Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries retained their Sasol South African Rally Championship titles after an historic showdown last weekend with title challengers Johnny Gemmell and Peter Marsh who were left stranded in the sixth stage with a blown engine while attacking hard.

Fekken (Class S2000 BP Volkswagen Polo) stormed to a 23-second lead in the first stage on Friday, immediately placing Gemmell (S2000 Castrol Toyota Auris), who spun and stalled, under extreme pressure. Fekken took another second in the following stage before Gemmell struck back with two stage wins to cut the overnight deficit to 19.2 seconds.

Fekken had a slow opening stage on Saturday morning, conceding five seconds to Gemmell in the first of four short and very slippery super special stages in Bapsfontein.

It was clear Gemmell wasn't going to give up on his title hopes but the Auris ground to a halt with engine problems and Fekken was champion for the second time.

"It was our plan to charge hard in the first stage and hopefully catch everyone sleeping," said a delighted Fekken. "Conditions weren't very good and it was a bit risky. We had a bad first stage on Saturday and a failed clutch in stage nine. Three corners after passing Johnny's car in stage six I congratulated Pierre. It's been a really hard season but our second championship makes it all worthwhile."

Almost unnoticed, Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson won the Toyota Dealer Rally in their BP Volkswagen Polo. Kuun, without a win in 18 months, initially defended Fekken in his championship fight but moved into the lead once Gemmell retired. Fekken fought back, still as hungry as ever for rally victories. The two VW crews traded fastest times throughout the rest of day and Fekken got to within 3 seconds of snatching the lead after Kuun had to run stages 8 and 9 without a clutch.

Fekken backed off in the final two stages, allowing Kuun to build a 24.6 second lead while the third VW Polo of former multiple champions Jan Habig and Douglas Judd won the penultimate stage on their way to completing a Volkswagen 1-2-3 result.

Schalk Burger and Armand du Toit, the 2008 Northern Regions Rally Champions, and competing in their first national event at the top level, ended fourth overall in their Triple S Toyota RunX, top-scoring for event sponsors Toyota. The pair lost 25 seconds with a puncture in stage 11 but managed to squeak home 5.8 seconds ahead of the similar Total Toyota RunX of Fernando Rueda/Dave Lewkowicz. Rueda had no less than four spins in stage five and suffered a 35-second loss with a puncture in stage eight.

Japie van Niekerk and Robin Houghton brought their NAD Toyota RunX home sixth overall after holding fifth for most of the rally. Van Niekerk rolled in the shakedown stage on Friday morning, denting a few panels and breaking the windscreen but ran a good rally until stage six. The pair hit a puddle flat out and aquaplaned sideways through a fence, coming to rest straddling a ditch, which cost the Pretoria property developer five minutes.

The strong class S2000 entry was decimated on day one with Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Andre Vermeulen rolling their Total Toyota RunX in stage 1, Theuns Joubert/Drew Sturrock (Salom Volkswagen Polo) retiring with a flat battery after a spin/stall and Mark Cronjé/Robert Paisley (Castrol Toyota Auris) retiring with a broken engine in stage 2.

Tjaart Coetzee and Etienne Lourens claimed their maiden Production Car win with a strong seventh place overall. The Midas Subaru Impreza STI pair overcame a puncture in stage three on Friday, losing five minutes after stopping to change tyres in an otherwise flawless rally.

Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin, already crowned class A6 champions in their Total Toyota Auris, ended eighth overall, their highest position of the season after one of the only crews to have a completely trouble-free run through the 12-stage event.

Evan Hutchinson and Elvéne Coetzee wrapped up the class A7 championship in their Motorite Toyota RunX after a fraught time that included severe overheating and a failed clutch that nearly caused their retirement. Their four minute advantage over rivals Stevan Wilken/Greg Gericke (Pannar Volkswagen Polo) was whittled down as the off-road champion had to start the last four stages on the starter motor.

