To date each of the S2000 drivers have claimed one of the three victories. Jan Habig was victorious with his navigator, Douglas Judd, in Kwa-Zulu Natal. In the Western Cape it was the turn of Hergen Fekken and navigator Pierre Arries. Then in Mpumalanga it was Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson who claimed the honours.
The question now is, who will take the next one? The Total International Rally starts on Thursday afternoon (29 May) and finishes on Saturday (31 May) with anything possible during that time. Rallying is notoriously unpredictable and there is no way to make and accurate guess at the final outcome.
Despite the unknowns that lie in wait for the drivers of the BP Volkswagen rally team, the challenge is conquering those unknowns to emerge triumphant at the end of the event. This fourth event will be no different though, and the team will approach it just as every other this season – to win.
Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries are the current championship leaders in their BP Volkswagen S2000 Polo. The pair have shown tremendous progress and have now catapulted themselves into the lead with consistently good performances.
Their reward for this effort is a 15 point lead over the rest of the field. A lead they will not only want to maintain, but also increase. This means spectators can look forward to some exciting rally action as Fekken and Arries strive to extend their lead – ahead of a field that is determined to catch them.
Second on the championship standings is defending champion Jan Habig and navigator Douglas Judd. The pair have claimed one rally victory this season and need more in order to successfully defend their title.
The Total International Rally is their opportunity to claw back some of the deficit. This should see that Habig driving style in full action with his BP Volkswagen S2000 Polo pushed hard to ensure a good result is achieved.
With a dismal start to the season for Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson, the unwary could well discount them from contention during the 2008 season. With a DNF (did not finish) at round one Kuun and Hodgson looked to be out of the running right from the beginning.
Then at round two they produced a second place finish, following that up with a victory at round three. Now the pair are in third place on the national standings, just 21 points off the leaders and on track to cause an upset.
While there is a great deal of action happening in the lead S2000 class, this is not the only place rally fans can keep an eye on BP Volkswagen competition. Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin are struggling this season with their new class A7 BP Volkswagen Polo.
A combination of teething problems and some bad luck on Zulu’s part has seen the pair produce less than spectacular results so far. Round four provides another opportunity to attempt to surmount these issues and allow them to post some – belated – points on the board.
With the achievement of those elusive points, Zulu and Peskin will be hoping the tide will have turned and their luck changed for the rest of the season. Perhaps the Total International Rally is their lucky charm.
In class A5, André Cleenwerck and Des de Fortier are campaigning their BP Volkswagen Citi Golf. The pair are currently the top scorers in class A5, a position they will have to work hard to maintain.
Cleenwerck and De Fortier are a relatively young partnership in terms of the BP Volkswagen rally team but have proved themselves a good partnership. Consistent performances on events have seen them rack up the points and they can be counted on to put another good performance on the board at the Total International Rally.
The BP Volkswagen rally team are heading for the Total International Rally intent on improving their lead in the national championship. The only question that needs to be answered is which of the three is most intent on claiming the title – and which of them has the combination of luck and skill to achieve their aim.
