28/04/08 - Picture this: after 76km and five stages of flat out rally action on day one of the Toyota Dealer Rally last month, the top five factory S2000 cars were separated by just two seconds and three of them were tied for the lead! More of this breathtaking rally action can be expected when the season’s premier event, the 2008 Sasol Rally gets underway on 2nd May from the Sabie Town Square.

The BP Ultimate Volkswagen Polo trio of the new championship log leader Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries, defending SA Rally champions Jan Habig/Douglas Judd and former champions Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson have dominated the top steps of the podium after the first two rounds of the Sasol Championship with consecutive 1-2 results for the vivid green team.

First round winners Habig and Judd had to play third fiddle to Fekken/Arries earlier this month in the Cape, leaving the Pretoria engineer with a slender 4 point log lead over their team mates after adding a victory to his 2nd overall in KwaZulu Natal while Kuun rediscovered his form with a gritty drive.

The championship leader board does not tell the full story though, for the Castrol Toyota pair of Mark Cronje/Robert Paisley has led each event – in Cronje’s first two events in an S2000 RunX - showing what is still to come as the young charger finds his feet in the premier rally class.

Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Cobus Vrey (S2000 Total Evolution Toyota RunX) have also found front running pace this year and either of these youngsters can walk off with the honours on the 2008 Sasol Rally. Last year’s winners Johnny Gemmell/Peter Marsh (S2000 Castrol Toyota RunX) have battled to match the front running pace so far, but Gemmell is experienced as well as determined and cannot be discounted for the top step of the podium come Saturday afternoon in Nelspruit.

Privateers Jon/Douglas Williams (S2000 Guma VW Polo) and Nicholas Ryan/Schalk van Heerden (S2000 Philips/Jonnesway Toyota RunX) as well as the S2000 Castrol Toyota of Japie van Niekerk/Robin Houghton, are all there or thereabouts and will take maximum advantage of any slip by the factory teams.

Leading the class A7 charge for two-litre front-wheel drive cars is the KwaZulu Natal pair of Chris de Wit/Dean Redelinghuys in their very effective Total Evolution Toyota RunX four points clear of first round winners Theuns Joubert/Hennie Botes (Salom Group Volkswagen Polo). Tied on nine points with Joubert are Nico Higgs and Menno Havelaar in their very quick HRD Toyota RunX.

All three will have to be wary of the factory BP Ultimate VW Polo of Gugu Zulu/Carl Peskin who had a 3½ minute lead in the Cape before mechanical problems dropped them back. Evan Hutchinson, the multiple special vehicle off road racing champion and co-driver Greg Gericke (Motorite Toyota RunX) claimed a class podium in only their second outing so add another
element to this very exciting class war.

Michael Otto/Sipho Mhlanga (Barloworld Toyota Corolla) knows the stages well and should feature in the top order, while Adrian Karth/Pierre Jordaan (NetConnect VW Polo) are hoping for their first finish of the year. Schalk Burger Jr/Gert van Rensburg, runaway leaders of the 2008 Northern Regions Rally Championship this year, are capable of putting a spanner in the works in their rapid SBinvest Toyota Corolla.

Class A6 is Craig Trott’s territory so far with two wins under his belt. The Total Evolution Toyota RunX has former driver Tony Ball in the map seat and will be hard to beat. This won’t stop Jose de Gouveia/Johan Aucamp (Friendly Grocer Toyota Corolla) from trying to close the 11-point gap, while edging away from Mohammed Moosa/Grant Martin (A6 Total Evolution Toyota Corolla).

Andy Haigh Smith/Jonathan Bright (React Toyota Corolla) will be after another top result after their excellent Cape outing, but will be pushed hard all the way by youngsters Salie/Armand du Toit (Total Evolution Toyota RunX) and KZN hotshot, Stevan Wilken/Llewellyn Fourie (Pannar Seeds Polo).

Capetonians Charl Strydom/Sakkie Bosman (Sabre Paints VW Polo) and Nico/Gert Nienaber (Toyota Corolla) round out the class A6 entry.

Andre Cleenwerck/Des de Fortier (BP Ultimate Volkswagen CitiGolf) have two wins to their credit and start as favourites in class A5 but as Sasol racer Dave Compton/Paul Leslie find their feet in the Toyota Yaris, the VW pair will come under increasing pressure in the baby class fight.

