The current South African Rally Champions, Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries will be aiming at winning the Rally of South Africa for the third consecutive year. Fekken/Arries won the event in 2008 and 2009, the same years that they won the National Rally Championship. The event is due to be held on 28/29 May in the Ermelo district. It is the 4th round of the SA Sasol National Rally Championship.
Speaking from Pretoria, Fekken, who competes in a works BP VW Polo, said that the Rally of South Africa has always been a good event for him. “In enjoy the event and the roads”, he said. “It would be good to be able to win it for a third time”.
Fekken added that the introduction of the Class S2000 Ford Fiesta’s in the national rally championship has made the competition much more interesting. “The Ford that Conrad Rautenbach drives is fast and you can’t fall asleep behind the wheel if you want to keep up with the pace.
“But I like it. I like going flat out and with the Ford around I have had to up my pace a bit”, he added. “It is a pity that we fell out of the Sasol Rally when we did. We were nearly 30 seconds ahead of the third placed car. But I think they decided to give up the chase”, he said. Charl Wilken will join Rautenbach in a second Ford Fiesta on the Rally of South Africa. Wilken’s season started badly when his brand new Class S2000 Ford Fiesta was destroyed by fire on the first rally of the year.
It will be interesting to see how he fits into Class S2000. It may take a rally or two for Wilken to come to grips with the pace of the Ford.
Fekken also revealed that they would not be rallying in the new VW Polo’s in 2010. “There is still a lot of uncertainty about the future of Class S2000. We do not have all the new rules of the FIA yet. The new car will only be built when all the rules are clear. Everything is ready, but what is not known is whether we will be allowed to build a S2000 car with a two litre engine”, Fekken said.
The new car will probably only be ready for the 2011 season. Fekken added that with the season reaching its halfway mark, it is much too early to make any predictions about the outcome of the season.
The Rally South Africa starts in Ermelo on Friday morning 28 May and finishes there again on Saturday 29 May. The rally will consist of 13 stages with a total stage distance of 188km. It is being organised by the Sports Car Club of Pretoria and the Clerk of the Course is Diether Kok.
– Credit: The Creative Word Communications