Rally Rikus on top step of podium in Secunda  

Local rally navigator Rikus Fourie flew the Algoa Rally Club flag in style this past weekend for rounds three and four of the National Rally Championship when he joined forces with current SA Rally Champion JJ Potgieter in his Hyundai i20 to take the overall win in The Billy Te Water Memorial Rally in Secunda. The pair set the pace immediately winning the first stage by a whopping 10 seconds but unfortunately lost their main rivals in Jono van Wyk/Nico Swartz who rolled out of contention in their Toyota Gazoo Racing Starlet leading to their team having to rebuild the car for Saturday’s round four.

Picture: Cleared for landing – JJ Potgieter & Rikus Fourie on their way to winning the Billy Te Water Rally in Secunda
Picture credit: David Ledbitter

After the second stage of the rally Fourie and Potgieter enjoyed a fourteen second lead over Benjamin Habig and Barry White who were debuting their brand new 4-wheel drive VW Polo. In stage three the healthy lead that Potgieter and Fourie enjoyed suddenly turned into a 0.8 second deficit as Habig showed the full potential of the new car in the high speed stage and moved into the lead of the rally. The rest of the rally consisted of tight technical stages where Fourie and Potgieter held the advantage and managed to claw their way back into the lead which they carried to the end of the rally to take the overall win by a margin of 5.4 seconds over Habig/White in second and Chris Coertse and Armand du Toit in third. For Fourie it was his first ever top place finish overall in a national rally after having enjoyed a couple of second place finishes in the past.

Picture: Rikus Fourie and JJ Potgieter, winners of round 3 of the National Rally Championship in Secunda.

Disaster for the Hyundai pair struck early on Saturday during the second stage of round 4 when a v-belt that drives the water pump on the engine snapped leading to them retiring from the event. Habig and White went on to dominate round 4 in their impressive VW Polo, winning five out of the six stages to take the win by 1:37 seconds over Coertse/du Toit in their Mazda 3 with Mandla Mdakane and Kes Naidoo in their Toyota Starlet rounding out the podium.

The next round of the national rally championship is the Algoa National Rally that takes place in the Longmore Forest and Jeffreys Bay area on the 5th & 6th July where Fourie will be back alongside regular partner Neels Vosloo in their Hella backed VW Polo and they will no doubt be wanting to carry the momentum from their class win in the Cape Swartland Rally during the opening two rounds of the rally championship earlier this year. JJ Potgieter has opted to rather sit this event out as his car will be having its final preparations done in preparation for the next round of the FIA African Rally Championship which is the Zambia Rally on the 26th July where he and Fourie will be competing. 

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