The pressure is tough in the smallest modified class, as Tjaart Conradie/Tiaan Rabe (Techwood/Sasol Toyota Tazz) and Steve Mearns/Ciaran Nunan (MPC Toyota Tazz) usually fight tooth and nail for the win as well. Piet Bakkes/Tommy du Toit (Volkswagen CitiGolf) come up against the Ford Racing Ka of Tony Barbosa/Les McKenzie, who bring an exciting new contender into the junior ranks.

Vusi Mabanga/Shaun Visser will debut their Total Evolution Toyota Yaris and based on the Sasol Yaris, will give a good account of their abilities.

PRODUCTION CARS:

It’s an all-out battle for supremacy in the top production car class N4 battle where some very expensive four-wheel drive turbocharged machinery is put to the test. Fernando Rueda and new co-driver Dave Lewkowicz (Total Evolution Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9) made an early break for championship honours on the Tour Natal while all those around them failed, but leading rivals Charl Wilken/Greg Godrich (Sasol/Konica Minolta Subaru Impreza N12B) staged a strong comeback and will be fearsome in a rally that hasn’t been kind to the pair. Wilken won comfortably in the Cape and will be going all out to add to this success, more determined than ever on sponsor Sasol’s home event.

Visser du Plessis, the reigning production car champion and co-driver Gerhard Snyman finally debuted the latest Pirtek Subaru Impreza N14 and this is one trick piece of kit. Blisteringly quick, the new Impreza is short on development, but is already on the front running pace so watch the sparks fly.

Richard and Natasha Vaughan pedal their privately entered Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 with an indecent turn of speed and are always capable of a surprise result and lie third in the class title race. Local Sasol Rally enthusiasts will reserve the loudest cheer for locals Joos and Danie Stassen in their De Goede Finance Subaru Impreza N12. In their first national campaign, the Nelspruit brothers already have a class podium to their name and are fired up for more of the same on their home event.

Lola and Megan Verlaque will debut their Total Evolution Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 9 and seasoned fans of the Rally Chicks will keenly observe their progress.

Paul Pfeiffer/Cindi Harding (N4 Nobili Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6) were blisteringly quick in the Cape and have a point to prove on the Sasol and fully intend to show up the more modern machinery.


Kosta Koumantarakis/Barry White (Toyota RunX) head a highly competitive class in their private entry, six points clear of former class N3 champions Rodney Visagie/Carolyn Swan (Total Evolution Toyota RunX).

Both RunX pairings need to keep an eye on their rear-view mirrors for the bright blue and yellow Sasol Toyota RunX driven by last year’s N2 champions Etienne du Toit/Patrick Vermaak, rapidly finding their feet in the faster production car class.

The big news for Ford fans is the official reappearance of the Blue Oval into rallying with Etienne Lourens/Elvene Coetzee and Martin Steyn/Van Aardt Schoeman in a pair of identical Ford Racing Fiesta STs. Lourens, a former S2000 driver, led his class on day one in the Cape and many fans hope the Fords fare well as the company prepares to enter the top S2000 class in 2009.

Duncan English/Rob Williams debuted a class N3 Toyota RunX in the Western Cape and came away with a class podium for their efforts while young Zimbabweans Chase Attwell/Dave Milner (BNS/Jonnesway Toyota RunX) need to turn their season around after destroying their original car on Natal in March.

ROUTE:

The 2008 Sasol Rally starts at 11h00 on Friday 2nd May from Sabie and heads to the Mac Mac Falls area for stage 1. Clerk of the Course Willie du Plessis promises plenty of exciting spectator points along the route.

The Hendriksdal and Spitskop forestry complexes host stages two and three followed by the well-known Klein Sabie stage. Stage 5 “Brooklyn” takes teams back into the forests next to Long Tom Pass.

The Sasol Rally is famous for its tar night stages in Sabie and White River and these will again be a major feature of the event as will the “Spaghetti Junction” SuperSpecial stage in Nelspruit which starts Saturday’s proceedings. Rallies can be lost, but never won on these crowd pleasers and many top crews have tales of woe to tell when ambition exceeds adhesion!

Saturday’s first gravel stage is Witklip Dam, followed stages 10 (repeat of stage 3), stage 11 (a repeat of stage 2) before a brand new stage outside Sabie, which is visible from Long Tom Pass.

Stage 13 is a repeat of stage 4 and the final gravel stage is a re-run through Spitskop village, one of the finest spectating opportunities on the event.

The final blast is the now traditional Nelspruit Showgrounds stage, where competitors enter the arena at full racing speeds in front of packed grandstands for a carnival end to the event. The podium ceremony takes place as soon as the leading cars have completed the 15-stage route.