Don’t pack away your vuvuzela, your makarapa or your sporting enthusiasm after the FIFA World Cup. Keep them handy for use at the 2010 Volkswagen Rally instead.
Just shy of two weeks after the last match in the international soccer event, engines will rev in preparation for the gruelling and challenging annual rally that takes place in Port Elizabeth and Uitenhage on Friday and Saturday, 23 and 24 July. Here the action will take place between the local heroes, the BP Volkswagen rally team as well as the Toyota team and the new entries from the Ford camp.
All three of these top teams compete in the S2000 class which has seen phenomenal growth since its inception five years ago. There is constant growth in this class which saw 17 entries take the start line at the last event.
The S2000 rules see all teams compete in a four-wheel drive rally car with identical drive trains and using their own two-litre engines. This means that a great deal rests on the engines provided by each manufacturer and the skills of the team involved.
For local rally fans there are 13 stages of action waiting at the 2010 Volkswagen Rally that is organised every year by the Algoa Rally Association. This year will see competitors go from the start at Auto Pavilion in Uitenhage directly to the Longmore Forest for the first three stages.
While this is unusual for this event which is known for bringing rally action close to the fans, the difference in the normal layout does not mean that spectators have been sidelined. Popular stages like Winterhoek in Uitenhage, PEOTR and Kings Beach will all take place – with the return of the Aldo Scribante Raceway stage – are all on the cards for this year, providing plenty of opportunities for those fans who do not want to go out to Longmore Forest – or cannot get there to see the action.
For competitors in this national rally championship season it has been a particularly trying time. At this point in the season there is usually at least one team that can claim some form of dominance over the field. This year, however, every team has suffered misfortune at some point, seeing competitors tackle round five (the VW Rally) with scarcely a gap in the field.
While Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson currently lead the season in their BP Volkswagen S2000 Polo, the points for victory in a single rally is 25 – and this is the gap all the way down to eighth place where Conrad Rautenbach and Peter Marsh currently languish.
Between these two teams is a whole raft of potential winners at this event, including the top names in South African rallying. This set the scene for a dynamite event as these teams fight it out eke out some kind of advantage over their competition.
Johnny Gemmell and Drew Sturrock are currently second while the BP VW team of Jan Habig and Ralph Pitchford are holding on to third with Mark Cronje and Robert Paisley in fourth place. JP Damseaux and Carolyn Swan are in fifth, just ahead of the defending champions, BP Volkswagen teammates Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries, in sixth spot.
Just ahead of Rautenbach and Marsh is Fernando Rueda and Dave Lewkowicz just a single point ahead in seventh place.
The fight for attention – and the majority of the points – will certainly be taking place amongst the S2000 competitors. This does not mean that there will only be rally action worth watching in this class, far from it. Fans will see hot rallying in the N4, N3, A7, A6 and A5 classes as well. There are fights for championship points in every class – and these will benefit rally fans looking for a dose of high octane motorsport.
– Credit: Volkswagen of South Africa.