With two Volkswagen Sasolracing drivers on the podium at this weekend’s PMC event local manufacturere VWSA is aiming for a clean sweep at the next leg which takes place on 11 and 12 July in Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Jeffreys Bay.
Volkswagen Sasolracing teammates Henk Lategan and navigator Barry White and Hans Weijs Jnr with his navigator, Björn Degandt finished in second and third place at the PMC Rally which finished at Rallystar on Saturday afternoon.
Lategan and White won stages six, nine and 10 on their way to the second step of the podium – all while carrying a 30 second penalty from day one. Even with the penalty on their overall time, the pair finished just 49 seconds behind the rally winners. Weijs and Degandt spent the whole rally either within, or close to, the top five stage finishers to take third place overall.
“We pushed really hard this rally,” says Lategan. “Especially on day two we sprang out the blocks, I have never driven so hard in my life. It felt really good and with a good test before the Volkswagen Rally, I think we can improve even more.”
Lategan and White’s “take no prisoners” approach to the event certainly paid off and the pair put on their strongest display of the 2014 season thus far.
“Without the opportunity for a recce run, it was very difficult to make a good start at this rally,” says Weijs. “We are quite happy with a third place finish but now it is time for one step more. We are looking forward to the Volkswagen Rally and an even better performance there.”
For Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin, the rally was brought to a premature end when they ran off the stage and got bogged down. It was not the birthday celebration Peskin was hoping for.
“A second and third place finish here is a well-earned result for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team,” says Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. “The rally team has worked hard in the run-up to this event and their thorough preparation has produced the results. Our focus is now fully on the Volkswagen Rally and more podium finishes.”
With the PMC Rally completed, the national rally championship now heads for the traditional mid-season round in the Eastern Cape. The Volkswagen Rally takes place on Friday and Saturday, 11 and 12 July, in and around the Port Elizabeth, Uitenhage and Jeffreys Bay area.
Alan Straton
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