Tzaneen rally lauded as ‘best organised’ in country

The race on Friday August 12 was the seventh leg of this year’s championship and the eighth leg was on Saturday, August 13.
Local driver and the defending champion, Theuns Joubert and navigator, Schalk van Heerden attained second position in their Salon Toyota Yaris.

On Friday they scored zero points, as a mechanical failure forced them out of the race.
On Saturday they were looking to redeem themselves, but the race wasn’t as smooth as they would have liked.
They encountered a breakdown in round 8 which led to a one minute and 50 seconds penalty, but managed to run their way up to second position in their class and the overall championship.

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Legendary Tzaneen driver, Eddie Simpson and navigator Louis Menge, did not compete on the first day due to their Opel Corsa having a gearbox challenge, but on the next day they managed to finish the race and attained third position in Class 4.
“The roads were difficult, but the event was awesome,” explained Menge.

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Meanwhile, a third Tzaneen driver, Erik de Jager, who drove the Subaru Impreza 2000, managed to compete on both days.
On day one he attained seventh position and eighth position on day two in the Class 1 division.
On Saturday De Jager faced overheating challenges when his ‘Subie’ struggled to start, but fortunately did manage to finish the race.

The NTT Tzaneen Rally has been described as one of the best organised racing events in the country. This is according to Ivan Saayman, secretary of the Tzaneen rally committee.
“The feedback that I have been receiving from the drivers and the crews were that it was one of the best events they have ever attended. I would like to thank the spectators, sponsors and the drivers for making it such a successful event,” he said.