Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton are gunning for win number two as the second half of the SA Rally Championship gets underway with the Volkswagen Rally, held in the Uitenhage area and daunting Longmore Forests of the Eastern Cape.
With 15 stage wins so far, Mark, Robin and the Team Sasol Ford Fiesta S2000 is the fastest combination this season bar none and closing rapidly on the championship log leaders, considerably less than a single win adrift of the leader, who all (bar one) have yet to drop their worst score of the year, making the title a realistic target for the young Sasol team.
Mark is under no illusions about the daunting challenge: “Volkswagen will be strong on their home event and they have a point to prove, as well as testing bits for their new cars, while Toyota has traditionally been very strong on this event. Johnny (Gemmell) and Jannie (Habig) will be our main threat but at the same time, you cannot discount any of the top 10 on the day. Charl showed well on the inland events while Conrad (Rautenbach) is a bit erratic after a good start to the year. Hergen (Fekken) also has a point to prove. We’ll see what happens when we get there”.
“Having said that, we had a successful test in the region and we have a strong package for the event. M-Sport has sent us a few new bits of kit to try which may give us a few more tenths of a second. The Volkswagen Rally is an awesome event; it’s fast, flowing while the surface is a bit loose and marbley. I’ve always enjoyed the event, whether I’ve had good or bad results; it’s a rally of note”, Mark enthused”.
“I hope the momentum we gained on the Gauteng Rally carries forward. Sasol is very committed to our programme which is very motivating. I can’t wait to get into the forests”, Mark concluded.
With pride (and car) dented after the Gauteng Rally, Jon Williams and Cobus Vrey are raring to get back into action after rolling out of the last round. “The damage was cosmetic and a lot less severe than we initially thought, although the replacement parts are still expensive and our budget took a knock”, Jon explained. “There won’t be time to do a decent test so we’ll use the shakedown to sort ourselves out”.
“I have decent experience of the Longmore Forests and I’ve always been pretty handy on the tarmac, so I’m expecting to have a strong rally. I’m pleased to have won a few stages so far and be there or thereabout at the required pace after only four events in the Fiesta”, Jon added.
“I’ll be spending more time on the DVD notes; I’ve done some solid training and feel good about the rest of the year. The Fiesta should excel on the type of roads in Longmore and I’m really excited about discovering the car’s potential in this environment. I still believe I have the pace to get onto the podium this year and that remains our aim on every event. The trick is to be quick from the first stage and to stay out of trouble. I have a lot of supporters travelling from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth and I hope to give them a lot to cheer about”, Jon said.
Team Sasol fans are well catered for with ample spectating opportunities in Longmore Forest as well as the Port Elizabeth Oval and back-to-back SuperSpecial stages on the Uitenhage freeway interchange. The same stages are run on Saturday, with the inclusion of a new 2km tarmac stage outside the World Cup Soccer Stadium. The event finishes with the traditional King’s Beach stage on Saturday afternoon.