Sporting 10 stages of which 9 are gravel and the final one on tar, the Toyota Dealer Rally will test crew to the limit. Apart from the fast route, rain on Friday will come into play that will favour the four-wheel drive S2000s, the Subarus and Mitsubishis. Some competitors have had a taste of a wet Cape on slippery stages where dreams can quickly turn to nightmares.
Competitors can be seen going through technical checks at Hederberg Toyota, Strand on March 22 from late afternoon onwards with documentation starting at 16:00.
The first car leaves Helderberg Toyota, Strand at 09:30 on Friday March 23 to proceed to the start of stage one in the Caledon region where the first five stages of Leg 1 will be run. The first car is expected back at Helderberg Toyota, Strand at 17:05 where all cars will overnight for the start of Leg 2 on Saturday the 24th.
The final day and leg 2 of the rally resumes at 07:30 where the first car will head off to the start of stage six. The grand finale and final stage will happen at Brackenfell Hypermarket on the only tar stage of the rally. This will be the humdinger where competitors will have the last chance to better their position. The first car is expected to be back at the Hypermarket at 15:00.
The starting order for Saturday will depend on how competitors fared on the Friday.
The gloves will be off as a loaded Class S2000 will vie for position. Joining the ranks of 10 times South African Champion Serge Damseaux and 3 times South African Navigator’s champion Robert Paisley in their Team Castrol Toyota RunX, 2005 Champion Jan Habig/Douglas Judd and 2006 Champion Enzo Kuun/Guy Hodgson in their BP Volkswagen Racing Polos are a list of newcomers. For two competitors it will be a family affair. JP Damseaux and navigator Cobus Vrey in their Team Total Toyota RunX will be up against JP’s dad Serge, whereas Jon and Doug Williams will join forces in their Guma Volkswagen Polo followed by Johnny Gemmell/Peter Marsh and Etienne Lourens/André Vermeulen in Toyota RunXs. Completing the VW gang are Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries in their BP Volkswagen Racing Polo.
JP Damseaux’s thoughts on his approach for the rally: “I aim for a finish. I had more test time in the car and am comfortable with the quicker pace of the RunX.” JP had his first taste of wet conditions at the Nuwedam rally sprint which he won, showing that he is at home behind the steering wheel.
Jon Williams’s dream of having his car ready for this rally materialised. Williams wanted it for his home based fans and for his home rally.
The 24-year old and youngest in Class S2000 said it is quite a task at hand given him being young and the first time out in a high powered rally car. Jon is committed to take the bull by the horns to claim his place in rally history. He is also the youngest driver in an S2000 class car world-wide.
The 2007 season sees some competitors having changed their cars, navigators and/or class.
Johnny Gemmell swapped car and navigator going from his class N4 Mitsubishi EVO 7 to Team Castrol Toyota in a S2000 RunX with Zimbabwean Peter Marsh who is not a stranger to Cape Town rallies. Craig Trott is joined by Carolyn Swan in his Team Total class A6 Toyota RunX. Gugu Zulu is joined by Carl Peskin in their BP Volkswagen Racing Golf while Claudio Piazza-Musso swaps his RunX for a Toyota Yaris.
Piazza-Musso said in an earlier interview, that he is so excited about the car that he can barely sleep. Not to be forgotten are the Western Cape Regional heroes who will face the daunting task of negotiating a route well driven through before they get to it.
With a list of 54 entries, rally fans will be treated to a high octane battle when teams take each other on to get their first points down on the scoreboard.
The spectator guide for both days can be found in Die Burger and The Drive Times or on websites http://www.rallyworld.net or http://www.sarally.co.za
