Q&A with Christoff Snyders

Christoff Snyders is a young and dynamic driver of a Volkswagen Polo in the South African Rally Championship. He started his rally career in 2004 as navigator and today, he’s defending his title as the reigning S1600 and Two-wheel-drive champion driver. He tends to shy away from titles and accolades, but it’s clear his entire being comes to life when asked about his car and the sport of rallying.

Today we get to know this quiet blue-eyed boy (literally) with the stalwart internal strength a bit better.

What was it like winning the S1600 and Two-Wheel-Drive titles in your debut year of competing in the South African Rally Championship?

Fantastic!!!! But short-lived. You quickly realize you have to start all over again the next year…

Which rally do you enjoy the most?

The Sasol. That was the first rally my dad and I ever went to go and spectate. Plus I enjoy it because it’s quite technical.

Do you and your sister (navigator) ever fight in the car?

Now and then [when she tweets on open sections and misses an instruction! Ed.]

How would you describe your driving style?

Sebastian baby!!! Seriously I look up to the big boys like Loeb and Petter Solberg and try to learn as much as I can from them.

How do you sleep the night before a rally?

Usually on a bed on my left side with my eyes closed but it doesn’t always work.

What do you think about on a long straight?

“Yeeeeah!” followed by  “I hope the brakes still work…” 

Who are your motor sport role models?

Petter Solberg (his passion), Colin McRae (his no fear attitude), Fernando Alonso (always being the best he can be), in that order.

What do you want to do one day when you grow up?

Make a living in motor sport.

How old were you the first time you drove a car?

Around 11 years. My dad had this old bakkie that I started to maneuver around in the driveway and then on a quiet road when the rest of the world took a Sunday-afternoon nap.

You successfully completed the Comrades marathon. How does that compare with rallying?

Both require a lot of preparation but the satisfaction of finishing makes it all worth it.

The comrades is a lot cheaper though, the only rubber you need are those on your feet and you also get more kilometres per litre.

Now for some fun:

What is your favorite word? Vingergeaktiveerdegasaangedrewesigaretontbrandingstoestelletjie (Afrikaans for a lighter…)

What is your least favorite word?

China

What sound or noise do you love?

An idling rallycar

What sound or noise do you hate?  

Hearing someone eat…

A song/band/type of music you'd risk wreck & injury to turn off when it comes on the radio? 

House music

Favorite show on television? 

“The discovery channel” show

Favorite movie? 

Happy Gillmore

If you could have anything put on a t-shirt what would it be? 

“If it aint got wheels it aint goin anywhere…”

What makes you really mad?

Spiteful, arrogant Jo’burg drivers

A talent you wish you had? 

To play the drums

Dream vacation? 

A private island holiday

What’s on your nightstand? 

Bible, 1 or 2 unread books, cellphone

What’s something about you that would surprise us?

I’m still single…bahahaha

If YOU have any questions you’d like to ask Christoff, feel free to comment on this post or send him a tweet @cloxshox or say hi on our Facebook page: Clox, Shox & Two Smokin’ Sideshafts.

Never, never, never, never give up!

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 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 3^rd in class. How awesome is that? So awesome.

Congrats also to Morne & Rikus (1^st) and Megan & Hilton (2^nd). 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

2011 SA 2WD Rally Champions

If you think your company might benefit from a marketing or brand association with a rocking lil' team like us, please contact me: celeste.tpc@gmail.com

2011 SA National Rally Two-Wheel Drive Champions

A HUGE thank you to everyone who worked so hard on the 2011 SA Rally season.

We appreciate you!

To our family, friends and supporters:

May you have a wonderful time of fun & rest over the festive season and may we see you refreshed and revitalised in 2012.

May God's blessing be upon you.

Regards,

Christoff & Celesté

P.S. Our video tribute to the 2011 season will be posted here soon!

The End.

The most exciting thing to happen in SA is just around the corner! It’s the long awaited Kings of Leon concert! I’m joking. No, I’m not. Yes I am. Why The Face?! This weekend marks The End of a fantastic 2011 SA Rally Championship with the MTN Polokwane Rally on Saturday, 22 October & Sunday 23 October.

1st S1600 - Toyota Cape Dealer Rally 2011

Back down South at the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally (23 & 24 September) we had a good clean run and a lucky break when the two fastest guys in the rally, Ashley & Tjaart ran into some trouble in stage 7. We felt like The Immortals to get to Parc Ferme as you might have seen on TV, some of our friends’ engins Set on Fire during the last stage! The class win gave us a 10-point lead in the championship over our nearest rivals, Craig Trott & Robbie Coetzee.

