Summarize

It seemed like the old days when a mix of some thrilling new top class entries and a strong local and Cape contingent saw no less than 44 crews come under starter’s orders for the third round of the South African National Rally Championship run on Dunlop Tyres in Gqeberha on Friday. With two days of rallying leading into round 4 on Saturday, Jono van Wyk and Nico Swartz’s NRC 1 Mazda 2 and Benjamin Habig and Barry White’s NRC1 Volkswagen Polo started tied on points after sharing opening round wins.

Championship challengers, the Swazi Cowboy van Wyk and Swartz’s Mazda opened the day with a couple of stage wins before rivals Habig and White’s Polo nicked the third test by a hair’s breadth. They were not alone however, as Nico and Juandre Nienaber’s NRC1 Hyundai i20 took second off Habig and White in stage 3 to set up a thrilling three-way fight for the lead.

It was fortuitous for the Nienabers, who rolled the i20 in Thursday’s practice stage. The team put in an all-nighter to patch the car up and the duo was fast out of the gate Friday morning. Van Wyk and Swartz then took stages 4 and 5 from Habig and Nienaber, before stroking it home, leaving Habig to win the penultimate stage. A delighted Nienaber then took his maiden National win in the final stage to complete his crash to win comeback.

Fourth placed Paul van Niekerk Willemjan Human’s Polo won the NRC2 battle over Zambian duo, Seth and Ursula Gomes’ Mitsubishi Evo X, with NRC3 winners Neels Vosloo and Rikus Fourie’s VW Polo sixth. NRC2 trio Rikus Schmidt and Marco Griesel’s Polo, Shaun Jones and Jason Thorpe’s Subaru Impreza and Jody van Zummeren and James Johnston’s Polo followed from a troubled Mandla Mdakane and Simon Vacy-Lyle’s GR Toyota Starlet in tenth. 

It was a lucky 13th for NRC 4 winners Johan and Juane Viljoen’s Polo as 28 crews finished the day. Leading retirements included Ismaeel Davids and Yusuf Ganief’s brand new NRC 1 Toyota GR Yaris, which impressed until it broke its engine. Local NRC2 crew Nick Davidson and Ashley Bezuidenhout looked good in their Toyota Auris until they stopped. NRC 4 quartet Ross and Roxanne Bartle Polo’s gearbox broke, while Martin Kleingeld Jr. and Deon Engels’ Corolla and Inus du Plessis and Piet Carinus’ BMW both broke their suspension.

Saturday’s Dunlop-shod National Rally Championship fourth round was a horse of another colour as teams tackled four stages through the daunting Longmore Forests. They say cowboys don’t cry. Well that’s because all the rest cried on Saturday as ‘Swazi Cowboy’ Jono van Wyk and Nico Swartz utterly dominated to stake an early claim to the 2025 championship. They sped to four straight stage wins to  claim a 1 minute 49 second victory aboard their NRC1 Mazda 2.

The battle for second was for a harder-fought affair as NRC 1 crews Nico and Juandre Nienaber’s Hyundai i20 and Benjamin Habig and Barry White’s VW Polo traded places. A troubled third stage for Habig however handed the advantage to Nienaber. Paul van Niekerk and Willemjan Human’s VW Polo once again led the NRC2 charge from Wade van Zummeren and Henry Adams’ similar car, Shaun Jones, and Jason Thorpe’s Subaru and NRC4 winners Deon Kretzmann and Jason Schreiber’s Toyota Etios.

Seth and Ursula Gomes were eighth in their NRC 2 Mitsubishi Evo X from NRC4 Polo

Crews Jeandre Marais and Kes Naidoo and Ross and Roxanne Bartle as 27 crews made it to the finish. Leading retirements included  Mandla Mdakane and Simon Vacy-Lyle’s troubled NRC 1 GR Toyota Starlet, NRC 2 crews Rupert van Zyl and Justin Gay’s Subaru and Jody van Zummeren and James Johnston’s Polo, Neels Vosloo and Rikus Fourie’s NRC 3 Polo, and NRC 4 Fiesta duo Juan and Cailyn van Rooyen.

The Swazi Cowboy Jono van Wyk and Nico Swartz and their Mazda head home undefeated from Nelson Mandela Bay. They leave title rivals Benjamin Habig and Barry White with it all to do in their Volkswagen Polo, never mind Nico and Juandre Nienaber’s Hyundai chasing a first National win. The Dunlop-shod championship heads back north to rounds 5 and 6 at the Ermelo Rally over the weekend of 29-30 August 2025.