“It was an unfortunate - and much too quick - end to an event we were really looking forward to and which we were confident would deliver a good result,” said Hutchison.
“This is a very demanding sport, on both the crew and the car, and mechanical problems are part of the game. It’s tough on all of us – driver, co-driver, technicians and sponsors - when something like this happens. A lot of work goes into preparing the car for each event and by the time we take our place on the start line we are all psyched up and ready to give of our best. There are always high expectations, so it’s a big let down to record a DNF, particularly after just one special stage.
“With this being our first year in the premier S2000 class, we need as much seat time as we can get to bridge the big gap that exists between class A7 and where the big boys play. We’ve been making good progress, but we still have a long way to go and it doesn’t help to miss out on nine racing stages as we did this weekend.”
The 419km event (265 liaison and 164 special stages), held over two days in the Port Elizabeth area and including stages in the Longmore Forest, was as tough as ever with just 25 of the original 42 starters making it to the finish.
The winners with a total time of 98 min 45.8 sec were Johnny Gemmell and Drew Sturrock in a factory Toyota Auris, who finished just 1.5 seconds ahead of the factory VW Polo of Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson. Third, a further 10.5 seconds in arrears, were VW team-mates Jan Habig and Ralph Pitchford.
The next round of the Sasol Rally Championship is the Osram Rally in the Barkly East area on August 21.
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