We have a strong Notion to finish this rally and the championship, in style. 

Mi Amigo, we’d like to invite you to load your Pickup Truck full of friends & Fans and Come Around Sundown to the Savannah Mall on Friday, 21 October (16h30-19h00) where all the rally competitors will be gathered especially for to scribble their million$ signatures all over your never-to-be-washed-again-t-shirts & caps. Good news girls, McFearless will also be there so Pony Up and join in the Revelry! A word of advice though… watch out for Kez Naidoo… he thinks he’s a Charmer. Funny guy. Oh! And if you’re rooting for us, don’t let Schalk or Robbie get you a drink, it might smell like Jagermeister, but could just be Radioactive…whatever it is, it’ll make you Crawl.

We now want to go Soft and thank all of the marvelous people who helped us during the year. Especially to Kobus Roos (ATS), Mike Rowe and the VWRacing team and who were always On Call, ready with advice and willing to assist in many ways. Without you we would have kicked The Bucket already in P.E. when we got a little Closer to a kerb than any rally driver ever wants to. We appreciate you guys more than words can say.

Well I’ve got to go help get everything ready before someone in this house gets a Black Thumbnail. With navi-jitters in full swing, this is going to be a Slow Night, So Long.

P.S. Hey kids! Don’t Use Somebody. I want you to go and Be Somebody!

P.P.S. Interesting web-sites to keep an eye on:

For spectator guides and other relevant documentation: www.rallyworld.net

For live stage times: http://www.dits.co.za/rallyscoring/

For all sorts of interesting rally info – local: www.sarallyfantatics.co.za ; international: http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com

And of course, follow our own team’s progress on Twitter: @CloxShox and our page on Facebook: Clox, Shox & Two Smokin’ Sideshafts - Heartfelt thanks for your support!

Invitation: Come Out to Play

Invitation: COME OUT AND PLAY!!

from: CS RALLYTEAM

to: GAUTENG WORKAHOLICS

date: Friday 10 June and Saturday 11 June 2011

venue: CARNIVAL CITY & Rallystar @BAPSFONTEIN

RSVP: http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/event.php?eid=217303258288220

 Gauteng friends and Rally fans put on your coats and hold on to your hats! This weekend, the most exciting motorsport (in my biased yet highly valued opinion) is coming to a town near you! And YOU are invited. Yes you. With the red, sleepy eyes, coffee breath and vague memories of a home and family you haven’t seen in dunnohowmanydayscozyou’vebeenworkingsohard.

Take Friday off. Your already slurry speech won’t be a recognizable official national language by then anyway. It is time for the fourth round in the South African National Championship, the Toyota Dealer Gauteng Rally. Remember the ROAR? Come on, get out there and experience it for yourself!

We’re at the halfway mark of the Championship. Eish! Can’t belief.

Huge amounts of Grace, a little bit of luck and sheer determination secured three podium finishes so far for the Brother and I. Please don’t let my lack of marketing effort fool you. This is sweet, highly valued and unexpected success! I just had a serious bout of workaholic flue since the last rally… haven’t had time to pee let alone bask in our moment of glory. Occupational hazard of living in Gauteng.

We are supremely grateful to everyone who makes the world of Rally rock in SA, but especially to BP/Volkswagen Racing, Sabertek, Ferodo, Champion, Exec-Q-Tyre and Tswelo Péle Consultants for bucks, bits and blitzjuice towards our lean mean orange machine! There are a number of top class individuals operating in these companies and behind the scenes and we wish you tremendous success and happiness in life to infinity and beyond!

Now, highly esteemed Spectators, this is an amazing opportunity to get up close and personal with the best of SA Motorsport. But please, PAHLEAZE (huge volume & dramatic hand movement) - don’t let your passion go unchecked. Pay special attention to the safety instructions in the Spectator Guide! (Download from http://www.rallyworld.net/index.php/rally-docs).

