The Sasol Rally 2002, Round 4 of the SA National Rally Championship, organised by the South African Motorsport Club (SAM), takes place in the Sabie, Graskop, White River and Nelspruit areas of Mpumulanga over the weekend of 7 and 8 June, and will see battle resume between the country’s top factory and privateer rally teams. –
– With three different winners in the first three events, including a dramatic last stage win for the current champions Jan Habig and Douglas Judd on the recent Total Rally of South Africa, it is nearly impossible to predict a winner for the Sasol Rally 2002, the half way point of the season. –
– The factory-entered class A8 Sasol DualFuel™ Volkswagen Golf pairings of Jan Habig/Douglas Judd and Enzo Kuun/Pierre Arries lead the championship points log with 88 and 75 points respectively, after taking a win apiece. Kuun/Arries were victorious on the opening round in KwaZulu Natal with Habig/Judd taking the honours in round 3 last month. With no team orders, a flat-out sprint between the two is sure to be a highlight of the event. –
– The Team Castrol Toyota Corolla RSi of Serge Damseaux and Guy Hodgson won the Tre Cento Rally in April and led the last round from the start to within a whisker of the finish, thwarted by a broken CV joint with less than 20km of the rally to run. Ultra fast, the experienced duo will be out to avenge their last minute defeat and the three-way battle amongst the factory entries will thrill the throngs of spectators that traditionally follow the Sasol Rally. –
– Joining the works-teams at the top of the time sheets are the country’s fastest privateer, Johnny Gemmell and Robert Paisley, driving their class N4 L&J Plant Services Subaru Impreza WRX STi. The reigning SA Group N (for near-standard production cars) and class N4 champion had a poor start to the season, retiring from the opening two rounds, before bouncing back into contention with a brilliant second place result in round three. The deceptively quick All Wheel Drive Subaru is well suited to the tight and twisty nature of the mountainous forest tracks typically found on the Sasol Rally. –
– Snapping at Gemmel’s heels is the Motion Vehicle Wholesalers Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6, driven with verve by Spaniard Fernando Rueda and Martin Botha, and they are currently third overall on the championship points table and lead the Group N log, after consistent top 5 finishes on every round to date. –
– Another exciting battle set to excite fans is the struggle for supremacy in class A7, with each of the top protagonists having scored a class victory apiece this season. –
– For sheer spectacle, there is little to beat the sight of Hergen Fekken/Dave Lewkowicz on a charge, throwing their Sasol DualFuel™ Volkswagen Polo Playa around corners at indecent speeds in an attempt to stay ahead of, or catch up to, fellow factory Sasol VW Polo Playa team mates Tjaart van der Walt/Mike Burrows. Van der Walt and Burrows currently lead the class, although both crews have been sidelined with mechanical bothers. –
– Joining this previously Volkswagen-dominated class is the equally spectacular Etienne Lourens/Andre Vermeulen combination in their Team Total Toyota Corolla RSi. Toyota’s first foray into class A7 has been plagued with overheating problems, now sorted out, and Lourens scored a dominant class win and podium position (3rd) on the Total Rally of SA. –
– The Sasol Dual Fuel™ Volkswagen Dealer Team entries of Barry Grobbelaar/Paul van Wyk, Tony Ball/Dean Redelinghuys and Keith Coleman/Uwe Koch are reliable points scorers and close to the front running pace, despite using 16-valve motors, compared to the 20-valve works cars. –
– The “tail-wagging” Topcar Fuchs Lubricants BMW of Cliff Blackman/Johan Klaasen is another contender for class victory, and always a crowd favourite. Solid points-scoring performances from the BMW pairing have resulted in a steady second place in the tussle for overall class honours. –
– A host of privateers makes class A7 numerically the strongest. The only all-girl crew in SA rallying, Lola and Megan Verlaque, campaign their Planet Plant Hire Hyundai Elantra, with VW Polo Playas fielded by Robin Goodman/Greg Godrich (LUK/BMS) and Adrian Karth/Rikus Fourie (Shatterprufe) with a lone VW Golf for Rocky Reyneke/Andre Pheiffer (Hencom Panelbeaters). –
– The Team Total Toyota Corolla RSi twins, Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Graham Hooper and Craig Trott/Gerhard Snyman lead the class A6 log, separated by just two points, the younger Damseaux ahead. Trott has upped his game to close the performance gap to Damseaux, leaving Visser du Plessis/Greg Gericke in their wake. Du Plessis, the current class N2 champion, upgraded to class A6 this year and is still finding his feet in his Car Cosmetics Toyota Corolla RSi. –
