SUBARU & Rallystar Sprint Review

Subaru Bruma Belfast Rally in Bronkhorstspruit (5 June, 2010)... typing that name took longer than our innings in that rally... We had to retire with two broken sideshafts in stage 2. I thought I had cursed us with the name of this blog.

Fortunately the Rallystar Sprint (19 June, 2010) was there to redeem ourselves. Rad. Sprints at Rallystar rate right up there with the world's best rollercoasters, full throttle on the bike on a Sunday morning on Jozi's newly tarred 4-lane freeways (if Dad is reading this, I never do more than 120) and melted Lindt chocolate crepes when you're on a diet.

We had minor trouble with their clocks and our one shock, but finished with sideshafts firmly in tact. 2nd in Class B and 4th overall. Yayness!

We had a blast! Friends came to spectate - and went for a drive with Christoff afterwards on the special stage! Hahaha... their incredulous facial expressions... priceless! CharLee, Annie, Daniel & Oom Kobus - dankie vir julle ondersteuning! :-)

HUGE thank you to Leon Botha and everyone who made our Saturday so much fun!

Diary of a Rookie Nav

Subaru Bruma Belfast Rally 2008

Facts:


• Car: 1600 VW Citi Golf


• Driver: Christoff Snyders


• Navigator: Celesté Snyders


• Winners of Class S2; 11th overall at the Belfast Rally. Woohoo!


• Christoff and Celesté are siblings (who still really like each other after their first rally)


• Christoff and Celesté are both single, but very hard to please

Lying in bed Saturday night, post-Belfast, in that zone just before losing consciousness, I was pondering one of those deep and life-altering questions that can keep philosophers and intellectuals busy ‘till Kingdom come…

“Can this much fun be legal?!”

Christoff and I had such a blast on our first rally together! Reading all the post-mortem’s, makes our Rally look as smooth and easy like a Sunday morning.

 

A major contributor to the relatively stress-free run has to be our awesome service crew! At Execuracing Development & Service Centre you are not just another customer my friend… your car becomes the object of their affection. If only some marriages had this kind of commitment! Whilst you were all bronzing your buns on the beach over the festive season, these guys were rebuilding our Golf. When you came back from holiday and bored all your friends with your happy snappies… we were doing the exact same thing… only we had an album with before and after shots of all sorts of fascinating things like pistons, crankshafts and splash plates… they made us our own personal file can you believe it?! THANK YOU x infinity + 2 to Jan, Dewald, Ralph, Nico and the team for your service excellence and for making the car purr like a kitten on catnip!

For the first time in Christoff’s rally history, his car was ready 2 weeks before the event. Just enough time to take his sister for a spin to test her ability to keep her breakfast down. This little experiment happened at the Greg Godrich Rally Navigator School. What an awesome way to get into the swing of things! Greg, you did forget to mention a few very, very important things though… 1. That I will not be able to sleep… at all… the night before the Rally, 2. That I’ll suddenly develop TB (tiny bladder) and 3.To always, always wear a sport-bra!

So there I was on the morning of The Rally, not exactly a picture of tranquility… everything I’ve learnt about handling all the admin so that the Driver can relax flew out the window the moment I got my shaky little claws on the roadbook & routenotes. Grinning now and then for the paparazzi (alias PapaChristo), nervously going through the amendments in the roadbook and comparing them with the pacenotes. I noticed we had to go to documentation after stage 4 for them to capture our times on the system. Now, this is good thinking guys! It speeds up the process at the end of the day. We should make this a general rule. (They didn’t give me a sweetie or any bonus points for being a good navi and reading my instructions, but those warm smiles of appreciation made it all worth while!)

