Lategan and White on the podium at South African Ford Dealer Rally
It was celebrations in the Volkswagen Sasolracing team camp on 17 August, as Henk Lategan and Barry White claimed their first podium finish at the Ford Rally in Gauteng, South Africa. The pair were second fastest on the event, posting strong times during the rally to finish one minute and 16.9 seconds behind the rally winner. ‘The Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 was very good but a puncture three kilometres into stage five on Friday as well as a penalty cost us 55 seconds,’ said Lategan. ‘Deciding not to change the tyre actually meant we lost less time and we pushed where possible during the event.’
Lategan and White slipped down to fifth place over night due to the 20 seconds incurred to the puncture, despite having claimed two stage wins. Running in fourth place on day two, their pace kept the competition on their toes. At no point on day two were Lategan and White posting times lower than third fastest and they claimed three further stage wins. The second place finish is the best result the duo have achieved this season, and the pair have been the centre of attention both locally and abroad as they compete in the South African National Rally Championship and also miscellaneous rally events in Europe.
In other classes, the Beurden Construction VW Polo R2 of Chad van Beurden and Nico Swartz came in second in the two-wheel drive S1600 class – Beurden’s best result in his first year of rallying. Third were Paul Franken and Henry Kohne (Manitou Group VW Polo R2) in their best result of the season, who were just eight tenths of a second behind after more than two hours and 160 kilometres of gravel road racing. The next round of the championship is the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally in the Western Cape on September 13 and 14.