Here are a few tips for you to come prepared and enjoy this love fest of Rallying:

1.    You will get extremely hot. Or cold. Or wet. Dress for all of the above.
2.    You will get sun burnt. Even if it’s pouring. Slap on the SPF50. A lot.
3.    You will get covered in dust. Due to suggestion no.2 you will require wet wipes. A lot.
4.    You will dehydrate. Even when you’ve been sipping something cold all day. Especially when ‘something cold’ was beer. Drink H2O. A lot.
5.    You will need sunglasses. Don’t squint. It’s a waste of expensive eye cream. It’s also a great barrier against the dust. And if they’re huge and fake, you’ll fit right in on the East Rand. (Disclaimer: I can joke about this ‘coz I’m from there. Don’t you dare say a word if you had to travel more than 30mins to come to this rally. I know people who will take you out one-time my Ou!)
6.    Wear a hat. The more outrageous the better. Plus helmet-hair is right on trend at rallies. And East-Rand peeps spend lots of money, time and effort to get it right. You’ll fit right in. (See disclaimer above.)
7.    Do some homework before you come. It’s truly more fun if you know something about the greatness that passes before your eyes in those magnificent machines. Plus there are rally journalists dispersed in the crowds for the sole purpose of recording your comments. On Monday they’ll write about it and we’ll laugh. Only a little. Nah. A lot.
Pick your team and give’em some love when you hear them ROAR! Check out the cheatsheet I compiled from Evan Rothman’s (Handbrakes & Hairpins) brilliant articles:

BP Volkswagen Rally Team:  http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/bp-volkswagen-rally-team-heads-to-gauteng-for-round-four/

Castrol Team Toyota: http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/castrol-team-toyota-aims-for-victory-in-toyota-gauteng-dealer-rally/

Team Total: http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/team-total-set-for-high-speed-rally-action-next-weekend/

Ford: http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/ford-to-the-fore-in-south-african-rally-championship/ and http://handbrakeshairpins.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/team-sasol-looking-to-be-the-torque-of-the-toyota-gauteng-rally/

And if you’re lazy / live in Gauteng (i.e. don’t have much time), Dave Ledbitter gives a great executive summary on Rallyword.net (there are also plenty more articles from other competitors on this site): http://www.rallyworld.net/index.php/national-rally/toyota-dealer-rally-gauteng-2010/768-many-potential-winners-in-toyota-dealer-gauteng-rally

That’s it. 7 bullets. Because it’s the perfect number - read: I’ve run out of time.

Oh. And don’t miss the last of the television broadcasts of the previous rally: Wed. 8 June, 7pm & 10pm on SuperSport5 (205). It’ll make you feel like paying your DSTV license this month was actually worth it.

Hope to see you there Party People!

Front cover article in Handbrakes & Hairpins!

For the Love of Cars

Once upon a time there was a Granddad that used to lift a little boy up onto his lap and together they would spend hours leaning over the balcony of their little flat, playing a game of identifying cars as they drove by. The Boy grew up and developed a zeal for cars which he also fanned to flame in his own son’s heart. For years they undertook several missions to experience the ultimate ROAR. Then one day, they found it in Sabie, at the spectacle of the SASOL Rally. For they discovered, it is only on a Rally stage, out in the open field, that the wind rustles ahead to reveal the secret that you are about to experience a radical ROAR - as some legends have it, the ROAR that rips through your entire being and resolves in a contented sigh.

Year after year, they followed the ritual to re-experience the roar. Little did they know then, that a few years into the future, the Dad would be standing next to the road again, but this time his Son would not be there alongside him. The wind would rustle with more intensity then, because the roar that would follow would be the most riveting roar the Dad would ever experience… the ROAR of his Son, racing into first place in class at the prestigious 20th SASOL Rally. And THAT ladies and gentlemen, would become known as The ULTIMATE ROAR.

Yes folks, the fairytale ending became a reality this weekend. Christoff and I would like to dedicate this, our first SA Rally victory, to our parents, Christo and Marie Snyders. They are both sacrificing so much to make our dreams come true. My Mom’s landscaping projects have been postponed so many times and after three years, she’s had to make peace with the eco-friendly dam (previously our swimming pool) outside her bedroom window… all because the men in her life have somewhat different priorities. Dad has by some miracle acquired a contract to do business in Durban twice a week, which requires that he drives through the night back and forth. He tells us he enjoys it, because he loves driving so much, but we know that it’s due to those trips that we had eight new tyres to put on our rally car this weekend. We don’t have the words to thank you enough. We can only pray that God will bless you and protect you to live long, healthy and happy lives.

Down to business. There are two things I wish to state for the record in this article.

