SASOL Rally Ends in Disappointment
NELSPRUIT- Team Total's Etienne Lourens' and Andre Vermeulen's moment of glory in winning the SASOL Rally in Nelspruit in their Toyota RunX turned into a nightmare when they inadvertently fell foul of the Class S2000 rules.
During a routine, post-rally inspection of the class-wining cars, it was found that Lourens’ car did not comply with the rules in that his rev limiter was set at 8800 rpm instead of the permitted 8500 rpm. The name of the manufacturer on the brake calipers had also not been machined off as required by the regulations.
While the extent of the advantage gained from these oversights, if any, is open to debate, Lourens had no prior knowledge of the infringements as his car is prepared by Toyota Motorsport, together with the Castrol Toyota cars of Serge Damseaux and Johnny Gemmell.
As a result of the infringements Lourens was penalised by 10 minutes, dropping him from first place to ninth overall.
Andries van der Walt, Motorsport Manager of Team Total, said after the event that while the team was understandably disappointed, Lourens and Vermeulen had put in a brilliant drive on the event to follow on from a podium finish in the Cape Rally, leaving the team more determined than ever to be successful in the 2007 season.
Class wins in Class N4, by Fernando Rueda and Gerhard Snyman, and Class N3 by the Houghton brothers, further underlined the team’s competitiveness, said van der Walt.
During a routine, post-rally inspection of the class-wining cars, it was found that Lourens’ car did not comply with the rules in that his rev limiter was set at 8800 rpm instead of the permitted 8500 rpm. The name of the manufacturer on the brake calipers had also not been machined off as required by the regulations.
While the extent of the advantage gained from these oversights, if any, is open to debate, Lourens had no prior knowledge of the infringements as his car is prepared by Toyota Motorsport, together with the Castrol Toyota cars of Serge Damseaux and Johnny Gemmell.
As a result of the infringements Lourens was penalised by 10 minutes, dropping him from first place to ninth overall.
Andries van der Walt, Motorsport Manager of Team Total, said after the event that while the team was understandably disappointed, Lourens and Vermeulen had put in a brilliant drive on the event to follow on from a podium finish in the Cape Rally, leaving the team more determined than ever to be successful in the 2007 season.
Class wins in Class N4, by Fernando Rueda and Gerhard Snyman, and Class N3 by the Houghton brothers, further underlined the team’s competitiveness, said van der Walt.
posted by Kruger2Canyons.com at
Monday, April 23, 2007
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