The 2022 Darling Rally took place this past Saturday, 5 February, and was considered a great opener of the 2022 Western Cape Club Rally Championship.
John and Weston Peiser won the opening round of the 2020 Championship by a scant 12 seconds in their Speed Pro Cycling Components 425 CPMCC S5 Subaru Impreza GT 4×4 Turbo 2.0 but is was a little one sided in 2022 for Ismaeel Davids and Yusuf Ganief in their 431 CCMCC S5 ID Paving Toyota Run X 2.0 4×4 S2000 with the opposition removing themselves from the equation.
Danie Heese celebrated 25 years of Subaru Somerset West on 1 February 2022, but the event sponsor unfortunately could not rely on the skills of John and Weston Peiser nor Llewellyn Jones and Christopher Pichon to challenge for overall victory in 2022.
Shaun Jones and Jason Thorpe finished second by just 12 seconds in 2020 but sadly failed to complete SS1 in 2022 when the engine of the 424 CPMCC S5 Advanced Asphalt Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4 expired. Owen Jones and Aden Bredenkamp remaining as the only realistic threat for overall victory finished SS1 almost a minute down on the Toyota and though there were reason for doubting this time, no proof of any error could be found. Then on SS2 the right rear driveshaft pulled out on the Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4 dropping more than two minutes against the Toyota crew.
Ismaeel Davids and Yusuf Ganief simply had to keep the 431 CCMCC S5 ID Paving Toyota Run X 2.0 20v S2000 on the road to take a debut victory and managed to do just that, winning four stages en route. Subaru sharing stage victories with Toyota thanks to Warren Scholtz and Justin Gay taking their first-ever stage victory on debut in their recently completed 444 CPMCC S5 Subaru Impreza STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4, on SS1. Sadly their new car failed on SS2 and it was young Jones and Bredenkamp that added three more stage victories to their tally on SS5, SS7 and SS8.
The fight for second place really drew the most attention as Mustapha Mia and Kesevan Naidoo initially held the position in their 456 CCMCC S3 Toyota Conquest RSi 1600, but they were being hunted down by Inus du Plessis and Piet Carinus in the Coastal Tool Hire 461 WBMK S4 BMW E36 328i as well as the Jones/Bredenkamp Scoobie.
The gap just proved too much for the Scoobie and they had to accept fourth overall. Were it not for the mystery minute it could well have been a mighty second overall, but it was a very popular second for Inus du Plessis and Piet Carinus after a very intelligent drive in the neat Beemer. And compliments to Mustapha Mia and Kesevan Naidoo in third with the Conquest after a spirited drive.
Riyaan and Yaseen Amlay would be quite disappointed with fifth overall in their 433 CCMCC S3 Ramlay Builders Toyota Corolla RXi 1600. They simply never showed their customary committed style on this event, but undoubtedly they will be back on pace come Porterville 26 March 2022.
Warren and Matt-Jason Köhler added their first finish in the ex-Danie van Niekerk 465 CCMCC S4 Köhler Pac E36 BMW 328i in sixth position overall followed by the “lightweight” 435 CCMCC S3 435Oils Toyota Conquest RSi 1700 of Clint Lingeveldt and Lloyd Brady in seventh spot. In eighth place were Sakkie and Rikus van Zyl in their 477 WBMK S2 Volkswagen Golf MkI 1600 and ninth, Julian Calvert and Nick Knights 409, in their CPMCC S3 Volkwagen Golf MkIII GTi 2.0.
The start and finish venue can only be described as an Oasis in the middle of the Darling industria, and whether one likes rallying or not Darling Brew certainly makes good sense for a visit. In fact, it is doubtful the supporting veterans had any intention of spectating the event after settling inside the venue for an extended meet-and-greet session. – Patrick Vermaak
