24/02/08 - The 2008 Sasol South African Rally Championship kicks off with the Hitachi Power Tools Tour Natal Rally with all the ingredients pointing to a season that will eclipse last year’s classic thriller.

No less than nine of the top S2000 class cars will vie for rally wins; Ford is officially back in rallying and there is a healthy, competitive entry in all the other classes; the latest Prodrive Subaru Impreza will be in action on our shores.

Heading the line-up is the three car BP Ultimate Volkswagen factory team with defending champions Jan Habig/Douglas Judd leading the attack in a brand new Polo. Not to be outdone is the 2006 champion duo of Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson, who remained winless throughout 2007. Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries came of age last year and were championship contenders right until the final round. There are no team orders in the BP Volkswagen camp, so flat out racing can be expected from the trio of green Polos.

Not to be outdone, the works Castrol Toyota squad will field a pair of RunXs for team leader Johnny Gemmell and Zimbabwean co-driver Peter Marsh and hotshot Mark Cronje and Robert Paisley. Gemmell is out of Serge Damseaux’s spotlight and should flourish in his new role in the team. Cronje will complete his second full season of rallying on the Tour Natal, yet has two gravel racing championships under his belt already.

The Toyota squad, with is manufacturing facility south of Durban and thus with a strong contingent of supporters lining the route, will start the year with the tried and tested winning RunXs before a mid year switch to the new Toyota Auris, which is undergoing its final international homologation.

Boosting the top class, Japie van Niekerk/Robin Houghton will debut their ex-works Toyota RunX along with Nicholas Ryan/Schalk van Heerden in a Philips/Jonnesway-backed Toyota RunX. Ryan won the 2006 production car championship and their progress in S2000 will be watched with interest, while Van Niekerk won his ‘shakedown’ rally in Belfast three weeks ago.

Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Cobus Vrey (S2000 Team Total Toyota RunX) have refurbished their ex works machine and will again be locked in battle with Jon/Douglas Williams (S2000 Guma Volkswagen Polo). The four privateer S2000 teams can be expected to mix it with the works teams having an off day. Competition will be fierce and the spectacle is one not to be missed.

Class A7 is the top two-wheel drive class and takes the Volkswagen versus Toyota war into a different arena. Chris de Wit/Dean Redelinghuys (Team Total Toyota RunX) was the only pair to win a round of the series last year in a class dominated by Mark Cronje. They will have to work harder than ever to see off the BP Ultimate VW Polo driven by Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin and the similar NetConnect Polo of Adrian Karth/Duncan English, who ended their 2007 season with a win on the Cars In Action Tarmac Challenge.

An interesting entry is the Motorite Toyota RunX pedalled by Evan Hutchinson/Greg Gericke. Hutchinson is the current Off Road Special Vehicles Champion and is used to far more horsepower. The transition will be an exciting one…

Theuns Joubert/Hennie Botes (Salom VW Polo), Nico Higgs/Menno Havelaar (Toyota RunX), and Michael Otto/Sipho Mhlanga (Barloworld Toyota Corolla) adds depth to the class and any of the above can walk away with class honours after the 10-stage Tour Natal.

The fight for class A6 honours will intensify the Volkswagen/Toyota battle, dividing brand-loyal fans further. Craig Trott, the reigning titleholder, has former driver turned navigator Tony Ball in his potent Team Total Toyota RunX, ably backed up – and challenged - by Salie du Toit and the unrelated Armand du Toit in a similar Team Total RunX.

Mohammed Moosa/Henry Dearlove will want a healthy points haul from their ‘stand in’ Toyota Corolla (the pair gets a new A6 Toyota Auris on round 2) but it won’t be easy, for Northern Regions competitors Jose de Gouveia/Elvene Coetzee (Hi-Speed Spares Toyota Corolla) and Nico/Gert Nienaber (Toyota Corolla) are formidable rivals.

Veteran Capetonian Andy Haigh Smith/AN Other field the familiar Team React Toyota Corolla, still a machine capable of a podium placing.

Ranged against the swarm of Toyotas is the lone Pannar Seeds Volkswagen Polo driven by KZN youngster Stevan Wilken/Llewellyn Fourie. Wilken won his class twice last year and was championship runner-up to Trott, so he cannot be discounted.

Class A5 for modified cars up to 1400cc will see the Toyota Yaris take on a bigger role in the war with the championship-winning Volkswagen CitiGolf. Dave Compton, a multiple track-racing champion, makes his gravel racing debut with Paul Leslie in the Sasol Toyota Yaris, already a proven winner in its debut season last year.

Andre Cleenwerck and Des de Fortier should start as title favourites in the BP Ultimate Volkswagen CitiGolf, ably assisted by Piet Bakkes/Tommy du Toit in another CitiGolf. Eric Storbeck/Etienne Malherbe (Garden Pavilion CitiGolf) debuts in the junior class.

