Experience comes with age. And, age brings with it experience. These adages are never truer than when contextualised in rallying: speed is not the most important ingredient in success.
What is the key ingredient to success, then? From the looks of things in the South African Rally Championship, it is youth.
A few years ago, I’d have said that the sport in this corner of the world was severely lacking in young blood. There was a distinct absence of young drivers, with only two or three competing at national level. But, for 2011, this cannot be farther from the truth. At the head of the South African Rally Championship after four rounds is Conrad Rautenbach, only 27 years old but with heaps of experience thanks to his invaluable years competing in the World Rally Championship.
A contender for the inaugural Junior Championship title (and reigning Class A5 Champion), Ashley Haigh-Smith is fresh out of high school. At 19 years of age he has few seasons of National rally competition under his belt and is showing the potential and determination to make it to the top in this sport. He pilots a Ford Fiesta R2 at national events and regularly drives a mighty Toyota Corolla RXi in Western Cape Regional Rally Championship events. He is the youngest National Class Champion and also the youngest overall rally winner in South African history. This Capetonian will undoubtedly add more accolades to his list of growing accomplishments.
Morne Janse van Rensburg, who is a little over 21 years old, is also making his presence felt in the hotly contested Super 1600 Class this season. He has also stepped up from the former Class A5 in 2010, and is literally driving the wheels off his GC Diesel Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1600. Of course it is only natural to compare: so far, Haigh-Smith holds the edge over his rival, with Janse van Rensburg failing to finish an event in 2011.
Also showing potential like Janse van Rensburg, Chase Attwell is a natural rally driver. At 22 years of age this Zimbabwean (and former winner of the demanding Zimbabwe Challenge Rally, is taking on the factory machines in Class S2000 in a bid to be make his mark in South African rallying. A series of mechanical woes, and over-exuberance on his part, have seen his speed not being converted into strong results as yet this season.
New to South African rally enthusiasts is Wilro Dippenaar, an 18-year-old from Namibia. Competing in Class S2000, Dippenaar has recorded respectable finishes and set impressively quick stages times over the past four events in his Toyota RunX S2000. He is creeping up onto the heels of vastly more experienced Class S2000 campaigners, and is building up for a top ten overall result this season.
And the ladies? Without giving away their ages (and suffering the inevitable retribution that would surely follow) are Stefanie Hugo and Megan Verlaque. Both ladies are in their mid-20s, yet both have been involved in rallying for many years already. Hugo competes in Class S1600 in a Toyota RunX S1600, and has seen her first season in this Class marred by mechanical gremlins. Verlaque (driving a Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000) is already popular thanks to her duties as co-driver to sister Lola when they contested the premier Class S2000 before the young lady turned her hand at driving. She is current Class N3 Champion and is aiming to clinch the Class S1400 title this season too.
However, she will need to defeat her Class rival and the youngest of them all: Henk Lategan. Still in school and too young to legally drive a car on South African roads, Lategan is campaigning his first full season of National rallying in 2011 in a Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1400. This 17-year-old youngster is leading the Class and is recording ever-impressive results.