 

Christoff took it easy in the first 3 stages (as easy as a boy can take winding roads littered with wicked rocks and permission to break every speed limit where he possibly can). Helping me to keep up with his pace with the occasional “next”, “wait” or “ugh” (when we hit that double caution dip 5mins before I tell him about it). We also scored a few seconds after I told him to “put foot boet, flying finish coming up” and almost realized too late that I skipped a few instructions and we were heading for a TL9! Saint Christoff saw this coming and calmly just asked me to “just gimme that instruction again?”. Gotta love da Brova!

 

We think we got groovy much sooner than expected and doing the repeat stages, knocked 42sec, 41sec and 48sec respectively off our original stage times. Just when we were really getting into it, the rally was over and much to our parents’ utter relief; we were home safe in parc ferme. Waves of gratitude washed over me as I passed all the battered & bruised metal bodies. We busted a few rims and a petrol pipe, but this time, this glorious time, we finished a rally without major damage… on those rocky roads an absolute miracle.

So herewith the acceptance speech I spared you all at the event.

 

Belfast, you will always hold a special place in my heart. Thanks to all the organizers and sponsors and marshals – bless your sainted hearts for standing in that heat and doing it with such great spirit! Speaking of which – the vibe amongst the competitors was awesome! It was great to see all those who participated in Navi School again – Dylan thanks so much for driving all that way just to come and spectate! Meeting all the legends whom I always just cheered on from the sidelines was such an honour – Pierre and Natie, you rawk! Johan you’re a biscuit! Greg, thank you for teaching us the tricks of the trade and for your fabulous support. Schalk, thanks so much for letting me borrow your skanky helmet… that alone gives me motivation to beg for sponsorship. Megan, thanks for your friendly encouragement and the full body massages of the future. Oom Jannie, thanks for your pacenotes – I’ll do them justice as we go on. Dave Ledbitter – thanks for the cool pics! (Thank goodness we didn’t have to push through that water, I would not have wanted to ruin my brand-new-blue-suede-Puma’s!) HUGE thank you to our sponsors: Prosperity, Sabertek and Limestone – may your businesses flourish! Thanks to Mom and Dad for always being our biggest fans.

 

I love you all and all I want is world-peace!

 

Catch ya at Carletonville!

 

Greetings, CS Rallyteam

TOYOTA Dealer Rally 23-24 Oct. 2009 - Study Avoidance Rocks!

Christoff (my BROTHER) and I had such a fun time at the TOYOTA Dealer Rally! We got to chat and joke with legends from other planets (classes) like Theuns, Enzo, Paul & Gavin, Rod & Henry, Andre & Des, Murray & Ralph (such nice guys!). Thanks Des for patiently helping me to set my clock (could someone pahleaze design one for blondes)! And a big up to you fine gentlemen who showed tremendous teamwork by staging a few ‘technical problems’ to keep the Rally exciting for all of us. (Next time you don’t have to take it literally, I was only kidding!)

What a blast on the rollercoaster at Rallystar! I had involuntary giggles over the jumps and Christoff gave a muffled laugh (I think) every time he set up the car to go one way and the mud “tuned izzit?” and shoved the car the other... Plus it was awesome to see so many spectators there! Do you guys have any idea how much you contribute to the excitement of the experience?! Thanks so much for being such happy-clappies!!

Thanks to the friendly people at TOYOTA in Middelburg for being so supportive (and for letting us use your toilet facilities - you have no idea how tricky it is for a girl to get in and out of a racing suit without touching anything in the 5x5cm of a portable-loo! It’s visions of that thing falling over with me inside that cause sleepless nights before a rally, nothing else!)

To the Marshalls who so selflessly support the sport, come blasting sunshine, dust or pouring rain – THANK YOU seems so inadequate. You guys really inspire me to be a better person! May no technology ever replace your friendly faces at the start and finish of stages. A special thanks to our Rally-grampy’s, Dave & Margaret. So glad your broomsticks are in such good condition to travel all over the country, it wouldn’t be the same without you!

