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Gruelling rally can’t kill team spirit

Motorsport alive and well
Twenty special stages, 179 kilometres over two days and the roughest terrain possible could not place a damper on the six teams that survived this year's Tara Rally.
Tielman van Lill
Steven Marnevick and his navigator Jodine van Zyl on Saturday afternoon clinched the overall first place at the Windhoek Motor Club Tara Rally, and bagged the number one position in the S1 Class for sedan cars.
The Island Boys, Dirk Redman and his navi Flippie Liebenberg, outclassed Ewald and Hein Bisschoff, Willie and SJ Schoeman as well as Werner Bartsch and Christel Fourie in the off-road section (CR Class) with their CR2 Class 4x4-Toyota Hilux 2.7-litre.
Pieter Greeff and navi JP Robertson with Mohatu (S1 Class) were the only other survivors in the sedan section who could escape the menacing Tara cat’s mean claws to take second place overall and second place in the S1 Class.
Team Marnevic’s Hendeca Machinery 4x2-Mitsubishi Lacer 1.6-litre outclassed Team Mohatu (Seal Consulting Engineers 2x4 Toyota Corolla 1.6-litre) with six minutes, finishing the 179 km in two hours, 30 minutes and 19 seconds. Greeff clocked in with 2:36:28 to finish second overall consecutively (2019 and 2022).

Casualties
The first three victims of the Tara cat fell in special class 7 (43 km). From Okazize to Okahandja were Wilro Dippenaar/Carolyn Swan (S4 Class PZN Panel Beaters 4x4-Ford Fiesta S2000), who succumbed to a broken clutch. Rolf and Katja Pretorius (S2 Class 2x4-VW Polo 1.6-litre) and Wido Bartsch/Raymond Fourie (S2 Class 2x4-VW Polo two-litre) followed suit.
Richard Slamet/Cecil Koorts (S4 Class RS Freight Solutions 4x4-Subaru Sti) were next in stage eight at Okapu when engine bearings showed them the exit.
On Saturday morning, Allan Martin/Maretha Olivier (S4 Class J&P Hydraulics 4x4-Skoda 1.6T), Pierre Röhm/Barto Moster (S1 Class Gunite Pools 2x4-VW Polo 1.6-litre), Kai Pretorius/Dian van der Merwe (S2 Class 2x4-Toyota MR2), Marnevick and Greeff started the last seven stages at the Tony Rust Race Track outside Windhoek.
Röhm and Pretorius lost engine power in SS15 at the Eros Airport while Martin was bitten in SS16 by the cat at Aris when he lost a front wheel and the front suspension of his Skoda; leaving only Marnevick and Greeff to battle it out to the end.
In the Off-Road Class, Jandré Dippenaar and Giellie Visser were unstoppable in his raging PZN Panel Beaters 4x4-Ford Ranger V8 leading the field with a whopping nine minutes. That was until SS16 at Aris.
On their way to the start, the Ranger’s left rear wheel bearing gave up the ghost, leaving Dippenaar high and dry, but bowing out with grace. They were the only casualty in their class.
The Island Boys clocked the fastest time for all classes (SS Class for sedans and Off-Road Class) with only 2:27:47 registered on the clock.

Off-Road Class Results (CR1/CR2)"
1 Redman (CR2)
2 E. Bisschoff/H. Bisschoff (CR1, 4x2-Nissan NP300 V8 5.4-litre) in 2:28:06
3 Willie Schoeman/SJ Schoeman (CR1, 4x2-Steckel’s Toyota Hilix 2.8-litre) in 2:28:49
4 W. Barsch/C. Fourie (CR1, 4x2-Ford Courier V6 three-litre) in 2:50:13.

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Namibian Sun 2024-11-08

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