a scratch on the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 10 4x4 Turbo. This without having ever driven a left hand drive car nor Gp N4 Production Car competitively and  no WRC experience.
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Though his opposition in the series might be slightly younger they have all gained valuable international experience in Europe and are guided by some of the most experienced navigators in the sport. An absolutely amazing achievement (sadly without any financial support from within South Africa) and our best wishes accompanies him when he tackles round two in Sardinia. As the first South African to reach this level his progress deserves close scrutiny! 
     
Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Rob Williams will start the third round of the Western Cape Rally Championship first on the road in the Team Total class S5 (S2000 at national level) Toyota Run X RSi 2.0 4x4. Since having won the opening round of the Western Cape Rally Championship in Bredasdorp on Valentines Day not much have gone right for the Somerset West based 3x WP drivers champion and it is hoped that another test session at regional level will path the way to that elusive 1st national championship success.
S2000 as developed in South Africa by Toyota and Volkswagen have been accepted as the basis for the World Rally Championship from 2011 and will go a long way towards attracting more manufacturers to the sport. Possibly not very impressive when one mentions a top speed of just 186km/h but believe me they get there quicker than I could write it and few supercars can stop better on tarmac.
Podium positions on the opening two national events have left Mike Nathan (CPMCC Chairman) and Derek Jacobs (Just Chairman) confident of another good result in their AWI class S5 (Gp N4 at national level) Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 4x4 Turbo and they intend to keep the Toyota pairing under close surveillance should an opportunity present itself. This must be one of the most stunningly good looking rally cars in South Africa and with their confidence growing “snap, crackle and pop” should be impressive on the day.
Third on the road will be the Speed Pro Cycling Equipment class S5 (Gp N4 at national level) Subaru Impreza GT 4x4 Turbo of the 2008 Junior WP champions, John “Petter” Peiser and Brian Hoskins. A broken hub saw them retire from Bredasdorp and the flailing oil pressure hade them retire from the Overberg event. Only for the team to discover that it was only a loose wire to the gauge that caused false readings. Their 2008 season started much the same and they eventually won the championship!
Senior champions in 2008, Abduraghman “Manie” Amlay and Yusuf Ganief, return in their very rapid Amlay Motorsport class S4 (Gp N3 on national level) Toyota Run X RSi 1.8. Expect this talented team to exploit the benefits of their lighter, more nimble car. Thorsten “Pau” Pey and Mark “Dipsey” Palmer possible facing some handicaps in the much heavier (no reference to the crew) Winning Business Solutions / Forsdicks Tygervalley class S4 (no national classification) Teletubbies BMW 325i. Depending on the prevailing weather and road conditions this car is more than capable of matching times with the rapid Toyota and this friendly rivalry have often led to entertaining tussles in the domestic series. Being juniors it could prove a challenge keeping them out of the mud though, they are always having a ball!
Since Serge Damseaux drove the 4x4 Turbo Conquest on the first WBMK Ceres Rally in 1986 the organizers have been silently wishing for snow on the day of the rally. As the most senior junior WBMK team on the event the teletubbies would look good in white if they can stay out of the brown. Never discount the potential of Andy Haigh-Smith and Steven White in the immaculate Team REACT class S3 (A6 on national level) Toyota Corolla RXi 1600. What it lacks in outright power is compensated for by superb brakes, suspension and sheer determination. Watching this car on any event could be misleading as at the tender age of 61 Andy certainly does not show any mercy to the youngsters and will drive to beat them!
