Hyundai Malmesbury will host the start of the Cape Car and Motorcycle Club Riebeek Kasteel Rally on Saturday 2 October 2021. With no Western Province Rally Championship at stake the event will be considered a shakedown for what promises to be a real humdinger season in 2022.
2019 Western Province champions, Llewellyn Jones and Christophé Pichon, will lead the 25+ strong entry away in their immaculately prepared 434 S5 CPMCC CEJ Plant Hire Subaru Impreza N12 WRX STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4.
Favourites they might be, but, keeping up with the Jones’s have stepped up the odds as their greatest threat may well be coming from young Owen Jones. Now, without wanting to make this sound difficult Lewellyn Jones is the cousin of Shaun Jones and Owen Jones, the son of Shaun, really wants to kick his uncle’s butt! Shaun, so cautious of Owen’s pace, he did not even enter this event.
On debut in Porterville both Llewellyn and John Peiser found the pace of this youngster so impressive they withdrew from the event with mechanical maladies. Quadruple WP champion, John Peiser, now doing his PPL in an effort to drive (or is it fly) faster than Owen and Aden Bredekamp as they managed to win overall in their 454 S5 CPMCC Subaru Impreza N10 WRX STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4. The youngest ever combination to win a rally overall in the Western Cape! Unfortunately Aden will be missing the Riebeek event and Eastern Cape based Ingrid Jeacocks will be substituting as navigator.
On paper the Damseaux Motorsport prepared 431 CCMCC S5 Toyota Run X 4×4 S2000 of Ismaeel Davids and Yusuf Ganief should be untouchable. Warren Scholtz and Justin Gay the dark horse entry in their 444 S5 CPMCC N10 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4 on debut.
But, this is rallying, and even a 1000cc three cylinder turbocharged 125 S5 CPMCC VW Polo GT have the potential to lead everyone home. Paul-Hendrik Franken and Lloyd Brady will be back in the rather unique Franken Motorsport car that is still giving authorities headaches as to how it should be classified in local motorsport. Sounding much like the legendary DKW the car has proven deceptively quick in almost every terrain.
With the dreaded pandemic disrupting everyone and everything there is no championship to be won in 2021 and as such many teams have opted to use the balance of the year preparing for a proper return in 2022. Quadruple WP drivers champion, John Peiser, and his double WP navigators champion son, Weston Peiser, will not be present in Riebeek as John has to focus on completing his PPL. Apparently studying is more challenging than driving!
Paul van Wyk is building a “new” N14 Subaru Impreza WRX STi 2.0 Turbo 4×4 for double WP rally drivers champion, Lourens van Rensburg, whilst also developing his own acciDent Guru 469 S5 CPMCC Audi S3 Turbo 4×4 for the new season. Werner “The Mayor of Mykonos” Koekemoer is also on the comeback trial and is scheduled to debut a BMW E36 328i in 2028 with one of the twins as navigator! And that is a concrete rumour!
The good news is that some are also treating Riebeek as shakedown for 2022 and we will have three visiting teams from the Eastern Cape present. The Swartland based Du Plessis brothers, Inus and Jean, were pretty well known for their antics in various rear wheel driven BMW rally cars and Inus du Plessis is set to return with Piet Carinus navigating in the 461 S4 Coastal Hire BMW E36 328i originally intended for the E36 Cup series at the Killarney International Raceway Rally X circuit.
Jean du Plessis recently sold his similar BMW E36 328i to fellow Swartlander, Carel Viljoen, and he was to have made his rallying debut with Ike Viljoen as navigator. They have opted to rather delay their debut to 2022.
Warren Köhler and Matthew Köhler also felt the need to step up a gear in rear wheel drive, acquiring the impressive 465 S4 CCMCC Köhler Pac E36 BMW 328i formerly campaigned by Danie van Niekerk at Killarney International Raceway.
We have grown almost accustomed to the Namibian teams joining in on the Western Cape events and on the odd occasion somebody from the Eastern Cape makes the trip. Well, this time, there will be three Eastern Cape based teams making the trip to Riebeek Kasteel.
Etienne MALherbe needs no introduction as he could be considered a local competitor now based in George on the beautiful Garden Route and his classic Silverton Radiators George Datsun 160U SS is something of an institution anywhere in South Africa. In 1983 he and Eric Storbeck made their rallying debut as young SAAF apprentices, driving a Mazda RX2 Rotary that Etienne bought for R380 off a pavement in Sunnyside, Pretoria. They were much faster than the older Mazda and rolled it into a million pieces at AFB Pienaarsrivier near Hammanskraal (Ditholo) during the 1984 Martin Jonker Rally.
At the time Johan de Jager and (SAAF) Patrick Vermaak also did the 1984 Lowveld 500 Rally in an Alfa Romeo Guilia 2.0 whilst Etienne and Erick upgraded to a second Mazda RX2 Rotary.
Though their friendship grew over the past 37 years, Etienne MALherbe and Patrick VerMAAK will be competing as a team for the first time in the Team Malmaak, or should that be VêrMal, 54 ARC / CPMCC S3 Datsun 160U SSS. Why? Simply because they feel the need to do so!
H.T.S. Daniël Pienaar, the oldest technical school in Southern Africa and only school that offers motorsport as an outdoors activity to their students actually have two Eastern Cape rally cars contesting under the banner of the Algoa Rally Club. Mr M.Kleingeld heads the motorsport section with two teachers driving and students as navigators and service crew.
The first car scheduled to leave the Hyundai Malmesbury start venue at 09h00 on Saturday 2 October 2021 and the first team is expected to finish the event at Nuweplaas, corner of R46 and Riebeekrivier Road, at 16h00.
Unfortunately Covid-19 Level 2 restrictions still apply and as such spectators will not be permitted.

Patrick Vermaak
083 701 8116