By Dave Ledbitter

The 5^th round of the 2000 Northern Regions Rally Championship, the TMCC-run Medical Support Solutions Rally, was won on 2 September by Rocky Reyneke and Andre Pheiffer in a class S4 Hencom Motorsport Volkswagen Golf. This was Reyneke's first ever outright victory in only his second rally after a long lay-off following his huge crash on last years' Gauteng rally, which threatened to end his career.

For the second rally in succession, the sponsor's services were required. Sadly, Medical Support Solutions were called upon to tend to Geoff Tyrer, navigator to John Saunders, who rolled end-over-end on stage 2, finishing up against a tree. The event was stopped for ½ hour to extricate the crew. Tyrer was removed from the written-off Golf and taken to hospital with a bruised heart and cracked sternum.

A remarkable dog-fight took place in dry, dusty and windy conditions in the mielie-fields around Delmas and Eloff, which saw no less than 4 different leaders during the compact 8 stage event.

The fun and games got off to an early start, on SS1, where the flying finish was located at the end of a kilometer-long straight ,followed by a fast right-left sweep. The first three cars on the road all skated off on the marble-like stones, regaining the track between large natural rocks. Not so lucky were youngsters Ernest Bielfeld and Fred Language, who hit the rock and broke a tie-rod on their S3 VW Golf. Erno Fekken (cousin of Hergen) and Hendri du Plessis also hit rocks which punched a hole in the floorpan of their Conquest. The stage was won by Saunders/Tyrer, 5 seconds clear of Theo Venter/Gerald Boonzaier (S3 VW Golf) and Jaco Venter/Menno Havelaar (S3 Toyota Conquest), who dead-heated.

Stage 2 was won by Johnny Gemmell/Erroll Finniss, (class S4 L&J Plant Services Nissan Sentra), 11 seconds clear of the Nelspruit husband and wife team of Joel and Anneke Ritson in a similar class S4 Supa Quick Nissan Sentra, 1 second clear of a remarkable vehicle, masquerading as a Chev LUV bakkie, but with a 327 cu.in. (5.3 litre) V8 engine mounted behind the cab! The jovial crew, Bert Greef and Karl du Plessis joked that they keep a Golf engine under the bonnet to kick-start the big V8 into life… 2 seconds adrift of this monster was Venter/Boonzaier.

Title contender Nico Nienaber/Marius Steenkamp (S4 Hencom Motorsport VW Golf) broke a driveshaft in the stage but limped out and got to the service park, losing a minute in the process. Marius Swart had another rookie navigator, Victor Henning in the hot seat of his class N2 Royal Purple SAlive.com Honda Civic. Henning usually services for Kobus Roos on National rallies, while Kobus was servicing for the Honda team. Swart went off on this stage, losing 7 minutes stranded on an earth bank. As Marius said: " For the first few stages, I was driving and navigating, showing Victor how to use the odo."

On to stage 3 outside Bapsfontein. Gemmell/Finniss won again, with the Ritsons' class S4 Supa Quick Sentra making a Nissan 1-2, with Venter/Havelaar next up. Young Jaco Venter is in his second season of rallying, and is learning his craft from Etienne Lourens and is described by Havelaar as " an exceptional talent".

Theo Venter/Gerald Boonzaier's Golf suffered a broken coil wire, which cost 1 minute to the leaders. SAHRA pilot, Rob du Preez and navigator Richard Gerntholtz retired the three-decade old Ford Escort with a broken prop shaft. The other Historic Escort, normally so prominent in regional rallying and driven by Ben and Isebel vd Westhuizen, found the long straights and thick sand didn't suit their 1600cc Escort and were well down the running order(by their standards).

