FLY rally team Dick Cornelissen and Melvin Gous proved unbeatable in their unstoppable Cymot S4 Subaru WRX Turbo 4×4, taking a dominant victory at the week-ends Cymot Rally, which challenged man and machine to the hilt.
Maintaining a steady lead, in their newly painted ‘pink peril’, the colourful Subaru proved to be a very serious rally car contender, with the team delivering their best drive to date, finishing ahead of the pack in a time of 01:08:51.
The celebrations did not stop there, as amongst it all the 2013 Namibian Rally Champions emerged triumphant, with Walvis Bay driver Allan Martin and Berto Mostert, claiming the title as they tore into second place in their lime green J&P Hydraulics S3 VW Polo 4×4.
Still to be ratified by the NMSF the Walvis Bay based team finished just over five minutes behind the front runners, and will be starting the season finale – the 45th Total Tara Rally held on 21-23 November, as the new 2013 ‘champs’ .
Popular husband and wife couple, Riaan and Maretha Olivier, impressed with a hat trick, by finishing 3rd overall in their S4 Select Cars Subaru Impreza 4×4 Turbo, in a time of 01:15:23. Roland Himmel and Juan Erlank brought their Star Bodyworks Toyota Corolla RXi 1.6 into fourth spot, five minutes later to clinch 1st in Class S1.
With just one second separating the dash for fifth spot, S2 winners, Cecil Koortz and Oscar Schoombee, clinched this position in their Toyota Run X RSi 1.8. The top six places were completed by Hanré Myburgh and Geon Ellis in their S1 Toyota Corolla RXi 1.6.
A total of 17 cars started the event on the Friday night, with surprisingly only five cars falling out. This included the 2012 rally champ Wilro Dippenaar and Kesevan Naidoo who were forced to call it a day early in the rally, when they suffered gearbox problems in their Total Evolution / PZN Panelshop S3 Toyota Run X 4×4, just after the first stage. Their championship aspirations ruined.
Another disappointment was when father and daughter ‘combo’ Stephanie Botha and Willem suffered the consequences of unforced errors in their Griffin Mines S3 (S2000 Challenge SA) Toyota Run X 4×4, and after pushing hard, were forced to retire with suspension failure.
Comprising thirteen special stages over a distance of 107.55km and a total distance of 236.23km the Cymot Rally Windhoek represented excellent spectator value as no less than five stages were scheduled at the Tony Rust Raceway. Currently in phase one of a N$500 000 resurfacing project the challenging Windhoek circuit was absolutely packed with spectators for the two stages on Friday evening who lapped up the action.
The event was described by the teams as “very hard, with the heat making it almost unbearable for the teams and the cars”, especially on Saturday.
“All in all it was a fantastic rally with high spirits, and we want to thank our sponsors Cymot and everyone else who took part, for their valuable input in making this event a massive success,” said rally organizer Melvin Gous, who is beaming with pride from his and Dick’s well deserved victory.
By Motoring reporter