Super1600 Snyders siblings
SASOL Rally review
So
after sitting out the Natal event we felt so miserable we reconsidered if we
really needed savings, a retirement fund or only 20 years to pay off a bond.
After
quickly correcting a momentary glitch in our priorities (have a
controlled panic and throw a party!), Christoff rounded up months of prep on
the car and we made our way to Sabie for the recce on Wednesday. First we had
to get a rental car in Nelspruit because my brother enjoyed his little VW Polo
rental at the PE rally so much last year, he promptly went and swapped his
Landrover for said VW and this is not the car to take on the SASOL Rally recce
with. But in a rental it’s OK. Obviously.
Or
not. We got two punctures in two stages. Along with almost every other rally
crew present. So we all ended up queuing for a month of Sundays at SupaQuick in
Sabie. They LOVE this time of year. Ladies of Sandton take note. You might
think you provide enough stimulation for your beloved 4x4 driving through 50
potholes en route to work every day, but every night when you park them in
their spotless tiled garages with under floor heating, the SASOL Rally is what
they dream of!
On
Thursday we could take the actual rally cars out for testing on section of the
fabulous Stage 9 (great for spectators and such fun in the car – thank you
organisers and York Timbers for creating awesome sauce stages for us!). You
might wonder why it’s necessary for teams to do this as most of the
professional guys test their cars every single day… it is a well-known fact
that any rally car performs perfectly fine until the day before the rally when
you slap on the event sponsor decals. Then suddenly all the wheels come off
(see what I did there).
So
our alternator belt came off on the shakedown stage. We managed to get a new
one back on just in time for scrutineering back in Sabiewood (because the kids
make us feel like celebs asking for autographs. We secretly love you guys!).
And made off for the start of the rally on Friday with a new addition to my
navbag: the Mother’s stockings. Just in cases.
We
posted a respectable 2nd in class stage time for stage 1. I use the
term respectable loosely as we were up against the fastest, most advanced and expensive
R2 ever built in the woooorld. And we no longer drive a lean, mean orange
machine. Thanks to new regulations that only make sense to the individuals who
creatively, as opposed to scientifically, made said regulations, they “allow”
us to continue driving our car but only with an extra 60kg’s penalty! (which of
course will increase the closer we get to my wedding date).
Towards
the end of stage 1 the alternator belt came off again (what-the-bleep) and once
out the stage, we stopped to put the mother’s stocking to the test.
Unfortunately there was no service between stage 1 and 2 so we had to make due
with stockings, cable ties and the like. Many blisters and cuts (Christoff’s)
and precious minutes (I’m the navigator, they’re mine) later, we realized we’re
going to have to attempt stage 2 sans alternator belt. For my girlfriends
reading this, that meant that the car’s battery wasn’t charging and the car
might very well just retire to a corner to roll up and die.
Which it did. Just
as the clock was counting down to start of stage 2. So we pushed our car (not
the last time on this event) over the starting line into a safe spot where
Christoff’s MacGyver brain continued to make interesting plans to try to fix. Midway
through alternator belt changing palava, I’m calculating our “lateness”, eating
dust of every single crew passing by and making plans to go sightseeing in the
Kruger the next day. But have you met my brother? He doesn’t give up! 31
minutes later, the Sweep comes through and my brother finally concedes that the
alternator has seized and there was just no way we were going to get back to
the service park. At which point one reconsiders all the considerations that
one had to consider to get there in the first place and one wants to bash ones
head into a brick wall repeatedly. Gutted.
But
stick with me, this story gets better. This year SA got on the WRC bandwagon (so
last century) and the rules now state that if you continue with Superrally, you
get a five minute penalty for each stage you didn’t complete on the first
section, but you can still earn points! Earning points with a 25min penalty
seemed utterly ridiculous but have you met my brother? He doesn’t give up. So
the team worked to get everything fixed and we entered to continue again on
Saturday. There goes my gamedrive.
Saturday
kicked off with the world famous in India spaghetti junction stage in
Nelspruit. The Snyders family set lightning times and broke all sorts of world
records. Off the stage that is. I forgot my fire retardant balaclava and Dad
did a new personal best to get it to me in time. We actually set the 2nd
best time in class for that stage. Sweet as. As was the case in Stage 9, which
after stage 11, was my favourite stage of the rally. So we went ahead and won
it on the repeat, Stage 13. But not before we got a puncture in Stage 12 and caught
up with Stef & Ang in the previous stages and the dust was so thick we just
had to focus on finishing and NOT dying. They had all sorts of fuel pump
problems but man, these chicks deserve some sort of award for trying to get to
the finish of this rally! We truly wish you gals a gremlin-free rally on the
next event!
In
the meantime the bleeping rocking SASOL Rally was taking its toll and crews
were falling by the wayside. We were right at the start of the last stage when
we realized after all that drama, we were 550m away from a podium position!
Followed by the next shocking realization. The. Car. Was. Dead.
So
our mighty fine competitors (Clint, Herman, Nick – THANK YOU!) helped me push. Because
that’s how we roll in class Super1600! And then the car came to life! We
finished 3rd in class. How awesome is that? So awesome.
Congrats
also to Morne & Rikus (1st) and Megan & Hilton (2nd).
We made Volkswagen history!
Anyway,
the point of this post was to inspire you to keep trying. Ol’ Churchill was
onto something there. There will always be people with a lot of money and big
ego’s that will tell you, you can’t. But don’t listen to them. Work hard. Keep
dreaming.
Somewhere
along the line someone will notice what you’re doing.
[Insert
big sponsor name] are you picking up what I’m putting down here…
A
huge thank you to SASOL and York Timbers for making the event possible. It was
the first National Rally that we ever won (2011) and finishing it gives such an
immense sense of achievement.
To
the organisers and especially Henriette and her team for a superbly run rally.
Thank you Leon for great notes.
Thanks
so much to Sabertek (doht co doht za) for giving all the moola for the entry
fees.
Thank
you VW Motorsport and BP for fuel and support.
Follow
us on Twitter (@Cloxshox) and Facebook (Clox, Shox & Two Smokin’
Sideshafts) for live updates, photos and the inside scoop!
Next Rally is in Gauteng! Plan your sick leave now and be there! Friday 8 and Saturday 9 June 2012. Spectator guides and maps on www.rallyworld.net
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