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| Mykonos
Gymkhana 2006 |
Broadcast
date : 10th December 2006 |
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The holiday season is truly upon
us. Time for some sun, sea, scenery, heritage, and …..horsepower!
For the Car Torque crew it felt like coming home, as we took
in our second Mykonos Gymkhana, the final round of this year’s
series of auto-tests organised by the Witzenberg MotorClub and
sponsored by Hyperformance, the camshaft specialists in the
Western Cape.
While Hendrik was honing up on his navigational skills and
trying to make sense of the complex loops through the Club
Mykonos car park kerb stones, we were once again struck by the
sheer variety of entries for this bi-annual event.
Hot Golfs and Beemers, quads and micro-midgets were all part
of the mix.
We’re sure this navigation thing isn’t easy, but it looked
like Hendrik was telling Mynhardt to head for the beach. Or
was that the casino?
Perhaps our man Hendrik was confused by all the tyre smoke.
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Car Torque’s scriptwriter
Stuart Johnston had an even greater responsibility as he was
teamed with Mike Nathan, multiple Hyperformance Mykonos
champion, and favourite to win the event and the 2006
championship.
Nathan had entered two cars for the event and Stuart was
paired in Mike’s rally-championship-winning Toyota.
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Meanwhile Hendrik was scheduled
to run with Mykonos newcomer Etienne du Toit, a youngster
noted for both track and rallying talent.
Etienne had given Mike Nathan some stiff competition in this
year’s National Rally Championship in his similar Toyota
Corolla.
But his inexperience in the Hyperformance championship showed
in his car’s set-up, which had far too much suspension
travel.
The 2006 Gymkhana has brought some fine female talent to the
fore, in the shape of Nashrene Schloss in her Corolla, and
Linda Binedell in her Audi TT, who were both competing for the
Ladies title.
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Meawhile Mike Nathan’s crew
was hard at work on his potent Mazda Rustler.
Mike’s Mazda is one trick piece of machinery. It’s 1500 cc
motor revs to 10500 rpm, thanks to some exotic internals, and
it handles fantastically.
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The Mykonos Hyperformance format
places emphasis on driving skill and fun without too much
danger – although quad riders are advised to wear leathers
– and also draws some historic machinery out of the
woodwork.
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This twin-cam Cressida-powered
Corolla Rally-car has been competing in rallies since the
early 1980s, driven here with great verve and greater
body-roll by Martin Esterhuyse.
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Meanwhile the battle for overall
honours up-front was intense, with Mike Nathan and some
passive navigation from Stuart Johnston vying for Class C
honours in his rally Toyota.
He was under lots of pressure from Andre Dreyer in a potent
Golf two-litre, and Duncan Jepthas in another Golf.
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Andre Dreyer it was then, from
Duncan Jepthas in his yellow Golf, Cobus Erasmus in a Fox and
Brent Laurings in an Opel.
So, a great victory for Andre Dreyer, with Duncan Jephtas
claiming second in his bright-yellow Golf.
Mike Nathan won the overall championship for the year, and was
already planning an engine rebuild for his Mazda Rustler.
The accent at Mykonos is on fun and excitement, especially for
Car Torque’s multi-tasking presenter, who was treated like a
superstar the whole weekend.
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