Toyota’s venerable Tazz, now fitted with fuel injection will keep the VW crews honest, with Tjaart Conradie/Tiaan Rabie (Techwood/Sasol Tazz) and Steve Mearns/Ciaran Nunan (MPC Tazz) leading the onslaught. They will have Vusi Mabanga/Danie Strijdom (Team Total Toyota Tazz) nibbling at their heels.

15-year-old Ashley Haigh Smith/Hilton Auffrey will debut a Team React Toyota Yaris, with the navigator driving on public roads between the stages, as Ashley is too young to have a driver’s licence! Rounding out the A5 entry is Tony Barbosa/AN Other is his much-anticipated Ford Ka. Little is known about the performance potential of the tiny Ford so it is a keenly awaited entrant into the sport.

PRODUCTION CARS:

The race for the overall production car title as is fierce as the overall SA Rally Championship and provides intense competition in the two classes, while the official re-appearance of Ford in class N3 is a crucially important boost to rallying in South Africa.

Favourites for the production car and class N4 title will be the defending champions Visser du Plessis and new co-driver Gerhard Snyman in the latest Prodrive-built Subaru Impreza N14 with support from Pirtek. No production car champion has won back-to-back titles and this is Du Plessis’ objective with the most expensive car in SA rallying.

The only production car team to enter 2008 without any changes to their line up is the Sasol/Konica Minolta Subaru Impreza N12B pair of Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich. Wilken won three rounds of the 2007 series but had two big accidents that kept their championship aspirations on ice for another year.

The Sasol Subaru won the season-closing Scottair regional rally last November, where Saturday’s Tour
Natal stages will be held.

Both Subaru teams will be under intense pressure from Fernando Rueda and new co-driver Gert van Rensburg in a newly re-shelled Team Total Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9. Rueda also won three rounds of ther series last year and will be more determined than ever to win the title.

Paul Pfeiffer/Cindi Harding start the year in an older Lancer Evo 6 before changing to a Prodrive Subaru later in the year. This car is light and quick, and very potent. Another Evo 6 will be seen in the hands of Richard/Natasha Vaughan who know the roads and conditions like the back of their hands so a good result is on the cards.

The Rally Chicks Lola and Megan Verlaque are back in their Team Total Subaru Impreza N10. The sisters arrive in Natal fresh from a podium in Rally Tanzania, the opening round of the African Rally Championship. They scored some respectable results last year and will hope to improve on that.

Hein Lategan/Johan vd Merwe return with their SAC Diesel/Dastek Volkswagen Golf TDI 4Motion. This incredible Golf, besides being the only diesel-burning car in rallying, is indecently quick and much can be expected from the former Touring Car racer.

Nelspruit brothers Joos/Danie Stassen will debut their self-built but Prodrive spec Subaru Impreza N12 – short on experience but long on ambition, it will be a tough weekend for the team.

Class N3 introduces Ford back into rallying with two Fiesta STs. Etienne Lourens/Andre Vermeulen will drive a Team Total and Ford Racing backed example with former racing driver Martin Steyn and Van Aardt Schoeman in another Ford Racing machine. Those close to the situation say the cars have received input from M-Sport in the UK.

Toyota is still expected to rule the N3 roost with four of their potent RunXs vying for the class title. Rodney Visagie, the titleholder, returns to defend his crown, teaming up with Carolyn Swan, reviving a partnership last seen in 2005.

Etienne du Toit/Patrick Vermaak have earned a Sasol Toyota RunX drive for 2008 after taking class N2 honours last year. The talented Cape Town-based driver should be a major force in the class. Kosta Koumantarakis/Barry White, in spite of a severe lack of funding, is expected to be in the championship mix as they were last year.

Rounding out the entry is young Zimbabwean Chase Attwell/Gareth Dawe in their BNS Workshop Toyota RunX.

ROUTE:

The Hitachi Power Tools Tour Natal Rally starts at noon on Friday, 7 March from Ridge Road, Umhlanga and heads north to the Stanger area for four stages. “Gledhow 1” at 13h09 offers great spectating between Blythedale Beach and Stanger and will be re-running as stage 4 at 16h04. Stages 2 (14h24) and 3 (15h00) are on the Greytown road with another two spectator vantage points. A single service point will operate in Stanger.

Saturday starts bright and early with surviving crews heading to the South Coast areas of Park Rynie, Umzinto and Esperanza, with a central service point at the Scottburgh Golf Club. All three stages, which offer ample spectating opportunities, will be repeated. Stage 5, “Esperanza 1”, starts at 09h05; stage 6

(09h50), stage 7 (10h45), stage 8 (12h10), stage 9 (12h55) and the final stage at 13h50. The rally finishes at the NMCC Clubhouse with the first car due back in Durban at 15h40.