Darling Brew hosted the start of the first round of the 2022 Western Cape Club Rally Championship on Saturday 5 February, where 25-year-old Subaru Somerset West was the main sponsor along with a host of other valued supporters.
This also proved to be the place where a “gathering of legends” unfolded.
The very first South African rally driving champion Ewold van Bergen and his wife Minota-Ann attended, pitching up at the venue first on the morning. Ewold won the very first SA rally championship in 1960, then added three more to his tally – the final success being with Minota-Ann navigating in the famous TK (Toyota Killer) Datsun P510 1600 SSS. They are still the only couple ever to win the SA championship and Minota-Ann the first SA woman in rallying.
Also at the event was 16-time Western Province Rally driving champion and 10-time SA Rally driving champion Serge Damseaux from Somerset West, who “imported” his former navigator Vito Bonafede from Belgium for the occasion.
But it did not stop there, as Juan Louw, Herman Jonker, Chris Truter, Derek Sturgess, John Peiser, Shaun Jones, Thorsten Pey, Mark Palmer, Brady Dabner, Shane Williams, Abduraghman Amlay, Craig Gray, Rossouw Eksteen and Alie Niewoudt really made this a unique gathering. The “meet for five minutes” session became quite a few hours with the super sharp wit of Ewold having everyone in stitches.
