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| Gritting out a smile through their race faces while trying to make up 12 seconds, Deon Redelinhuys and Amon Meyia (right). |
A RATHER glum Dean Redelinghuys became the first driver in the 112-year history of the Natal Motorcycle and Car Club (NMCC) to have won both the driver and navigator championship.
The competitive logistics manager at CTH trucking company in Pietermaritzburg said he would have been all smiles had his co-driver, Amon Meyiwa, also won the overall navigator's title, instead of placing second after the club’s last race for the year on Saturday — the Drumdarroch Rally Sprint on
the South Coast.
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| The scenic paddock of the Drumdarroch Rally Sprint on the KwaZulu-Natao South Coast. |
Their rivals in the S4 class for modified cars, Bertus Labuschagne and Peter Chadwick, were however too quick through the cane in their VW Polo, leaving Redelinghuys and Meyiwa third, with the ever consistent Brian and Ashley Scott in first place.
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| Brian and Ashley Scott on their way to a flying finish. |
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| Bertus Labuschagne and Peter Chadwick keep left and passes right even in the cane. |
In the social class, which allows privateers to enter their standard cars, Clyde Challenor and Kevin Cunningham won in their Ford Ranger, followed by Brandt van der Merwe and Eric van Lelyveld in a battered Fiat Uno, with Llewellyn Blackler and Graham Bishop third in a Mitsubushi Triton, which may or may not have been spectating when it rolled 360 while standing still after Blackler felt a flat rear.
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| Former forester turned software writer Brandt van der Merwe straps down the battery on the Fiat Uno he races in the social class. |
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| Car art by Elize, who decorated the tie-sticthed Fiat Uno's bumper. |
Among the quad bikes, Daniel Botes was fastest on his KTM 505, while Tony Ball won in his pipe car — just two minutes off the winning pace despite having no navigator to guide him.
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| Daniel Botes on his way to victory on his KTM 505. |
Computer programmer by day, Van der Merwe said the social class was affordable and fantastic fun. He said all drag racers and drifters should come and test their car control in rally sprints instead of just doing straight runs and burn-outs.
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| Paulo Gouveia and Ashley Eddie will in 2019 be making a move from the ennui that is drifting to the thrill that is rallying. |
One new convert, Prepsol-sponsored top drifter Paulo Gouveia, agreed, saying he will next year be moving from the photogenic but predictable drifting scene to take on the dynamic challenges offered by rally racing in his Skyline. He placed fourth in the S4 class with Ashley Eddie as navigator.
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| Paulo Gouveia shows why the Skyline rules. |
