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KZN TEAMS GRAB LION'S SHARE ON VOLKSWAGEN RALLY Natal crews made a highly successful foray into the Eastern Cape when they came away with the lion's share of the spoils on the Volkswagen Rally, round five of the Stannic National Rally ...
Edited: May 8, 2001, 12:19 PM
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KZN TEAMS GRAB LION'S SHARE ON VOLKSWAGEN RALLY
Natal crews made a highly successful foray into the Eastern Cape when they came away with the lion's share of the spoils on the Volkswagen Rally, round five of the Stannic National Rally Championship.
Reigning South African champions Jan Habig and Douglas Judd, in the factory VW Golf, led the way with their second victory of the season - a win that puts them just one point behind Serge Damseaux and Vito Bonafede (Castrol Toyota Conquest) in this year's drivers and co-drivers championship.
Habig and Judd won by close on 10 minutes to give Volkswagen their first win in their own rally.
"It was satisfying to give Volkswagen the win they wanted in their own backyard," said Habig. "The car was superb and while we had an absolutely clear run everyone around us seemed to be pushing self destruct buttons.
"The pressure is now on at the top of the championship and the last three events of the season are going to be highly interesting." Not far behind Habig and Judd were Cliff Blackman and Johan Klaasen in the Team Total Nissan Sentra. The pair scored their first overall win of the season in the Group N category and also won Class N3.
With arch rivals Hannes Grobler and Dave McGregor (Bridgestone Nissan Sentra) dropping out on special stage two, Blackman and Klaasen went on to dominate the Group N category and finish sixth overall. "It was a pity Hannes and Dave dropped out," said Blackman, "but we had a good run and it was nice to win for a change."
There was also a return to form for Dean Sanders and Graham Hooper in the Team Total Toyota Conquest. They finished ninth overall and won Class N2 with another Team Total Toyota Conquest crew, Craig Trott and Brian Duncan, again going along steadily to finish eighth overall and second in Class A6.
The big disappointment for Natalians was the early demise of Etienne Lourens and Robert Paisley in the Team Total Toyota Conquest running in Class A8. Their rally was over almost before it started with the pair going out at the end of special stage one with a broken camshaft.
For Lourens and Paisley it was their third non finish in four outings and is likely to drop the pair out of the top 10 in the championship.
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