Jan Habig Rallying

News

Habig heats up the pace

11 March 2013

The 2013 SA Rally Championship started with a bang in a hot, humid Natal.

Jan Habig and Robert Paisley (Basil Read Ford Fiesta) started in eighth position on the road after drawing the position at the ceremonial start of the Total Tour Natal Rally in Durban on Friday.

In a drama-filled event which saw the demise of some of the top contenders, Habig managed to win one stage, and post second-fastest times on two others, giving the pairing a second overall at the overnight stop.

"It was a scorchingly hot day, and a blistering pace was set from the first stage," said Habig. "Hergen went off on Special Stage 1 and Enzo had a high-speed roll in Stage 3, fortunately with no serious injuries. Stage 4 was cancelled after Johnny Gemmell and Carolyn Swan had a fire on board. With Mark Cronjé next on the road, they stopped to assist, resulting in the cancellation of the stage," he added.

With the resultant long delays, the final stage was cancelled as the crews headed back to Durban for an action-packed super special stage. Hundreds of spectators gathered at the Total Village for the final stage of the day. It was a display of man and machine as two cars ran simultaneously on the stage, with Habig matched against teenager Henk Lategan, the multiple former South African champion taking the honours.

"With only 34 seconds between myself and Mark, and a full day's rallying ahead tomorrow, we will still give it our best shot, because, as we all know, rallying is extremely unpredictable", said Habig.

>> Get more news stories here