South African Regularity Rally Association Newsletter - The South ...

South African
Regularity Rally
Association Newsletter
October 2012
Greetings from the dam on fine spring morning.
Thanks to Terry Illman a report on the John Frewin
Memorial Trial.
Exiting Apollo, we turned north again and wound
our way past the Rietvlei Nature Reserve and then
East in the direction of Delmas and
Bronkhorstspruit. Returning from the Eastern limit
of the territory covered, we turned right towards
Boschkop and travelled through the rather pleasant
area of the many stream and spruit crossings,
Swavelpoort, Steekriet, Pienaars and Boschkop.
Info for your next issue brian@quaestior.com. Ed.
John Frewin Memorial Trial:
Competitors gathered early at Thatchers, a very
pleasant venue not very far from Kyalami and
sharing the grounds with the Land Rover 4x4
Experience, on what was a cool but quite pleasant
spring day.
Somebody had set up an urn and some rusks, and I
observed Brian giving instruction to some of the less
domesticated members, as to how to go about
making tea or coffee for oneself, instead of waiting
for wifey to do the honours. This early bird Sunday
thing certainly cannot beat a good lie-in but then I
am not really much into tea or coffee myself.
Some of the more adventurous peered through the
trees, over the 4x4 training terrain and some of the
stage rally features that it had to offer, some with a
look that said “I’d love to have a go at that”, and
some with a look that said, “I remember how much
time and money we spent trying to get our cars
looking half decent again over driving in those types
of conditions”. Yet others, those who had done
national service looked on as if having nightmare
memories of the tank driver’s training terrain at 1
SSB at Tempe.
We departed Thatchers and headed out towards the
R55 to Pretoria, travelling via Midrand and by way
of the Old Pretoria Road to a little diversion named
Apollo. After finding the ETD sign on the tree, as
promised at driver’s briefing, we drove along a
road, past a secret marshal, clearly waiting for us to
make a return past him in the opposite direction,
and found our intrepid cameraman Dave Hastie
waiting for us at the next corner. Here we had a
few kilometres of winding tar road with some pretty
tight corners which gave us the chance to express
our “inner rally driver” instincts for a few minutes.
Just short of a T-junction, in an area that looked
reminiscent of Jan Hettema’s farm, we were given a
short piece of dirt, which had become rather
muddy, to again unleash our inner hooligans for just
a few seconds. The more adventurous tore away,
wheels spinning, pulled a handbrake turn just short
of the fence and churned up the mud for those to
come, before all too quickly turning South onto tar
again.
Back over the streams and spruits again, in the
reverse order, we made our way to the petrol stop
at the MBT Petroleum station. But before getting to
the fuel station, the organizers had us approach
“Stewart’s Folly”, the T-Junction that is not a T-
Junction at Kameelzijndrift, with a reminder that
“this is a T – do not go straight”.
We then proceeded back towards the start, via the
outskirts of Irene and Olifantsfontein, past the
Rietvlei Nature Reserve, via Midrand and back past
Kyalami and the Leeuwkop Prison to Thatchers.
If one comment needs to be made about this rally,
it is that speeds were far too high for the last
inward leg of open section. Also, honesty control H5
seems to have eluded many of the crews and maybe
its positioning should be reviewed. I cannot
comment as we were one of the crews to miss it.

Looking forward to seeing you all this month.
Terry Illman
Organisers’ thoughts:
As clerk of the course for the day I was full of mild
trepidation – not to mention a raging thirst until
around 15:00. Only mild trepidation Well, Syd Brett
had sorted out the route schedule so there was
little likelihood of major problems. And so it turned
out. The weather gods had been most unkind to us
the day before – so a part of the route was more of
a boating exercise – but the day itself was fair and
bright.
This year the event is known as the Spotti
Woodhead Memorial Trophy. Supplementary
Regulations are published on the SARRA website -
please note the rule changes.
November 18 th Casa da Madeira Rally
The last event in the year will run from the Casa da
Madeira in Alberton as last year. We are planning to
use Midvaal raceway as part of the route – so we’ll
need your commitment early to ensure finances.
Marshal Points
A young Portsmouth woman was so depressed that
she decided to end her life by throwing herself into
the sea, but just before she could throw herself
from the wharf, a handsome young man stopped
her.
"You have so much to live for," said the man. "I'm a
sailor, and we are off to Australia tomorrow. I can
stow you away on my ship. I'll take care of you,
bring you food every day, and keep you happy."
With nothing to lose, combined with the fact that
she had always wanted to go to Australia, the
woman accepted.
All seemed to go well except for one phone call an
hour into the rally. “You can count us out of the
event. We won’t be finishing!” said an aggrieved
voice. On enquiring as to the problem the
competitor merely repeated his statement. It
turned out that they had missed and ETD and a Zero
Odo and decided that beer was the requisite
solution.
Many thanks are due to the marshals, the scorers –
fast results, thanks, the stewards and Mr and Mrs
Brett.
Brian Askew / Pics Dave Hastie
Class A: Robin Ross / Greg Pridgeon
Class B: Nadine / Craig Naude
Class C: Nick and Melanie Jacobs
Class D: David / Thomas Beard
BNRC: Ralph White / Francois Jacobs
Forthcoming Events:
October 14 th The Rallyesport Spotti Woodhead
Memorial Trophy Classic Rally
That night the sailor brought her aboard and hid her
in a small but comfortable compartment in the
hold. From then on, every night he would bring her
three sandwiches, a bottle of red wine, and make
love to her until dawn. Two weeks later she was
discovered by the captain during a routine
inspection.
"What are you doing here" asked the captain.
"I have an arrangement with one of the sailors," she
replied. "He brings me food and I get a free trip to
Australia.”
"I see," the captain says.
Her conscience got the best of her and she added,
"Plus, he's screwing me."
"He certainly is," replied the captain. "This is the
Isle of Wight Ferry."
Mike Haigh
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This message is from the SARRA Google Group.
The SARRA website is http://www.sarra.co.za
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