With the new S2000 Toyota Auris ready and waiting in the wings for its final international homologation, it is going to be an exciting year for Toyota Motorsport as the team gears up for their 17th Manufacturer’s title.
It’s all change for the factory Castrol Toyota squad. Serge Damseaux has stepped down from driving duties, leaving the way clear for Johnny Gemmell and Zimbabwean co-driver Peter Marsh to lead the team into a new era.
Johnny joined the Castrol Toyota squad at the start of the 2007 season and showed his abilities with two wins.
“I’m looking forward the season ahead”, says Johnny. “I’m filling big shoes and there’s going to be a lot of pressure on us. I’m putting aside Toyota’s expectations and concentrating on the job at hand. It will be a bit easier to start the season with the RunX because we know the car well -as drivers and the technicians as well – it removes one of the elements that could play against us”.
Johnny continued: “It is going to be an incredibly hard year in S2000. With so many cars, to do well will take two days of intense concentration and no one can afford to slip up. It’s very exciting for me as a driver and the fans will be the biggest winners”.
Mark Cronje has taken on Serge’s former co-driver, double champion Robert Paisley, to fast track his rally career, as well as to coach and mentor Mark in the finer intricacies of S2000 rallying. The former world kart champion has yet to complete his second season of rallying, yet boasts two class tiles (A6 in 2006, A7 in 2007).
“The team is trying to minimize the pressure I will face, although the marketing department expect results”, Mark laughed. ” Robert reads the route notes completely differently to what I’m used to, but we’re making progress”.
Mark continued: “I learnt in karting not to look at the guys who are quicker than you are, but rather analyze your own performance to see why you are not as quick or quicker, so I won’t be overly concerned if I’m not on the pace to start with”.
“I really enjoy driving the S2000 Castrol RunX – it’s an amazing car. The Tour Natal Rally is a treacherous event with off-camber corners and slippery surfaces always there to catch you out, and I’ve never competed in the cane field stages before, except for a regional rally at the end of 2007”, Mark concluded.
Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Cobus Vrey return for another crack at rally victory in their S2000 Team Total Toyota RunX, fully rebuilt over the off-season. Joining Toyota’s ranks is Japie van Niekerk and Robin Houghton in a privateer RunX. Their association with SA’s most successful marque in rallying started with a win on the Belfast Rally three weeks ahead of the season-opening Tour Natal Rally.
Nicholas Ryan and Schalk van Heerden, the 2006 production car champions, will compete in a Philips/Jonnesway Tools-backed Toyota RunX and should give a good account of themselves.
Heading the fight for class A7 honours is Chris de Wit and Dean Redelinghuys in their familiar Team Total Toyota RunX, class winners on the final event last season. Evan Hutchinson and Greg Gericke will have the class A7 championship-winning a Motorite-supported Toyota RunX at their disposal. Hutchinson is the current special vehicle off road champion and his rally career will be watched with interest.
Nico Higgs and Menno Havelaar add a third string to Toyota’s bow with a new Toyota RunX.
Class A6 will feature a trio of talented Toyota drivers, headed by reigning class champion Craig Trott and former driver turned co-driver Tony Ball, hoping to retain a hard fought trophy. The Team Total RunX pair will come under threat from a similar Team Total backed RunX driven by Salie du Toit, with the unrelated Armand du Toit reading the route notes.
Mohammed Moosa and Henry Dearlove step up to class A6 with a new Toyota Auris, which unfortunately won’t be ready until the Toyota Dealer Rally in early April. The Team Total pair will start the season with a potent Toyota Corolla in the hope of picking up valuable championship points.
There is changing of the guard in class A5 with up to three Toyota Yarises due to debut this season. Multiple track racing champion Dave Compton and Paul Leslie make their gravel rally debut in the Sasol-backed Toyota Yaris, while 15-year-old Ashley Haigh Smith and Hilton Auffrey will drive a React Toyota Yaris. The driver has special dispensation to drive special stages, but Hilton will have to drive the Yaris between the stages on public roads.
Later in the season, Team Total’s Vusi Mabanga and Danie Strijdom will also have a potent Yaris at their disposal, but will compete in their tried and trusted Toyota Tazz in the opening rounds.
Class N3 will feature a four-way fight for class honours between the reigning class champion Rodney Visagie and Carolyn Swan, rejoining a successful partnership from 2006. The Team Total Toyota RunX pair will come under pressure from Etienne du Toit/Patrick Vermaak (the current class N2 champions) in their Sasol Toyota RunX, while privateer Kosta Koumantarakis/Barry White are capable of some big results in spite of a lack of funding.
Zimbabwean Chase Atwell/AN Other (BNS Toyota RunX) will provide an extra element to the class fight judging by his competitive outing on the Toyota Dealer Rally last October.
The Hitachi Power Tools Tour Natal Rally kicks off the eight- round Sasol Rally Championship, starting in Umhlanga at noon on Friday, 7 March, for the first of twelve stages, covering 220 km of racing mileage. Saturday’s action takes place in the South Coast sugar cane plantations around Scottburgh, ending at the NMCC Clubhouse in Durban.
“We’re going to be in for an incredible year”, predicts Toyota Motorsport Manager Wammy Haddad. “Hopefully, we’ve done our sums correctly and spread our resources to maximize the points potential for Toyota’s Manufacturer’s Championship. Overall, we must target wins and the driver’s and co-driver’s titles, as well as the various class championships. They all play a big part in our main objective. It won’t be easy, but we’re ready to take meet the competition head on”.