The Osram Rally, formerly known as the Mountain Trial, returns to the intimidating mountain roads in the southern Drakensberg this weekend with round six of the Sasol SA Rally Championship, centred on the Eastern Cape town of Barkly East.
For Motorite Racing’s Evan Hutchison and Greg Gericke and their class A7 Toyota RunX it will be their first experience of one of the country’s toughest rallies.
“I’ve heard a lot about the old Mountain Trial and I’m really looking forward to the challenge,†said Hutchison, the national off road champion in the special vehicle category in the mighty Motorite Racing BAT Spec 3,
“I’ve managed to survive the Roof of Africa mountains in Lesotho in off road racing and I’m sure Greg and I will be able to build on the progress we’ve made so far this year in our first experience of national championship rallying together.
Hutchison and Gericke will be making their fifth appearance together this year in the ex-works Toyota that took Mark Cronje to a class victory in 2007. Two third places and a fourth in their last four outings have given them confidence and the pair is ready to challenge for a first class win this weekend.
“We’re improving with each new event and I think we’ve shown that we can run at the pace of the established teams in our class,†Hutchison adds. “We were up for a good result on the recent Volkswagen Rally in the Eastern Cape (the Toyota was stopped in its tracks as early as stage 3 with engine problems), and we’ll be hoping to put the disappointment of our first non-finish together behind us.â€
After five of the eight rounds, Hutchison is fifth in the A7 drivers’ championship, 20 points behind leader Chris de Wit (Toyota RunX). Gericke, who missed the opening round to be at home for the birth of his first child, is fourth in the co-drivers’ points standings, 20 behind De Wit’s co-driver, Dean Redelinghuys.
Motorite Racing is the motor sport division of Motorite Insurance Administrators, the largest independent mechanical breakdown insurance and full maintenance plan service provider and administrator in South Africa.
