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Poulter wins Sasol Rally

<b>POULTER DOES IT AGAIN:</b> Leeroy Poulter takes his second consecutive win in the 2014 SA Rally Championship.<i>Image: credit</i>
<b>POULTER DOES IT AGAIN:</b> Leeroy Poulter takes his second consecutive win in the 2014 SA Rally Championship.<i>Image: credit</i>
Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee (Toyota Yaris) consolidated their lead in the South African National Rally Championship with a comfortable second round win in the Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga. It was their second successive victory of the new season.

TRIUMPH IN MPUMALANGA

In an event that saw several of their main rivals drop out of contention with punctures and mechanical problems, the Toyota pair had a relatively trouble-free run and their pace and consistency was such that they led the event from special stage four through to the finish.

Even a puncture towards the end of stage 12 was not enough to slow them down as they completed the last 8kms on a flat wheel and only lost about 10 seconds.

Second, 1 min 46 sec in arrears, was former national champion Enzo Kuun and Rikus Fourie who were making their first appearance in a Ford Fiesta also enjoyed a trouble-free run.

Hergen Fekken and Carolyn Swan continued their good early season form by bringing the second Castrol Team Toyota Yaris home in third place, a distant 7min 57 sec behind their team-mates after experiencing clutch and diff problems on stage 10 and 11.

Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin (Volkswagen Polo) did well to finish fourth (+ 11 min 32 sec) in only their second outing in an S2000 car despite two punctures and a damaged diff on Friday and a broken gear lever on stage 11.

Fifth overal and first in the S2000 Challenge for older specification four-wheel drive cars were Thilo Himmel of Namibia and Armand du Toit (VW Polo).

DE VILLIERS STRUGGLES WITH 2WD

Henk Lategan and Barry White (VW Polo) were sixth. They lost time on Friday with a loose steering rack on stages two and three while lying third and dropped further back with punctures on stages four and five. Seventh were Giniel de Villiers/Greg Godrich (Toyota Yaris).

The pair lost over 10 minutes on Friday’s stage four after struggling through the first three stages with only two-wheel drive.

Defending champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton (Ford Fiesta) were classified eighth under Super Rally rules after retiring with suspension problems on stage 12. They had been third overnight behind Poulter and Kuun after losing two and a half minutes with a puncture on stage four while leading Poulter and Kuun – they won each of the first three stages. They lost further time on stage 10 with another puncture.

Sasol rally race results
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