Stannic Great North Rally Review September 17-18, 1999

The Stannic Great North Rally on September 17 and 18 provided for some significant gains - and some losses - in terms of this year's Stannic Rally Championship title races.

While VW Motorsport Golf factory crew Jan Habig and Doug Judd moved a step closer to winning this year's championship, there were "winners and losers" in other categories. Habig and Judd scored their fourth win in a row on the Stannic Great North Rally and after five rounds of the championship now lead Castrol Toyota pair Serge Damseaux and Guy Hodgson by 21 points.

All crews have to drop one result at the end of the season, but Habig and Judd are now very much in the driving seat. Another win on the VW Rally on October 1 and 2 could see the VW pair put matters out of reach for Damseaux and Hodgson.

While Habig and Judd were cementing their overall championship claims, the Stannic Great North rally also provided for new leaders in the overall Group N category. Reigning drivers champion Hannes Grobler and Nic Hadden (Total Bridgestone Nissan Sentra) took another win to edge ahead of Team Total Nissan Sentra pair Cliff Blackman and Johan Klaasen.

The big losers here were Team Total Toyota Corolla crew Dean Sanders and Graham Hooper who led the Group N championship going into the Stannic Great North Rally. A non finish saw them drop to third in the championship, but they still have a comfortable lead in Class N2.

There were no changes at the top of Classes A8, A7 and A6. Habig and Judd top Class A8, Tjaart van der Walt and Cindi Harding (Rieks Towing VW Golf) extended their lead in Class A7 and the frontrunners in Class A6 - Hergen Fekken and Dave Lewkowicz (Dunair Toyota Corolla) and Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Pierre Arries (Team Total Toyota Corolla) - were among the non finishers.

In terms of the overall championship Fekken/Lewkowicz and Damseaux/Arries were hard hit. Fekken and Lewkowicz dropped from fourth to sixth and Damseaux and Arries from sixth to eighth.

Grobler, a former SA rally and off-road champion, moves into the top five on the overall drivers list and Hadden is third where co-drivers are concerned. Grobler and Hadden also displace Blackman and Klaasen at the top of the Class N3 standings.

In the other significant move in the overall standings Paolo Piazza-Musso and Richard Leeke, in the Sasol Motorcraft Ford Escort, move up two positions on both the drivers and co-drivers championship standings. On the fringes of the top five it is pretty close with just 13 points separating Fekken in sixth spot and Sanders in ninth place.

The status quo among the top two crews in Class N1 also remains unchanged, although Rodney Visagie and Carolyn Cimma (Team Total Toyota Tazz) now lead Mike Houghton and Bryn Doherty (Mikebryn Toyota Tazz) by nine points. Behind them, however, the father and son team of Dave and Wayne Watt moved into third place ahead of Allen Worms and Brendan Nunan.

On the manufacturers championship front Toyota can start thinking about having their name engraved on the trophy once again. With just three rounds left Toyota now lead Volkswagen by 423 points and it looks all over bar the shouting.

STANNIC RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP 1999

Points positions after five rounds:

Drivers (Overall): 1 J Habig 163; 2 S Damseaux 142; 3 E Lourens 105; 4 H Grobler 95; 5 T van der Walt 82; 6 H Fekken 76; 7 P Piazza-Musso 72; 8 C Blackman and J-P Damseaux 67; 9 D Sanders 63; 10 T Ball and B Grobbelaar 51.

Co-Drivers (Overall): 1 D Judd 163; 2 G Hodgson 142; 3 N Hadden 95; 4 R Paisley 89; 5 C Harding 82; 6 D Lewkowicz 76; 7 R Leeke 72; 8 P Arries and J Klaasen 67; 9 G Hooper 63; 10 M Olivier and M Burrows 51.

Group N Drivers (Overall): 1 H Grobler 70; 2 C Blackman 67; 3 D Sanders 63; 4 R Visagie 48; 5 M Houghton 39; 6 D Marais 37; 7 K Roos 35; 8 S Burger 31; 9 W Watt 23; 10 A Worms 20.

Group N Co-Drivers (Overall): 1 N Hadden 70; 2 J Klaasen 67; 3 G Hooper 63; 4 C Cimma 48; 5 M Doherty 39 6 D de Waal 37; 7 N Fourie 35; 8 M Botha 31; 9 D Watt 23; 10 B Nunan 18.

Class A8 (Drivers): 1 J Habig 163; 2 S Damseaux 142; 3 E Lourens 105; 4 P Piazza-Musso 72; 5 C van der Merwe 12.

Class A7 (Drivers): 1 T van der Walt 82; 2 T Ball and B Grobbelaar 51; 3 H Grobler 25; 4 G Kleyn 24; 5 K Westermeyer 9.

Class A6 (Drivers): 1 H Fekken 76; 2 J-P Damseaux 67; 3 C van der Merwe 37; 4 C Trott 36; 5 C de Wit 34.

Class N3 (Drivers): 1 H Grobler 70; 2 C Blackman 67; 3 M Wyngaard 8.

Class N2 (Drivers): 1 D Sanders 63; 2 D Marais 37; 3 K Roos 35; 4 S Burger Snr 31; 5 R Behm 14.

Class N1 (Drivers): 1 R Visagie 48; 2 M Houghton 39; 3 W Watt 23; 4 A Worms 20; 5 J Strydom 16.

Class A8 (Co-Drivers): 1 D Judd 163; 2 G Hodgson 142; 3 R Paisley 89; 4 R Leeke 72; 5 B White 16.

Class A7 (Co-Drivers): 1 C Harding 82; 2 M Burrows and M Olivier 51; 3 N Hadden 25; 4 J Barnard 24; 5 G Snyman 9.

Class A6 (Co-Drivers): 1 D Lewkowicz 76; 2 P Arries 67; 50; 3 A Vermeulen 37; 4 B Duncan 36; 5 A Harris 34.

Class N3 (Co-Drivers): 1 N Hadden 70; 2 J Klaasen 67; 3 R Wyngaard 8.

Class N2 (Co-Drivers): 1 G Hooper 63; 2 D de Waal 37; 3 N Fourie 35 4 M Botha 31; 5 D Rossouw 14.

Class N1 (Co-Drivers): 1 C Cimma 48; 2 B Doherty 39; 3 D Watt 23; 4 B Nunan 18; 5 M Ferreira 16.

Manufacturers Championship: 1 Toyota 825; 2 Volkswagen 402; 3 Nissan 197; 4 Ford 72; 5 Opel 44.