Heidelberg Speed Rally – Season Finale

By Garth Calitz

Arriving at Heidelberg on Saturday, the final Speed Rally of the 2025 season looked rather doubtful due to the nasty weather that had blown in from the coastal regions. While we were waiting for the competitors to arrive from their home airfields all over Gauteng and the North West, I took a trip down the Speed Rally memory lane with a few of the veterans who have been involved since the inception in 2018.

The Speed Rally faithful reminisced about how popular the events were in the first few years, with rallies having to be “capped” at 40 entrants at some rallies; a waiting list was set up in case someone could not make the event. Sadly, that is in the past; many different ideas as to the demise were thrown about. The one overwhelming factor seems to be the “Plandemic” that all but killed general aviation in 2020 due to the draconian laws that everyone in the country was subject to. Another prominent factor is the tanking of the South African economy under our “wonderful leadership”, the tripling of the entrance fee for the events just added to this. In 2018, teams paid R500 per event; this has increased to R1500 for the last event. This, coupled with the ever-increasing price of fuel and the SACAA’s ridiculous 12-year rule, has ruled many teams out of the competition.

In 2018 and 2019, Speed Rallies were a weekend event, with a formal briefing and number ceremony taking place on the Friday night, followed by a festive party all driven on by the infectious enthusiasm of Jonty Esser and his team. Saturday mornings always started with a briefing on the weather and procedures for the day. Then it was time for the forty-odd aircraft to get out and race, followed by a lazy afternoon of camaraderie and a few cold ones while the judges worked on getting the results out for the official prize giving and another party. Everyone left on Sunday morning after a great breakfast.

The Speed Rally concept was designed to coax “new blood” into the Navigation Rally realm as the sport was on a downward spiral, a task that was achieved in spades. Many of the Speed Rally contestants went on to represent South Africa in the World Navigation Rally Championships in the last few years. Tarryn and Iaan Myburgh, who brought home some silverware from the 2025 World Championship, started their rally flying journey in Speed Rallies.

Well, that's enough negativity for now, back to the present. Heidelberg Airfield hosted a Speed Rally for the first time, with eight teams taking up the challenge. The Rally was highlighted as a Jabiru vs Sling Challenge. The competition between these two manufacturers has always been intense and offering them the opportunity to go head to head reinvigorated the rivalry, with four Jabies and two slings taking up the battle call.

The morning got underway with the customary briefing by David le Roux and Iaan Myburgh and the issuing of race numbers, follwed by the teams making their way to their aircraft for a restless wait for their papers.

The first aircraft to take to the sky was the rather slow Jabiru UL120, crewed by Dave Naude and Andre’ Gruindelingh, the slowest aircraft in the pack. The slowest aircraft gets to go first as the take-off times are calculated according to the handicap speed. If everyone flies a perfect route at handicap speed, they will all reach the finish at the same time.

Tarryn Myburgh and her father, Derek Orford, in their Jabiru SP470, were the second team to take to the rather ominous sky. They were followed by the liquid-cooled 6-cylinder Jabiru J400 of Sean Cronin and Dean Nicolau.

Veteran and previous Speed Rally Champion, Hendrik Loots, returned to the fold for his first Rally since 2022. Hendrik normally flew with his son Jeandre, but unfortunately, he is now working in Liberia. He sent a good friend, Stiaan, to accompany his dad in the Sling 2.

The second Sling 2 got airborne mere seconds behind them. Fanie Scholtz and Herman Haasbroek are also veterans and have been competing since the inaugural Speed Rally in Secunda in 2018.

The Jabiru field was then completed by Piet Meyer and Adrienne Visser in their Jabiru J400. Piet and Adrienne have been regular competitors over all seven seasons.

Rob Jonkers finally got to compete in a Speed Rally after years of organising them. Rob joined up with his National team navigator, Martin Meyer, to experience the format he was instrumental in creating.

After a bit of a wait, the fast Vans RV-6A of Derick Lombard and Morne Strauss finally got off the ground. We all returned to the clubhouse to wait for the return of all the teams.

While the teams were out doing their thing, everyone was treated to a display by the Puma Energy Flying Lions that had flown in for the annual Great Train Race, which is normally held at the airfield, but for some reason, they had moved it to the Heidelberg Golf Course this year. The display, although appreciated by all on the ground, was not seen by the people at the golf course.

Once everyone landed safely, it was time for Iaan to get busy downloading tracks and scoring the routes flown. One advantage of having a relatively small field is the time taken to get out the scores. Before anyone could get too comfortable, it was time for the prize giving.

The competition is scored in two categories, the first being the Handicap Classification, which is the pilot's ability to perform against their unique handicap. Tarryn Myburgh and her dad were the only team that managed to beat their handicap with a speed variance of 1.21%. In second place was Fanie Scholtz and Herman Haasbroek with a negative speed variance of -1.66%. Hendrik Loots and Stiaan came in third with a speed variance of -2.23%. Chalk up one for team Jabiru.

In the Track Accuracy Classification, the Slings took top honours, Hendrik and Stiaan came in first with an accuracy variance of only 0.73%, followed closely by Fanie and Herman with a 0.77%. Rob Jonkers and Martin Meyer managed a respectable 1.40% for third place.

This brought us to the overall result, Tarryn and Derek took the overall top honours with a brilliant 0.37%, keeping the Jabirus on top, Fannie and Herman came in second with a very good 1.14%. Third place belonged to Hedrik and Stiaan with 1.65% all the top scores a brilliant considering the weather was nowhere near ideal with terrible visibility.

Dave Naude and Andre' Gruindelingh were awarded the “Slakkie Award” for the most creative route flown on the day; at least they didn’t leave empty-handed.

The Jabiru Sling Battle was so tight that the best-performing sling team and Jabiru team were awarded trophies for their efforts.

As this was the last Rally of the year, Sean Cronin and Dean Nicolau were crowned the 2025 Speed Rally Champions for their efforts in all the other rallies held throughout the year.

I sincerely hope the Speed Rally competition can once again be revived in 2026 and we get back to the numbers that we saw in the early years. To manage this, sponsors will be an integral part; without sponsors, the sport will unfortunately not survive. We must thank the sponsors who have managed to keep the Speed Rallies on the aviation calendar; without you, there wouldn’t be any of these fun, competitive events.