Firstly, after doing an analysis, I was surprised to find that according to actual stage times, we were leading Super1600 from Stage 4 right to the end. Unfortunately, I earned a penalty of 50seconds just before the last stage on Friday night, which left us battling to regain our rightful position as no.1 in the class throughout Saturday. The competition in Super1600 was so healthy, that winning stages 6, 9, and 13 was not enough and it was only after victory in stage 15 that we recovered sufficiently to make up for the penalty and regain the lead. Thereafter the fastest class time in stage 17 was a joyful bonus.

Secondly, I wish to correct those uninformed (unprofessional?) motorsport journalists who fail to do their homework before they publish articles. For the record, I am not married to my brother. The reason we have the same surname might just be because we are in fact siblings. Dude, it doesn’t matter what you’ve heard about Boksburg, that’s just not how we roll. I consider the matter settled.

We relate so well to those of you who got stranded in the stages that our hearts physically ached for your loss. May your budgets and bodies (yours and that of your cars) recover speedily. A hearty well done to every single competitor for a tremendous effort! We’ll probably all agree that this rally tested our capabilities to remain positive, to perform and stay focused to the max. My personal motivation to get through it was that some people pay good money to shake like that as a remedy for cellulite so it couldn’t be all that bad.

Thank you to everyone at SASOL who made the challenge of this event so enjoyable! My family really appreciated the big screen at the spaghetti stage and I simply adore my new navbag with all it’s zips and pockets. Seriously, your attention to detail was astounding.

We are so appreciative of the contributions of everyone involved. We are also very aware that we are blessed to be on the competitor side of the fun. May we never take for granted that although we share the same passion for the sport, for some of the spectators and rally officials, this is the closest that they’ll ever get to the ROAR and the fairytale remains just that. Thank you that you bring yourselves so wholeheartedly to the sport. We all benefit from your selfless giving.

Now, when I look around at the drivers and navigators around us, Christoff and I are facing our biggest challenge yet… hair loss. Don’t know whether it’s caused by helmets or stress, but seriously, there’s room for a glam guru in the world of rallying!

Now on Twitter!

http://twitter.com/CloxShox



Celeste & Christoff up & running on Twitter! It's about time! It's also Rally Time!! Let us treat u to a tweet at the SASOL Rally :-)

Tangerine Dreamz

After five exhilarating years of consistent progress, the team bowed out of the Northern Regions Championship as winners of Class S2 in 2010. From 2011 onwards, they will be pushing their limits and their parents’ stress levels in the South African National Rally Championship.

The team upgraded from their Northern Regions-spec’d Class S2 1600 Volkswagen CitiGolf in 2010 to a South African Rally Championship Super1600 Volkswagen Polo for the 2011 season. The car, previously owned by Stevan Wilken, is a proven Class A6 (forerunner to Super1600) rally winner.

Christoff showed that he quickly adapted to the sweet-clicking sequential gears of his new machine. Celesté added an extra touch of style and fun with her colour-coded fingernails and cute Italian OMP racing shoes!

Their debut season in the SA National Rally Championship kicked off exceptionally well with a podium finish in the Total Tour Natal Rally (25 - 26 March, 2011) – third-placed Super1600 and 14th overall. Not too bad considering there were nine S1600 and eighteen S2000 entrants.

They improved their stage times in every single repeat stage. More seat-time and experience behind the steering wheel of this Volkswagen Polo will only see them set quicker and quicker stages and move ever closer to the front of the highly-competitive Super1600 field.

The team has just about depleted their savings, Dad’s retirement fund and the education funds of their unborn children with the purchase of their “Tangerine Dream” and a new service vehicle. So see this as a friendly invitation to tell any and every potential sponsor about our fabulousness. In fact, this is in essence an invitation to come alive again! To get out of your air-conditioned office, away from the flickering florescent lights into the open, wild and winding roads our beautiful country has to offer and feel the sun on your skin. But wait, there’s more. It is also an opportunity to experience depth of emotion like you haven’t had in years! Those who have a vested interest in the Rally teams will testify that the stage by stage excitement builds up to the thrill and elation of your very first kiss when there is victory, which at a turn of events could of course plummet to the gutter of despair and disappointment only understood by those who’ve been rejected by their first true love. Yes, it is an invitation to experience the action, drama, fun and full aliveness that being part of this extreme team can bring! Seriously. 7de Laan, Survivor and Oprah’s got nothing on us.

The next round of ups and downs (and I’m talking about my pre-event nervous tummy) happens in Nelspruit/Sabie/Witrivier at the SASOL Rally 15-16 April 2011. Be there or be boring.

2010 Northern Region Class S2 Champs!

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!