The 5th and 6th rounds of the MRF Tyres sponsored South African National Rally Championship (NRC) were concluded on Friday and Saturday the 15th and 16th of July with the Eastern Cape Algoa Rally in Jeffreys Bay’s Longmore Forest.
The current South African NRC drivers champion from Letsitele, Theuns Joubert, partnered by co-driver Schalk van Heerden in their Salom Labour Brokers Toyota Yaris S2000, kept his title hopes for 2022 and his defense of his crown a welcome boost. Joubert finished second in the 5th round on the Friday and went on to claim outright victory in the 6th round the following day.
The South African NRC protagonists, Joubert and Van Heerden, and their title rivals, Chris Coertse and Greg Godrich in their Rally Technic Hyundai, benefited from the mechanical misfortunes of rivals Guy Botterill and Simon Vacy-Lyle’s with their Gazoo Racing Toyota Starlet.
The Hyundai pair took the win in the 5th round with Joubert and van Heerden settling for second place. Joubert and van Heerden hit back on the Saturday to claim the win in the 6th round with Coertse and Godrich coming home in second place.
Botteril and Vacy-Lyle bounced back from their earlier steering troubles to move up to. Unfortunately for Botterill and Vacy-Lyle, they hit trouble again which allowed Joubert and Van Heerden back up to second.
By beating Friday’s round winners, Coertse and Godrich, means that there is still no change at the top of the championship log as Coertze continues to lead Joubert by a 16-point margin. And Botterill is still close enough behind to pose a threat to the leaders.
Joubert will now prepare for his home rally as the MRF Tyres South African National Rally Championship moves back north for the first national rally in 16 years in Tzaneen with the NTT Tzaneen Rally from the 12th until the 13th of August.
