Round five of the National Rally championship takes place this weekend, August 16 and 17, in the Gauteng region. The Ford Dealer Rally will comprise 16 special stages east of Pretoria. Of the 160-odd kilometres of timed section just 1,7 takes place on tar.
The event kicks off at 11:00 on Friday from Zonderwater Correctional Services facility in Cullinan. Six special stages will takes place in the area on Friday. A 08:00 start awaits competitors on Saturday from the same starting point as Friday. Click here for a full spectator guide.
Odds on favourite to win the event will be defending champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton in their S2000 Ford Fiesta. The pair has dominated the season to date, missing out on victory just once.
“We know that on any given stage we have the ability to be the fastest car out there and our 28 stage wins from 48 starts this year proves that. We’ve also won three of the four events outright, which gives Robin and I tremendous confidence that if we continue doing what we have been doing this year, then we have a pretty good chance of making the top of the podium,” said a confident Cronje.
The biggest challenge to the number 24 car will be another S2000 Fiesta piloted by Jan Habig and Douglas Judd. These two experienced campaigners lie second on the log, just five points adrift.
Toyota will be eager to taste success with its S2000 Yaris. The Japanese firm fields a strong squad comprising of Johnny Gemmell/Carolyn Swan, Leeroy Poulter/Elvéne Coetzee and Giniel de Villiers/Greg Godrich, who made it onto the podium at the last round of the series in PE.
Volkswagen fans will no doubt cheer on Enzo Kuun/Douglas Judd, Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries and teenager Henk Lategan with co-driver Barry White, all mounted aboard S2000 VW Polos.
Leading the S2000 Challenge charge will be Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin. The duo are defending their S2000 Challenge and currently hold second place in that category – and sixth place overall in the championship.
Zulu and Peskin’s biggest rivals in the class are Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Hilton Auffray and Mohammed Moosa/Andre Vermeulen in identical Toyota Aurises.