29/09/2026
National Rally 2026
The ARC national rally started off in Longmore Forest on Friday, 25 November. The humid weather and challenging terrain had the competitors on high alert.
The Daniel Pienaar Technical High School motorsport team was ready for the challenge - a long day awaited them.
The 1.2tsi Polo, piloted by learner, Ethan Jacobs and navigator, Kaylin Kapp (teacher) met with electrical issues and a wrong turn off during a stage. After recovery, a broken electrical cable was fixed and they continued with a flawless run throughout the rest of the day. Unfortunately, they received a DNF due to missing out two consecutive stages.
The teachers team comprising driver, Francois Vermaak (teacher) and old-scholar navigator, Handré van Schalkwyk, had a flawless day, ending 3rd overall in the club and 1st in their class and the Clubmanns challenge.
Day 2 of the National rally took to the area of Kariega and Despatch with stages set to entertain the crowds. Mother nature decided to throw a curve ball and open the heavens with rain, creating a muddy and slippery surface for the cars. This became very challenging as first time rally driver, Kyle Dissel (learner) and new navigator teacher, Divan van Appel, had to open the stage infront of a packed crowd at Despatch Waterwielpark stage in the newly-built VW Citi Golf. Cautious driving navigated them through the stages. Both these first-time competitors worked through the stages in Spiders web and Jachtvlakte. At one time, they lost electrical power during a stage and experienced a stuck accelerator peddle. They fixed it and continued well, ending with a 4th overall in the club and 1st in the ARC 4 class - an outstanding achievement!
The Polo took to the mud and fought its way through the stages. The challenging terrain bared its teeth and caused another electrical cable to break. With a quick on-hand fix, they managed to get the car going again. The clutch of the car decided to give in during the last stage of the day which they had to super rally and ended with a 4th overall in the club challenge and 2nd position in the ARC 4 class.
A very big thank you to all our sponsors and supporters who came to visit the team, the pitcrew and crew chief, Konrad Kapp, for keeping the cars on the road. A special thank you to our catering and caring staff members, Erica Niemand and Adele Horn, for keeping us fed and warm throughout two long days - you are super stars!
Great results were achieved under very demanding and wet conditions.
