THE 2013 POLONA CLASSIC RALLY
14th to 17th JUNE
The Polana Classic Trial was a much awaited event on the SARRA calendar, and was run on the weekend of the 14th to the 17th of June. It drew an entry of 35 cars, of various makes, Porsches, Mg’s, Alfa’s, Volvo’s, BMW’s, Fiat’s a Mini and a Triumph, it was really a treat to see so many classic cars on the event, as this is what SARRA aims at.
Documentation was held in Pretoria on Saturday the 8th of June, when we received our route maps and roadbooks. After a briefing by Adri, we were all quite confident that we were going to ace this event!!!!, how wrong many of us were.
Friday the 14th saw us all bright and early at the Portuguese Club in Witbank for a 09h01 start. After a hearty breakfast sponsored by Michael Cabaleira, Chris Andrew and Mike Altona in a 1981 BMW 635, car #1 led us off, through Witbank and onto the R544 to Verena. This is where it got interesting for Johan and me as we missed the R25 to Groblesdal, but soon realized our mistake, and back tracked. The route then went to Marble Hall, Roedtan, and up to Polokwane. At this stage we were 22 minutes late for our TC, and had missed several regularity sections, so we decided to throw in the towel for the rest of the day and rejoined the route at Tzaneen.
The rally left Polokwane on the R81 to Mooketsi, and down to Tzaneen. From Tzaneen we traveled on the R36 through the Abel Erasmus pass to our overnight stop at the ForeverResortBlydeCanyon. Our 1969 Volvo 122, very kindly lent to us by Mike Altona had done very well, and not given us a moments trouble, however, the navigator needed refreshments and a refresher course on how to read a Monty Style route schedule by Stewart, who was in a 1981 Triumph TR7.
This was most embarrassing as even Stewart and Thelma Cunningham in their 1974 MG B found their way. I was good to see that Manny and Louisa Da Rocha’s 1980 Mini Special made it as well, as the car had a serious oil leak, but we all assured him that once all the oil was gone, it would not leak anymore, and his problem would be over.
The evening was a good social event, and thanks again to Michael Cabaleira, for the superb braai hosted by the resort, many laughs and accounts of the day were discussed over much partaking of alcohol.
Saturday the 15th was an early start at 07h01, and now with a clearer understanding how this whole thing worked, we set off once again, on the R532 to Sabie, through Graskop, and into Nelspruit. Along the way Alex Couling and Esra Martins, driving a 1973 Alfa Guilia, had a puncture. They arrived at the fuel stop, and we were all cheering Esra on like in a Comrades marathon, as he came running up the hill out of breath to get to their TC on time, but alas, he was 5 seconds late.
From Nelspruit we went on the R40 to Barbeton, and then took the R38 to Kaapmuiden, from there to Malelane, to Tonga and across the Border into Swaziland. Here we were assisted by marshals who made the crossing easier. From the Swaziland border we followed the route to the Namaacha border, where Rene assisted all of the cars that were still on the correct route, (and please take note that I was one of them), to cross. We all then regrouped at the Hotel Libombos and drove in convoy to the Toll Gate in Maputo.
From the Toll gate we had a police escort to the Polana Hotel. It had been a long two days in the cars, a distance of 1049 kilometers over stunning roads, and interesting countryside, and I’m sure the guys who were driving good handling, faster cars enjoyed the opportunity of the open mountain passes to let go and enjoy their cars, like Kevin Bolon and Manfred Hertz in a 1972 Porsche 911, as well as Clive Winterstein and Tania Borges driving a 1962 Porsche 356 Cabriolet.
Sunday the 16th we all attended a track event, although not all went on the track, as the trip had taken its toll on some of the cars, and still had to get us home. After the track, the day was at leisure, and leisure we did.
The Polana Rally started out as the LM Rally in 1952 and ran under that format till 1973. It then became the LM Classic Rally, which ran within South African borders from 1990 till 1993. The first Polana Rally as most have come to know it took place in 1995 till now. As motor sport in general has suffered a decline in entries and sponsorship over the past years, we rely on this type of event to bring classic cars back on the road, and get us together from different clubs to enjoy our cars and each others company.
Well done to Rene, Adri, our stalwart scorer, James and Marikie Keulder, Isebel and Ben van der Westhuizen, who we can always rely on for our MSA steward, the chief marshal Ricky Harmse and his team of marshals for all the hard work, and the secretary of the meeting Nell-Marie de Vries, who spent many hours sending out e-mails bugging us for our documents etc, its never easy to put on an event of this size without problems, but you guys pulled it off, and gave us a wonderful event. Also our thanks and appreciation to the sponsors, Forever Resorts, Mr. Price, Hollard Insurance and Michael Cabaleira,ATCM for the track, and last but no means least the Polana Serena Hotel, without you this event would not be finically obtainable for a lot us.
The winners of the event were:
1St placeKevin Bolon / Manfred Hertz307 points
2nd placeChris Andrew / Mike Altona646 points
3rd placeNiel v Eden / Quintus v d Berg732 points
4th placeErrol John / Terry Illman940 points
5th placeGampie Wiid / Louis Wiid1012 points
FROM THE CHAIR.
It has been some time since we have had a news letter, Brian Askew has made several appeals for a new editor, however, no one has volunteered. I will take over the job until we find a suitable replacement. I would like to see many more articles in our news letter, and will be inserting items of interest from other club magazines, so if you have any interesting tidbits, please forward them to me on .
Our next event is the BNRC Rally to be held on the 21st of July. This is a first for our blind counterparts, and should be an interesting event. August the 9th, 10th and 11th is the MacGregor Maluti Meander, to be held in and around Clarence and Golden Gate. Adri and I made a start on the route, and will running the first trial on the 13th and 14th of June. The total distance for both days is about 560 kilometers, based on the Monty Style rally. As it is always an expensive exercise to put an event like this together, booking forms have been sent out on Google, and the amount of interest we get will determine whether we go ahead. The cost per crew for two night’s accommodation at the Golden Gate Hotel, and entry is R3160.00. The 9th of August is a public holiday, so no time off work will be necessary. If you have not received a booking form, please let me know, and I will forward it to you.
HOORAH !!!!!!!!!!!!
Watch out guys, next near year my Mini will be on the road. Manny, how about that bet that mine will be going before yours?
That’s all for now folks, see you all soon.