The Sasol South African Rally Championship is poised for a thrilling climax with just two events still to run. With 50 points available there are still four drivers in with a chance of championship honours.
The reality however is that the season is heading for a showdown between Enzo Kuun with 113 points and Johnny Gemmell in his Castrol Team Toyota Auris on 104 points. Jan Habig (89) and Conrad Rautenbach (78) both have a mathematical outside chance but will need a significant swing in fortune in this weekend’s Swartland Rally and the Toyota Gauteng Rally season finale to win the Championship.
“It’s really important for us at Castrol Team Toyota that Johnny and Drew Sturrock have a good clean run to reduce the deficit that they have after the Osram Rally,” says Team Principal, Glyn Hall. “We saw in the last event just how quickly the situation can change with just the slightest error or technical problem potentially a championship decider so its all really to chase for.
“The landscape at the front of the field has changed a bit with Leeroy Poulter joining Castrol Team Toyota in a S2000 Auris for the first time. It would be very optimistic to expect him to mount a serious challenge first time out against the three really seasoned VW teams though and we are pretty much one against three on this event. Leeroy’s task in this event is to acclimatise himself to the car and bring it home at the end.
“Conrad Rautenbach could become a strange ally. He has the speed to mix it at the front of the field and take points away from our competitors – hopefully not from us though. The privateer Toyota S2000s also have the potential to assist. Amongst those JP Damseaux is a past rally winner in his Team Total RunX and Hein Lategan has shown excellent form in his first season in his Pirtek Auris.
“We have continued to work at improving the Auris. The car showed its competitiveness on the Osram rally setting the quickest times on the two longest stages on that event. We have kept our focus on minor changes that provide incremental gains in performance that we hope will give us an edge in the Swartland.
“This will be an intensely competitive weekend for the team and our partners, Castrol, Imperial, and The Innovation Group.”
– Credit: Toyota of South Africa.