Koës Pan Rally lives up to expectations

Now in its 38th year, the Koës Pan Rally lived up to expectations recently, with drivers coming from as far as East London, Johannesburg and Angola to kick up some dust. Basking in the success of the recently held event, organiser Rickus Vermeulen was only too happy to acknowledge the support the organising team brought together to host what he described as a 'logistical challenge'.“We are very happy with the turnout. We were a little fewer people than we were last year, but you can put it down to fact that the economy is the way it is,” he said of the participation at this year's rally.According to him, a lot of planning went into making the rally a success, despite Koës' distance from major service centres in Namibia. “See, the fact that we are so far removed, it takes a lot of involvement from the community. It takes the whole community to see this thing through, getting the food prepared for 1 000 people, getting fuel, getting the roads great, all the papers... If I tell you, it’s going to sound as if I'm complaining," Vermuelen said of all the bells and whistles it takes to get things in place.Just in timeOn the motoring side, following a seven-year hiatus, Jaco Erasmus showcased his modified Sandmaster which had been restored just in time for the rally.“It was standing for seven years, so we had a lot to do. This year, we had it running; we knew it was going to break,” he said. Erasmus’ Sandmaster came fitted with a Nissan three-litre engine and a five-speed Renault GT gearbox to help it tackle the dunes, while it sported 30-inch tyres in the front and 31 inches in the back to help it kick dust. In the Open Class, Jako Maree emerged as the winner with a time of one hour and 34 minutes, followed by Henner Rusch who was 55 seconds later. Maree has been doing this race for years, and this the first win for the 52-year-old. “The whole thing is a fun event. It’s about sportsmanship,” Dirk Trümer, who was been taking part in the Koës Pan Rally for more than 20 years, said.In the 250 CC category, Emic Duvenhage (South Africa) took first place in a time of 01:53:35, while Wika Jordaan (South Africa) came in second in 02:01:50 and Rico Vermeulen took third place.According to the organiser, the work now beckons for next year’s rally. “Planning starts now already for next year," he said.

Koës Pan Rally lives up to expectations

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Koës Pan Rally lives up to expectations

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