2002 ACSA CUP NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPS

ACSA CUP NATIONAL RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bloemfontein 2002

By Dale de Klerk

Well this was an event that most of us will remember for a long time. After the postponement from last year and the difficulty for organizers to get to Bloemfontein, nobody knew what to expect.

Day one

The plot was quite easy with only nine checkpoints and the start given to us in advance. This was to avoid anyone starting at the wrong place and interfering with the scheduled flights in and out of Bloem international. We all thought Dave Perelson was joking when he said no one would find more than ten out of a possible twenty en-route photos. I think some of us are still looking for those alien dwellings. And then there was the famous church at checkpoint seven. A real church about one mile right of track distracted most of us. Some realized there mistake found the ruin at the correct checkpoint and some didn’t.

The final results for the day were:

Open class

• 1st Nigel & Dale with 765 penalties
• 2nd Barry & Mary with 780 penalties
• 3rd Hans & Ron with 1332 penalties
• 4th Frank & Quinten with 1561 penalties
• 5th Rob & Rynier with 1587 penalties

Sportsman

• 1st Kluyts Father & son with 1754 penalties
• 2nd Ernie & George with 2174 penalties
• 3rd U K team Green with 2432 penalties

What a wake up call ? The G P S loggers had taken their toll and Deon certainly didn’t make the rest any easier.

Day two

The route was a little longer with more checkpoints but still easy enough on the plot. The start was at the same place which made it easier, except for one lonely pilot and his navigator who flew off the map and eventually took thirteen minutes longer than anyone else to find it. Most of us were now wide-awake and except for two checkpoint photos in dispute we all flew a better rally. Unfortunately no one had told (or no one had read the rules) Mike Cathro and Ernie Alexander that procedure turn’s were only used in precision flying. This cost them dearly with 200 penalties per turn.

The results for day two were:

• 1st Nigel & Dale with 632 penalties
• 2nd Hans & Ron with 853 penalties
• 3rd Frank & Quentin with 972 penalties
• 4th Barry & Mary with 1338 penalties
• 5th Walter & James with 1764 penalties

Sportsman

• 1st U K Team green with 1282 penalties
• 2nd Kluyts Father & son with 1370 penalties
• 3rd Ernie & George with 1652 penalties

Ted and Tino were convinced that the logger was cheating. The chief marshal, Thys put in some overtime and superimposed the logger track onto a map and proved yet again that these electronic devices can’t think for themselves. Sorry Ted, that T-junction looked similar but it wasn’t the correct one. The landings were done all at once at Tempe airfield on Friday afternoon. Conditions weren’t great but everybody managed their three landings and except for a few hops and bounces, all went well.

Landing results

Open class

• 1st Nigel & Dale with 20 penalties
• 2nd Hans & Ron with 70 penalties
• 3rd Frank & Quentin with 110 penalties
• 4th Ted & Tino with 160 penalties
• 5th Claude & Francois with 230 penalties

Sportsman

• 1st, Kluyts Father & son with 80 penalties
• 2nd, Ernie & George with 200 penalties
• 3rd, U K Team green with 290 penalties

Nigel & Dale had now built up a lead but the pressure was on between Hans & Ron and Barry & Mary for 2nd place.

Day three

A short route again with a very easy plot. And even the en-route photos were clearer, what a relief. This time Chris & Peter actually found the start, the finish and most of the checkpoints. It just goes to show, keep on trying. Except for the monument at checkpoint one that we all flew straight over without seeing it, we all found our way round the route and back to Bloem International. What a tough competition. One thing for sure, everybody had fun. Not to mention the evenings around the braai. Final results were made public at the awards dinner on Saturday evening.

Open class

• 1^st Nigel & Dale with 1673 penalties
• 2^nd Barry & Mary with 2731 penalties
• 3^rd Hans & Ron with 3111 penalties
• 4^th Frank & Quentin 3977 penalties
• 5^th Mike & Mark 6222 penalties.

Sportsman

• 1^st Ernie & George Brink 862 penalties
• 2^nd Father & Son Kluyts 3540 penalties
• 3^rd U K team Green 4242 penalties

From all the happy faces at the awards dinner one could tell that everyone enjoyed the rally. Special thanks to the organizers who set up a fantastic event and put in many hours of work. An even bigger thanks to SAPFA and our sponsors ACSA without whom we simply could not have such an event. Congratulations to all the competitors, especially Ted & Tino who were awarded their Northwest Provincial Colours.

We look forward to see you all at Brits on 16 May 2002 for the Precision Championships.

Detailed Results

					2002 ACSA National Air Rally Championship
					OPEN CLASS
					Day One					Day Two					Day Three
Pos.	Name	Reg	Class	Prov	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	Mkrs	Photo	Flight	Other	Tot	Land	Grand Total	Nav Total
1	N Hopkins         D de Klerk	CNZ	O	NW	0	325	440	0	765	0	550	82	0	632	0	200	56	0	256	20	1673	578
2	B de Groot        M de Klerk	BMZ	O	KN	0	650	130	0	780	50	800	488	0	1338	0	225	128	0	353	260	2731	746
3	H Schwebel      R Stirk	IWD	O	NW	0	700	432	200	1332	0	725	128	0	853	0	600	256	0	856	70	3111	1016
4	F Eckard          Q Taylor	IVK	O	GP	0	925	636	0	1561	0	650	322	0	972	100	750	484	0	1334	110	3977	1442
5	M Cathro          M Gregson	BMZ	O	GP	50	650	1136	400	2236	50	650	572	800	2072	50	950	664	0	1664	250	6222	3572
6	R Gleimius       R Moolman	CKE	O	FS	0	1025	362	200	1587	0	1075	890	0	1965	50	850	1340	400	2640	280	6472	3192
7	W Walle            J Lidderd	CNZ	O	FS	200	1050	1392	0	2642	0	850	514	400	1764	0	900	1188	200	2288	320	7014	3694
8	T McKerchar    T Booysen	GVR	O	NW	50	1200	1342	200	2792	0	950	1122	200	2272	50	1050	888	0	1988	160	7212	3752
9	C Hardman      F du Toit	UZS	O	EP	50	1300	1902	400	3652	50	1250	2192	0	3492	50	1175	1556	0	2781	230	10155	6050
10	C van Hoof       P van der Velden	FSH	O	GP	100	1400	3118	200	4818	50	1250	3890	200	5390	100	1200	2280	400	3980	340	14528	10088
				SPORTSMAN CLASS
					Day One – Official Practice					Day Two					Day Three					Land	Grand Total	Nav total
1	E Alexander            G Brits	AHM	S	GP	0	1150	1024	0	2174	0	850	402	400	1652	0	800	410	0	1210	200	3062	1212
2	T Kluyts                  A Kluyts	FTT	S	GP	100	1200	454	0	1754	50	900	420	0	1370	100	1100	770	200	2170	80	3620	1390
3	N Green                  D Green	KSF	S	UK	150	1100	1182	0	2432	0	850	432	0	1282	0	1200	1760	0	2960	290	4532	2192