– Ken Westermeyer/Warren Morton (Transaxle VW Polo Playa) and Natalian Chris de Wit/AN Other (CTH Transport Toyota Conquest) are capable of upsetting the class applecart, with de Wit winning his class and scoring a remarkable 6th overall in Natal earlier this year. –
– Class A5 rivals, current class champions Rodney Visagie/Carolyn Swan (Team Total Toyota Tazz) and Michael Houghton/Craig Jennings (Toy Toy Spares Toyota Tazz) are separated by a solitary point, comfortably ahead of the chasing pack. Two class wins for Visagie, and a class win and second place for Houghton and a no-score each, has created the closest class battle in the championship. –
– Looking for a change in fortunes is the trio of Sasol DualFuel™ Volkswagen Junior Team members, Kobus Roos/Brendan Nunan, Nkosinathi Nzimande/Fani Fani Moyiwa and Wesbank V8 racing star Gugu Zulu/Dave McGregor. Roos has suffered the brunt of the newly developed VW Chico’s gremlins, while Nzimande crashed spectacularly out of the class lead in Natal. –
– Zulu, a protégée of the legendary Sarel van der Merwe, is new to rallying and steadily learning his craft under the tutelage of veteran navigator McGregor, a former factory Nissan member, and the duo are finishing higher up the order after each event. –
– Marthinus Briers, the former VW Polo Cup (track racing) double champion, and navigator Sarita Vrey, campaign a VolkswagenSure-supported VW Chico, while the Nelspruit-based husband and wife team, Joel and Anneke Ritson, compete in their Merlin Nissan Sentra, and enjoy huge local support on the Sasol Rally. –
– Journalists representing SA’s leading motoring magazines contest the Team Castrol Toyota Media Challenge, run as a rally-within-a-rally. The titleholders, Michele Lupini/Steve Grobbelaar (Cars In Action/Motorsport Africa), have had a tough title defence, and trail rivals Deon Schoeman/Andre van Deventer (Topcar), who lead the challenge and currently lie third overall in class A5. Ferdi de Vos/Johan Smalberger represent Drive/Wiel. –
– A trio of newcomers have entered class N4, the most successful of which is Pietermaritzburg-based Mally Saville and Alec Harris, driving their Auto Services Subaru Impreza WRX. Saville scored two career-best top 10 finishes in the opening events, while his friends and rivals, Gawie and Santie Nel, compete in an identical Beaver Services Zambia Subaru Impreza WRX, and have scored points on all three events this season. –
– Rookies Nicholas Ryan and Brian Carrihill also took the plunge this year and compete in an ABC Motors Subaru Impreza, but have found the going tough in the premier Group N class, failing to open their points account to date. Colin Wilson and Geoff Tyrer round out the class runners in their elderly Colplast Ford Escort Cosworth. –
– Class N3 is a two horse race between the Sasol-fuelled ‘gerry-atric” team of veterans Geoff Mortimer and Gerry Gericke (Nissan Finance Sentra), who have two class wins to their credit. Their challenge comes from newcomers Ferdi Koekemoer and Richard Clark, who rally a privately entered and developed AutoXtra Renault Clio 2.0. The Clio has added much needed variety to the SA rally scene, and scored its maiden class win last time out. –
– Former class champion Dean Sanders and Ashley Gericke lead the class N2 points title chase in their Team Total Toyota Corolla RSi, from Richard Behm/Grant St Clair (Palbin Toyota Corolla RSi) and Marius Swart/Jan Sime (Honda Civic Vtec). Swart won the class in Natal, while Behm triumphed in the Cape and Sanders prevailed on the Total Rally of SA, so another tight class bun fight can be expected, with Sanders the favourite to win with better reliability than that of his rivals, so far. –
– The smallest class numerically, N1, is contested by the Team Total Sowetan Toyota Tazz development team of Vusi Mabanga and Patrick Yende. This promising pairing, tutored by Etienne Lourens, have a mixed season under their belts, but their highlight was a class win on the Tre Cento rally in the Western Cape in April. –
– Newcomers Gregory Bloomer and Greg Wood run the ex-Houghton N1 Toy Toy Spares Toyota Tazz, and are relishing the challenge that the Sasol Rally 2002 offers. –
– The Sasol Rally traditionally attracts a healthy number of non-points scoring class S20 runners from the MSA Northern Regions Rally Championship, including the current champions Frans Venter and navigator brother Theo, in their Williamson Panelbeaters VW Golf Mk1. –
– The talented Jaco Venter and Tommy du Toit will campaign their ex-Etienne Lourens Venter Motors Toyota Corolla RSi and Geoffrey Sill/Willie van Straaten have entered their 20-valve Engen Kanonkop Toyota Conquest are will want to showcase their talents in front of the masses of fans along the route. –
– The full entry list for the Sasol Rally 2002 will be available at www.sasolrally.co.za on Thursday 23 May. Go to the same website or call 08 22 33 4321 for all the rally news.
