The Challenge:
27 adrenaline-fueled hours and 198 thrilling competitive kilometers form round seven of this weekend’s South African Rally Championship, the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally.
Privateer crews have so far dominated this season and the unprecedented trend is expected to continue as the national rallying fraternity heads to the Western Cape’s Malmesbury, Hopefield and Killarney areas to fight for the podium positions and Championship points.
Renowned for its high-speed stages, sweeping corners and ever-changing gravel road surface conditions, the special stages mapped out for this event wind through the wheat and canola fields around Malmesbury and Hopefield, and organizers have added 33km of Tarmac speed tests hosted at Killarney Race Track.
The factory outfits from Toyota and Volkswagen have been left scratching their heads as privateers Mark Cronje/Robin Houghton and Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger (both crews piloting Ford Fiesta S2000s) have topped the Championship leader board. Another crew to also have topped the leader board is Team Total’s Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Carolyn Swan in their Toyota Auris S2000.
Cronje/Houghton claimed top honours at the three previous rounds of the season, and this crew will be looking to add this rally’s trophy to their collection and to cement their position atop the Championship leader board. However, with “home” advantage Damseaux/Swan will offer their fellow privateer rivals their strongest competition this weekend.
The Crews:
After surviving the treacherous conditions of last month’s Garden Route Rally in and around George and Knysna, Team Total recorded yet another strong showing this season. This South Africa’s largest privateer team saw Class S2000’s Damseaux/Swan finish the event eighth overall just one position ahead of teammates Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin in a similar Toyota Auris S2000. For the team’s Two Wheel Drive Championship contenders Craig Trott/Robbie Coetzee and Stefanie Botha/Angela Shields (both crews piloting Toyota RunX S1600 rally weapons), it was a weekend of hard knocks. While leading Class S1600 and the Two Wheel Drive Championship, Trott/Coetzee were sidelined just 7km from the end of the final stage when their car’s gearbox cried enough. Botha/Shields were unfortunately relegated to spectators after their car suffered mechanical woes that forced their retirement from the event.
Growing in confidence with each successive kilometer completed in their Toyota Auris S2000s, Damseaux and Moosa are aiming to bag even more points at this rally. Suiting their machinery and their driving style, these two crews in South Africa’s premier rally Class S2000 will put on a courageous showing for the spirited Western Cape rally fans.
Trott will need to secure a strong podium result to get his Championship aims back on track, and this Cape rally provides just the challenge this Durban-based multiple Class champions relishes. With podium potential on show throughout the season thus far, but suffering from rally’s cruel fate of mechanical gremlins, Botha’s talent behind the steering wheel is sure to see this all-female crew reach for the podium come Saturday afternoon.
The Event Route:
The Toyota Cape Dealer Rally gets underway from 13h00 on Friday 23 September from McCarthy Toyota in Table View and takes in four stages around Hopefield before reaching the overnight parc ferme at Killarney Race Track. Action resumes on Saturday 24 September morning from 08h00 for four gravel stages around Malmesbury and a 14km all-tar special stage at Killarney Race Track to conclude the event at 16h00.
Follow Team Total:
For news and photographs live from the event, visit us on Facebook at http://on.fb.me/pBFCpZ and on Twitter at http://bit.ly/jBLu4j. For more information, please visit www.totalmotorsport.co.za.
Wish I would be there