Wilken and Gericke also suffered with overheating problems but got stuck in stage six, losing four minutes. A marshal eventually towed them out, leading to their exclusion for outside assistance.

Nico/Gert Nienaber (Kwik-Fit Toyota Corolla) ended 10th overall and second in class A6, nearly five minutes ahead of the class S20 winner, 2009 Northern Regions Champions Rod Hering/Henry Dearlove (Randburg Raceway Toyota Tazz).

Christoff and Celeste Snyders brought their class S20 Sabertek Volkswagen Citi Golf home in 12th place, two minutes ahead of the class N3 winners, Megan Verlaque/Gerhard Snyman's Toyota RunX.

Dave Compton and Pierre Jordaan were running 11th overall and heading to their sixth win of the year in their N3 Sasol Toyota RunX, retired in stage 10 with a broken gearbox.

Regional competitor Erik de Jager/Robbie Coetzee stunned the rally fraternity with a maiden class A5 win in their MDJ Volkswagen Citi Golf after a perfect run, but the class attention was firmly focussed on the championship battle that raged between the two factory BP Citi Golfs of Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin and Andre Cleenwerck/Des de Fortier.

Cleenwerck had to win with Zulu finishing fifth or lower and unbelievably, that is how things stood on Friday after Zulu lost ten minutes with throttle body issues. Cleenwerck was well in the lead until 150 metres from the flying finish of the final stage when the Citi Golf refused to climb a big jump after an air sensor failed. Eventually Cleenwerck reversed the car over the obstacle but lost four minutes and the title, while Zulu had climbed to third in class and took the championship. The two warring BP teams finished 17th and 19th overall respectively.

Murray Lloyd/Ralph Lehman (MLC Subaru Impreza GT) ended second in the production car stakes after a rally fraught with problems, not least losing ten minutes bogged down in the final stage.

Tony Barbosa/Kenny Hill (Pro Beat Ford Fiesta ST) ended 16th overall and took second in class N3.

21 teams survived the muddy conditions from the original 36 starters. Other leading retirements included:

• Ashley Haigh Smith/Hilton Auffrey (A5 React Toyota Yaris) - engine
• Chris de Wit/Dean Redelinghuys (A7 Total Toyota RunX) - rolled
• Michael Otto/Tommy du Toit (A7 Liqui Moly Toyota Corolla) - engine
• Riaan Erasmus/Herman Groenewald (N3 Toyota RunX) - rolled
• Rodney Visagie/Carolyn Swan (A6 Total Toyota RunX) - gearbox
• Joos/Danie Stassen (N4 Subaru Impreza STi) - ran out of fuel
• Vusi Mabanga/Shaun Visser (A5 Total Toyota Yaris) - withdrew - outside assistance

Dean Somerset, Sasol's Head of Sponsorship, said of the 2009 season: "The Sasol South African Rally Championship once again provided breathtaking spectacle and excitement until the very end. Congratulations to all the class winners, their support crews and sponsors!"

"In addition to the success stories, the Sasol South African Rally Championship was not immune to the global economic climate. This was evident throughout the year with fewer competitors entering events, organising clubs having access to smaller budgets and the shrinking of sponsor involvement. It goes without saying that the volunteers, who served rallying yet again, through sometimes better desired conditions, were one of the contributing factors assisting and ensuring that Sasol met its objectives." 

supplied by Evan Rothman

Issue 104, HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS http://issuu.com/hhmag/docs/h_h-104

Similar Posts:

• Sasol South African National Rally Championship 2008: review in photographs by the e-magazine Handbrakes and Hairpins
• SANRC Sasol Rally 2009 review: Johnny Gemmell wins with Toyota Auris S2000
• Rally of South Africa 2009 Results: Hergen Fekken wins in BP Ultimate VW Polo S2000

About the Author

Scott Coursey is the editor-in-chief of RallyBuzz.com and can be found on Twitter or on Facebook