To the entire team of people who worked on this event, from the sponsors and decision makers to the servers and cleaners – THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your hard work! We probably have no idea how much effort it took, but we are nonetheless sincerely grateful. If it wasn’t for you I would’ve been at home, studying, endorphin-less. For this, may you and your businesses be blessed. A lot.

Visionary Leon, THANK YOU for everything you and your hard-working team are doing for Rallying in SA! My friends have no idea how a girl with no sense of direction can be a navigator which makes me exceptionally grateful for the notes! By now we really trust you (and Schalk) with this – as Paul said this weekend, when Leon says “no cut” you just don’t cut!

SABERTEK, thank you for sponsoring our entry fees, even for the National! People of the world, if you want to experience electrical engineering par excel lance, you want these people to design a solution for you. I’m blonde, a girl, and technologically challenged and my odo, manufactured by Sabertek, works for me. Pure genius.

The abovementioned success might have something to do with my talented Brother, as I might be biased, but in my opinion not only is he a great engineer, but also a superb driver! I don’t know if any Nav can rest so assuredly in consistently controlled driving as I’m privileged to do. Even in horrid conditions, Brova, your driving is as smooth as butter, only better!

Jan, Elrickus & Francois – every rally team knows how hard the service crews work. But for us to have you guys work with what we’ve got with so much enthusiasm and dedication means more than words or money can ever express! I am SO glad you got the car to a place where I don’t have to run to catch up with it, helmet on the head and timecard in tow (long story. hilarious to bystanders). We appreciate you SO much! Thank you!

Our parents, you are the embodiment of parental love and dedication! I get a lump in my throat when I think of how freely you give of ... everything. May God bless you and keep you.

Thanks to God Almighty (who needs luck?!) for letting us have this much fun in this life and for the promise that the best is yet to come! Your Love and Grace is incomprehensible!

So this was not exactly a technical review of the rally, I’m doing this for my personal fun & entertainment. For more practical info about the roads and the car, speak to my brother. For statistics on how many stages we’ve won through the course of the season, speak to Pine Pienaar (he’s amazing that way! We like spectators like this – A Lot!). If you liked my new black suit and matching shoes, speak to ATS.

Thanks to everyone I haven’t thanked! If this were the Oscars the music cue would have been deafening by now! Oh, Dave Ledbitter, thanks! Not only are you pics spectacular and capture so beautifully the moments we love, your web-site gives me the opportunity to brag about my brother to strangers. Awesome.

Congratulations to all the winners (especially Enzo & Guy - woohoo!) and competitors who took part in the TOYOTA Dealer Rally! It’s been real.

Rally 'till we run out of road

Rally Motorsport is one of the fastest growing sports worldwide and has become increasingly popular in South Africa over the last few years.

Christoff Snyders made his debut in the South African rally scene in 2004 as navigator in the North Region championship where his talent was spotted early on and lead to exciting opportunities in the National championship as co-driver for Callie van der Merwe and Visser du Plessis.

Fuelled by his eagerness for the sport and desire to be in the Drivers' seat, he built his first 1400cc Volkswagen Citi Golf and won class S1 in numerous events between 2006 and 2007. By the end of 2007 he refitted the Golf with a 1600cc engine and since then became well-known as a firm and favoured class S2 contender.

Six years of experience and consistent quality driving lead to an exceptional finish with their 1600cc Golf 1 in the National Toyota Dealer Rally in October 2009: 2nd in class S20, 12th overall, 2 minutes ahead of class N3 winners and well ahead of the production car class A5 contenders!

Rally is famous for its extreme excitement and utter unpredictability, and recently another factor has been contributing to the attractiveness of the sport... In growing numbers gorgeous, adventurous women are buckling up next to the fast and the furious, making helmet hair seem like the latest fashion fad!

Celesté Snyders has taken the hot-seat as co-driver for her brother since 2008. This "Brother&Sister" team has brought an exciting new dimension to a sport that is celebrated for bringing families and friends together for weekends of fun!