Rally : Hutchison and Coetzee out of luck on Sasol Rally
April 26, 2010 by ProMotor
Motorite Racing’s Evan Hutchison and Elvene Coetzee were out of luck in the Sasol Rally in the Mpumalanga Lowveld at the weekend when their VW Polo was forced out of the third round of the Sasol Rally Championship with a holed gearbox.
Hutchison’s first retirement since September 2008 brought to an end an impressive run of 11 points-scoring finishes since Motorite Racing joined the national rally championship in 2008, a feat not equalled by anyone else in their class.
“It was an abrupt and disappointing end to what had started quite promisingly,” said the 40-year-old father of two from Kyalami Estates in Gauteng. “The VW Polo was performing perfectly and we were just getting into our stride.”
The Motorite pair had got their first season in the premier S2000 class off to a great start with strong finishes in the first two rounds and were lying sixth overall in the championship.
Despite difficult, misty conditions and having to contend with thick dust from the competitors ahead of them, they started strongly on Friday and were eighth overall after the first two special stages. A rock half-embedded in the road caught them out on special stage four and cracked open the gearbox.
“I realised as soon as we hit the rock that we were in trouble,” said Hutchison. “The power steering belt had also come off and I had difficult turning into the next corner. We stopped about 100 metres down the road, with oil pouring out of the gearbox. It was over.
“I walked back to the rock and watched quite a few cars drive right over it without a problem. We were very unlucky.”
It was a dramatic rally with a variety of problems befalling many of the competitors, including several of the front runners. With just eight of the 22 finishers coming from the top S2000 class, Hutchison and Coetzee missed out on another top 10 finish.
Former national champions Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson in a factory VW Polo were the winners at the end of the two days, finishing over 30 seconds in front of the factory Toyota Auris of Johnny Gemmell and Phil Archenoul. Former champion Jan Habig and Ralph Pitchford were third in another factory Polo, 48 seconds behind the winners.
Hutchison, who is the only driver contesting both the national rally and off road championships, now turns his attention to the Sugarbelt 400, the third round of the Absa Off Road Car Championship in KwaZulu Natal on May 7 and 8. He and co-driver Achim Bergmann are the defending champions in a Motorite Racing BAT Spec 3 designed and built by Bergmann.
Motorite Racing is the motor sport division of Motorite Insurance Administrators, the largest independent mechanical breakdown insurance and full maintenance plan service provider and administrator in South Africa.
Loading ...
Comments
Feel free to leave a comment...