The South African rally championship took another turn this weekend when Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton won the Rally of South Africa in Kwa-Zulu Natal with their Sasol Racing Ford Fiesta, edging the championship lead away from Johnny Gemmell and Carolyn Swan (Castrol Team Toyota Auris), who finished second overall.
Zwartkops Raceway, the scene of the Toyota Gauteng Dealer Rally finale, was also the setting for Jon William’s maiden win. The Sasol Racing Rally team Ford Fiesta’s co-driver Cobus Very scored his second National Rally Championship victory.
Mark Cronje and co-driver Robin Houghton (Sasol Ford Fiesta) increased their championship lead this weekend when they clinched the win ahead of hard-charging Johnny Gemmel and Carolyn Swan (Castrol Team Toyota Auris) at the Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga.
Eight different stage winners, four different leaders and five lead changes – THAT was the Sasol Rally 2011.
Johnny Gemmell and Peter Marsh powered their Castrol Toyota Auris S2000 to stunning last stage win on the Sasol Rally which ended in Nelspruit on Saturday afternoon, heading a Castrol 1-3 and a Toyota whitewash of class wins on the third round of the Sasol SA Rally Championship.
Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin (Toyota Auris) led a dominant Team TOTAL 1-2-3 in class A6 of the Sasol Rally, which ended in Nelspruit on Saturday. There was also a debut class win for Team TOTAL’s Vusi Mabanga and Shaun Visser in their class A5 Toyota Yaris.
The Damseaux and Toyota partnership, synonymous for winning 74 national rallies and ten championships with Serge behind the wheel, took a new turn this weekend when Jean-Pierre Damseaux and co-driver Cobus Vrey extended the winning partnership with an aggressive, well controlled career first win.
The Castrol Toyota Auris made its rally debut in class S2000 on the Osram Rally and stunned onlookers with its immediate rally-leading pace. The Castrol Toyota team dominated the 6th round of the Sasol SA Rally Championship until the final stage, when lady luck stepped in to thwart the Castrol squad.
The factory Castrol Toyota team will debut their long awaited class S2000 Castrol Toyota Auris on the Osram Rally, round 6 of the Sasol SA Rally Championship, heralding the start of a new era for the most successful marque in SA rally history.
Toyota Motorsport emerged from a bruising Sasol Rally, round three of the Sasol SA Rally Championship, with a raft of class wins and a fighting podium to keep Toyota ahead on the Manufacturer’s Championship leaderboard.