The sleepy farming community of Delmas played host to stage 4. With a 20sec lead, Johnny Gemmell and Errol Finniss exited the event, the Sentra broke a driveshaft. Hannes Erasmus, all the way from Lydenburg, rolled his Datsun in mud (!) (a farmer was irrigating his land). The hapless driver tried to downshift to 2^nd gear, but couldn't engage the cog, and arrived too fast to negotiate the corner. The mud also claimed Joel and Anneke Ritson, who landed in a marsh, but a spectator pulled them out with his Landcruiser and they continued until SS5, when the engine died with wet electronics. Reyneke/Pheiffer had a puncture 4km from the end of the stage but lost little time. Gert J van Rensburg/JB Nieuwenhuisen (Hencom VW Golf) broke a sideshaft in the rough conditions but were able to continue. Jaco Venter lost 2½ minutes when he stopped to change a flat tyre.

The stage was won by Theo Venter and Gerald Boonzaier, from the monster truck of Greef/du Plessis and the vd Westhuizens' Escort.

The arid, flat landscape around Eloff was next (SS5). The strong wind created mini whirlwinds, sucking rotting vegetation into the clear skies above the battleground of the rally. Theo Venter, sensing victory, charged to the fastest time, 4 secs ahead of Nienaber/Steenkamp, with the class S5 (non-points scoring) Chev truck a further 1 sec adrift.

The Chev truck slowed on stage 6 with broken power steering. The wiry frame of Bert Greef couldn't hustle the truck around corners and they dropped off the pace somewhat. They also wrong-slotted twice in the stage. Pretorians Johan and dad Leon vd Merwe, 4^th in the championship before the start of the rally, retired their Hencol Safaris VW Golf with a suspected dropped valve. Nico Nienaber and Marius Steenkamp were also forced to retire the Hencom Golf when a bolt dropped out of the suspension.

This stage was won again by Theo Venter/Gerald Boonzaier, 1 sec faster than Jaco Venter/Menno Havelaar, in turn 2 secs faster than Reyneke/Pheiffer.

On any given rally, one specific stage changes the outcome of the event dramatically. SS7 was that stage. First on the road, Ben and Isebel vd Westhuizen wrong-slotted and lost 5½ minutes, Theo Venter lost 3½ minutes, Jan Delport/Fanie Beukes (S3 Koenic Princes Garage VW Golf) 3 minutes, van Rensburg 4½ minutes and Erno Fekken lost 7 minutes. The longest face at the end of the event belonged to Theo Venter, who lost victory, but others were more philosophical, admitting to their mistake. As current champion, Jan Delport said: "The arrow was there, we didn't see it - we made a mistake." There was talk at the end of the event of protesting the results of the stage or calling for its annulment, but I don't believe there were grounds for that. Most of the field saw the arrow and took the right route.

A brilliant fastest time was recorded by Marius Swart and rookie navigator, Victor Henning, the purple and white Honda driver very chuffed that 'his' man had out-navigated more experienced people. 4 seconds slower was another up-and-coming pairing, Stefan Boshoff and Paul van Wyk in a class N2 Toyota Conquest, then Jaco and Menno.

And to the last stage, a re-run of SS3. Hennie Lourens and Nico Pretorius dropped out with failed suspension, a cruel blow to the Henlo Service Centre VW Golf crew. Stefan Boshoff/Paul van Wyk hit a rock, which punctured a tyre; the time loss cost them 3^rd overall, but they still scored the best result of their short careers. Jan Delport and Fanie Beukes had a quiet rally, the only problem a broken exhaust on the final stage. The final fling went to Venter/Boonzaier (Golf) from Venter/Havelaar and Swart/Henning.

The section for SA Historic cars was won by Natie Booysen/Marius vd Westhuizen (son of Ben and Isebel) in a similarly-vintaged Ford Escort; Marius was well pleased that he out-navigated Mom on the tricky SS7 and contributed to the pairs first ever SAHRA category victory. The only problem they experienced was wayward handling, later traced to incorrect tyre pressures. Pierre de Clerq and Vanny Geldenhuys were second in their Toyota Corolla Mk2, followed by Ben and Isebel vd Westhuizen.