The ‘real gunfight’ as Richard Behm, driver of a Mitsubishi EVO 6 puts it, will be in the N4 class. He said that Johnny Gemmell in a Mitsubishi Lancer, Stephan van Dyk in a Subaru STi, Schalk Burger in a Subaru WRX STi and Visser du Plessis in a Subaru Impreza are his main rivals. Behm singled Van Dyk out, saying he (Van Dyk) will be out there doing his best. Van Dyk/Mark Pym came up trumps in two recent consecutive run rallies in the Western Cape. In an earlier interview with Van Dyk, he said that this season he and Pym aim for wins in their class and so far have accomplished what they set out to do. Behm/Grant St Clair are ready ‘to put up a good fight’ as Behm put it.
Behm just made a recent transition from a N2 Toyota Corolla RSi to the four-wheel drive Mitsubishi EVO 6. When asked how he finds this swap over, he said that he is ‘on a learning streak, not a winning streak’. Considering this, Behm has already made an impression by coming second in class and 8th overall in the Total SA rally despite losing the turbo in his second run in the car.
In class A8 Serge Damseaux/Robert Paisley in their Toyota RunX will again face stiff competition from rivals Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson in their VW Golf 4. At the CPMCC Automark Rally Kuun said that he is going to challenge and ‘put points on the board’. He added that his main competition will be from the Toyotas and if you are not aiming to win ‘stay at home’. Kuun said that the Sasol Rally is a very good forest event and in actual fact home ground for him.
Class A7 sees a re-match between Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Cobus Vrey in the Toyota Corolla and Hergen Fekken/Dave Lewkowicz in their VW Polo Playa. Fekken/Lewkowicz dropped out of the Total SA Rally while Damseaux/Vrey came fifth overall and first in class.
Class A5 sees Zulu Gugulethu/Dave McGregor in their VW Golf fight it out with the likes of Allen Worms/Welly Fourie in a Toyota Tazz.
With just this mere foretaste of things to come, teams are hard at work preparing their cars for a rally that will be nothing short of spectacular.