Llewellyn Jones and Craig Gray return to the fray with their deceptively quick class S4 VW Golf  TDi and have even invested in new underwear to compensate for their anticipated speed on this event, and you might not even hear them approach! No Llewellyn, only one set of underwear is required by the navigator! André “Chippie” George and George “The Flying Fridge” du Toit have proven very consistent in their class S3 Toyota Conquest RSi 1600 and Team George are getting quicker with each outing. The similar Freightmore class S3 Toyota Conquest RSi 1600 of Kesevan Naidoo and new navigator, Quaid Walburgh, will be considered their direct rivals. Both Chippie and Kesevan keen to score good points early in the season and both will be giving their best come 16 May.
On the other end of the age scale 16 year old Ashley Haigh-Smith (Turns 17 on 16 August) and Hilton Auffray will be taking on the “ou manne” in their Team REACT class S2 (A5 on national level) Toyota Yaris 1.3. Actually their main rivals come in the form of lady driver, Stefanie Hugo, and her father, Willem, in their Wiel class S3 (N2 on national level) Toyota Corolla RXi 1600. The latter combination quickly coming to terms with the Toyota and showing vast improvement with each event. With little to choose between these two teams is should lead to another entertaining duel between the CPMCC Yaris and WBMK Toyota.
Relative newcomers Paul Emmanuel and Jody Eady will contest the event in their class S1 (A5 on national level) VW Golf Mk1 1.4i and their only goal should be to finish without serious mishap. A similar approach should also see Warren Scholtz and Justin Gay finish their first event in their class S3 VW Polo 1.8. Small field, good points, must finish should be priority with every team.
The current economic recession have had a serious impact on rallying in the Western Cape and competitors attended an urgent meeting at which various suggestions were discussed to resolve issues such as ever increasing costs and safety were evaluated. Short term suggestions are to be submitted for urgent action which will hopefully see the numbers swell before Ceres. 
Aluminium Window Industries (Mike Nathan) and The Flying Fridge (George du Toit) have stepped in with financial assistance towards the organizing of the Ceres Rally and CPMCC (Andy Haigh-Smith and Mike Nathan) will be providing a mobile PA system for commentary by Gerhard Kriel. Always a spectator friendly event followers of the Ceres Rally will now benefit from informative commentary throughout the event.
In a further effort to curb expenses the event is set to start at 11h00 and teams will contest a compact route comprising just four special stages. Effectively this relates to two fairly long stages run twice totaling 96.66km of competitive driving. The event will cover a total distance of 205km. Documentation (09h00), scrutineering (09h00) and start (11h00) will be at Ceres Automark and the finish (15h34) / prizegiving will be at the Rocky River Spur.
Pierre van der Westhuizen as always the Clerk of the Course with Brian Roy assisting. The 00 car will have Danie Smuts and Louise Kellerman in control with 0 car Johann and Petra Zulch. Stage closing will be taken care off by Johan Viljoen and R Bester. All cars to be inside the holding area by 10h30 with the start of the 26.46km SS1 Swaarmoed at 11h20 with road service before starting the 21.87km SS2 Kleinvlak at 12h12. A Service Park of 20min will be in operation from 12h59 after SS2. Then the 26.46km SS3 now called Horison is started at 13h42 and at 14h34 the fourth and final 21.87km SS now known as Laastedrift is to start at 14h34. Early arrival is permitted at the Parc Fermé but the first car is due at 15h34. A total of 96.66km SS and 108.59km OS totaling just 205km for a compact and economical format.
Fast, but deceptive, it will the intelligent rather than brave that will achieve good results on the day. Monitor conditions closely as rain on the day WILL make this a completely different event. If you go off whilst it is dry a rock of some description will have you rue the mistake and if you go off whilst it is raining – just ask Thorsten and Mark!  (They might even loan you a spare spade!)
This simply has to be one of the most beautiful areas in the Western Cape and a day in the country is therapy after a week at the office.
Spectator Guides, Itinerary and Entry List will be available on the following websites from Tuesday 12 May 2009:
www.wbmk.co.za
www.rallystar.co.za 

Numbers function for the WBMK Ceres Rally took place in the comfy CPMCC Rollbar on Wednesday 06 May 2009 @ 20h00.
Jon Williams dropped in discussing his experiences on the Pirelli Star Challenge and will soon be heading for  Sardinia.
Only thirteen entries received for round 3 of the Western Province Rally Championship at this stage.
 

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