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2002 Results

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.

Bloemfontein International Airport

Bloemfontein International

Competitors arrived from Sunday 7th March up until late on Wednesday evening in time for the official briefing. What a turnout, ten open class entries and six sportsman. Most of us had the opportunity to fly at least one practice route and get to know the area. The maps were surprisingly accurate once you got to understand what's what.

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

Sportsman

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:

Mary de Klerk and Barry de Groot

2nd Mary de Klerk and Barry de Groot

Open class

Sportsman

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

Sportsman

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

Dale de Klerk and Nigel Hopkins

2002 South African Champions
Dale de Klerk and Nigel Hopkins

Sportsman

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.