With only six points being the difference between first and fourth position on the log, winning the Swartland event could be critical in the championship race. Leading the championship at the moment is Hergen Fekken in the BP VW Polo on 102 points, followed in joint second by Serge Damseaux in the Castrol Toyota RunX and Jannie Habig in another BP VW Polo. In fourth place is Enzo Kuun the current SA Champion on 96 points in his BP VW Polo.
Rob Marle of the Cape Peninsula Motorcycle and Car Club and Clerk of the Course of the TOTAL Swartland Rally, says that it is not going to be a fun event. Competitors who think that they have seen all the roads in the Western Cape are in for a bit of a surprise, he said. “The rain has not made our job much easier.
“The farmers believe that the rain will be gone in two weeks time, but at the moment it does not look like letting up. Some of the roads will be rougher than usual, but the very rough parts will be repaired”, Marle said.
The rally starts at the Killarney Race Track on Friday 21 September at 12:00. The first stage will be around the Hopefield Road and the second stage will be a 49.9km scorcher before the cars return to Killarney for the final three tar stages of the day.
On Saturday the competitors will do another four gravel stages before the final stage at Killarney where the Swartland Rally will finish at about 16:00. Given the fact that there are only 10 stages of which four will be on tar the rest of the stages will also be longer.
Marle expects a full house of entries as the Swartland may settle more than just who will be the overall champion for 2007. The regulations and entry form for the event can be found on the TOTAL motorsport website www.totalmotorsport.co.za. Entries close on September 7.