Only 200kms of special stages lie in wait for SASOL South African National Rally Championship competitors this weekend as they tackle the final round of the season, the Toyota Dealer Rally Gauteng.
Salom Group Volkswagen Polo Class S2000 crew of Theuns Joubert and Carl Peskin have proven themselves to be the fastest Volkswagen Polo privateers in 2010, and with steady progress and increased speed this crew look to finish inside the top ten on Saturday evening as the champagne bottles are uncorked.
At the previous round of the eight-event series in Cape Town for the Swartland Rally, Joubert/Peskin’s event started off under problematic circumstances. In the Shakedown Stage for the event the day before, their Polo’s gearbox failed and had to be repaired overnight.
As the dust settled for the end of the first stage, however, the nerves within their rally car had settled and the adrenalin focused them on the job at hand.
The Mokopane-based businessman powered his Polo S2000 through the remainder of Day One’s stages and then settled into a quick rhythm on Day Two’s six stages to record a strong 12th place finish.
Gaining more tarmac experience on the Killarney Motorsport Complex’s high-speed circuit, Joubert and Peskin are both eager to start this weekend’s event with their added confidence over the event’s numerous tarmac speed tests.
The Toyota Dealer Rally Gauteng kicks off on Friday at 13h00 at the Gerotek Vehicle Test Facility west of Pretoria. Here competitors will face four stages before heading to the Swartkops Raceway track for five-laps of the 4km circuit to end the day. Day Two starts at 07h30 at the Rallystar facility on the R51 road to Benoni. In this area, crews will challenge themselves and the timekeepers’ stopwatches over a further seven stages that will bring them to the finish line at the Rallystar facility to end the 2010 SASOL South African National Rally Championship.
– Credit: Evan Rothman/HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS.