03/05/08 - Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson led the 2008 Sasol Rally, round three of the Sasol SA Rally Championship from start to finish, taking their first victory since the 2006 Zulu Rally in a polished performance behind the wheel of their class S2000 BP Ultimate Volkswagen. The former champions built a solid 49-second lead on day one, winning four stages in wet and slippery conditions, to pull away from teammates and title leaders Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries at the rate of half a second per kilometre.

Knowing Fekken was intent on taking as many championship points home as possible and not likely to pose a serious challenge, Kuun was able to slow his pace and drive carefully, literally driving around rocks to avoid punctures which plagued almost every competitor on the fifteen stage route around Sabie and Nelspruit. It worked in the main, for Kuun had only one puncture per day. Fekken did win two stages in a perfect run, but Kuun was able to up his pace at will and ran out the victor by 69 seconds.

“We’re ecstatic”, said Kuun at the Nelspruit finish. “We had a great fight within the team – I loved it. We’re back where we belong. I’m very comfortable driving on wet or slippery surfaces so I really enjoyed the Sasol Rally”.

Fekken’s championship lead over Jan Habig extends from four points to fifteen with five rounds still to run.

The third BP Polo driven by defending champions Jan Habig/Douglas Judd hit a rock in stage two, which destroyed the rim, damaged the cross-member and left the pair without brakes. The crew stopped and changed the wheel, but with no service before tackling stage three, Habig lost 12 minutes in the two stages and incurred a 1½ minute service penalty, leaving the round one winner in 31st place overnight. A storming drive on Saturday, in spite of five punctures on the day, saw the VW pair end 11th overall and bank 10 championship points.

The Castrol Toyota squad had a short rally when Mark Cronje/Robert Paisley and Johnny Gemmell/Peter Marsh damaged their S2000 RunX’s suspension against the scenery in stages one and two respectively. Both Castrol Toyotas ran on Saturday under the Superally rules and set the fastest times on every stage, showing what could have been.

Nicholas Ryan/Schalk van Heerden claimed the final podium place in their S2000 Philips/Jonnesway Toyota RunX in the pairing’s third outing in the top class. They won or tied three stages in an exciting no holds barred battle with JP Damseaux/Cobus Vrey’s similar Total Evolution Toyota RunX, who ended 5th overall after a late misfire dropped them from third place. Both Toyota teams also suffered their fair share of punctures on the rocky stages.

Between the two privateer Toyotas, Paul Pfeiffer/Cindi Harding (Nobili Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) dominated the production car category with a perfectly clean run, holding 3rd overall until overtaken by the flying Ryan late on Saturday afternoon.

Charl Wilken/Greg Godrich (N4 Sasol/Konica Minolta Subaru Impreza) ended a conservative rally in 6th overall to jump back into championship contention as their main rivals Fernando Rueda/Dave Lewkowicz retired their Total Evolution Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 with gearbox problems in stage three.

Visser du Plessis, celebrating his birthday on the event, and co-driver Gerhard Snyman brought their N4 Pirtek Subaru Impreza N14 home 7th overall after a cautious start to the rally. The Pretoria driver had his shares of niggles on Friday but still held off former touring car racer Hein Lategan and Johan van der Merwe who made their debut in a Steve’s Auto Clinic Subaru Impreza.

Japie van Niekerk/Robin Houghton (S2000 Toyota RunX) ended 9th overall after a persistent day one misfire cost several minutes to the competition. Privateers Richard and Natasha Vaughan brought their Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 home 10th and take the overall production car championship lead in spite of driving with deranged suspension after clipping a log in stage one.

Lola and Megan Verlaque marked their Mitsubishi debut with a solid 12th place finish in their newly acquired Total Evolution-backed Lancer Evo 9, pipping Chris de Wit to the position.

De Wit and Dean Redelinghuys took their Total Evolution Toyota RunX to their second consecutive class A7 win, dominating the class by winning 13 of the fifteen stages. Adrian Karth and new co-driver Rikus Fourie finished their first event of the year with a class runner up place ahead of Michael Otto/Sipho Mhlanga (Barloworld Toyota Corolla).

Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin (A7 BP Ultimate Volkswagen Polo) went off the road in stage two and were struck three times by passing competitors, putting them out of the event.

Mohammed Moosa/Grant Martin (Total Evolution Toyota Corolla) survived a near roll after the flying finish in stage five to claim their first class A6 win of the season, ahead of veterans Craig Trott/Tony Ball (A6 Total Evolution Toyota RunX) and Stevan Wilken/Llewellyn Fourie (A6 Pannar Seeds Volkswagen Polo).

The Ford Racing Fiesta ST driven by Etienne Lourens/Elvene Coetzee should have won class N3 but a broken ball joint in stage 11 saw their huge lead come to nought, leaving the way clear for former champions Rodney Visagie/Carolyn Swan to take the front wheel drive production car honours in their Total Evolution Toyota RunX.

Etienne du Toit/Patrick Vermaak (Toyota RunX) gave sponsors Sasol an excellent second in class in the pair’s third ever rally in the class, ahead of Kosta Koumantarakis/Alan Bisset (Toyota RunX).

Dave Compton/Paul Leslie brought their Sasol Toyota Yaris home to a maiden class A5 win; the Sasol Rally is the track racer’s career third gravel event and came one week after winning his in his class B Sasol Toyota RunX in Port Elizabeth.

Andre Cleenwerck/Des de Fortier (BP Ultimate Volkswagen CitiGolf) led the class initially but suffered brake problems on Saturday before rolling in stage 11. The car landed on its wheels and Cleenwerck recovered to end as the A5 runner-up. Steve Mearns/Ciaran Nunan (MPC Toyota Tazz) completed the class A5 podium after a steady drive.

The tough conditions in the Mpumulanga Lowveld saw 36 finishers complete the rally from the original 65 starters. The 17th Sasol Rally organised by the SA Motorsport Club (celebrating their 50th year) was marked by large crowds of spectators at every stage and brought a new level to SA rallying with specially erected safety barriers in the popular town stages in Nelspruit, Sabie and White River.