With just two rounds of the eight-event series remaining, the Johannesburg-based pair and their British-built Ford have proved to be the combination to beat. However, this championship battle is far from over.
Just 11 points separate the top four drivers and with 25 points for a win and 50 on offer in the remaining rallies, picking an eventual champion is a bit of a gamble. Although there have been only three winners in six events to date, any one of six or eight drivers are capable of taking the top step on the podium.
Second in the drivers’ title chase after a strong start to the season with two wins and a third in the first three rounds – is Zimbabwean Conrad Rautenbach (S2000 Green Fuel Ford Fiesta) with 100 points. He has not been as dominant in recent events, but should not be discounted.
Because his French co-driver, Nicolas Klinger, is not competing with a South African competition license, he is ineligible to score points, which moves all the other co-drivers up a place in the standings.
Defending champion Enzo Kuun and leading driver among the four factory S2000 BP Volkswagen Polos, whose consistent performances and a best result to date of second in the recent Garden Route Rally have kept his title aspirations alive, is third in the drivers’ championship with 95 points. He is the only top contender to have scored in each round to date. His co-driver and defending champion Guy Hodgson is second in his championship with 99 points.
Fourth among the drivers is factory pilot Johnny Gemmell (S2000 Castrol Team Toyota Auris) with 93 points after three runner-up finishes and he cannot be discounted as a winner in one of the two remaining events. Scottish co-driver Drew Sturrock, who flies to South Africa for each round, is third in his championship with 96 points
Making up the top 10 in the drivers’ championship are Nicholas Ryan (S2000 GrandMark International VW Polo) with 77 points, former champion Hergen Fekken (S2000 BP Volkswagen Polo) with 70 points, Jon Williams (S2000 Sasol Ford Fiesta) 68 points, Charl Wilken (S2000 Basil Read/bizhub Ford Fiesta) 67 points, Leeroy Poulter (S2000 Castrol Team Toyota Auris), winner of the Sasol Rally, with 64 points, and Red Bull athlete Giniel de Villiers (S2000 BP Volkswagen Polo) with 62 points.
Fourth in the co-drivers’ championship is Fekken’s partner and former champion Pierre Arries (75 points) with Wilken’s co-driver Greg Godrich fifth (73 points).
All of the top 10 drivers compete in the premier S2000 class for four-wheel drive cars.
As with the overall championship, the competition is tight in the Two Wheel Drive Championship for S1600 and S1400 cars, with 19 points covering the top four drivers.
Heading the standings after the first six rounds are brother and sister combination Christoff and Celeste Snyders (S1600 Sabertek VW Polo) with 103 points after two wins and two third place finishes to date.
Second and still very much in contention are former champion Craig Trott and co-driver Robbie Coetzee (S1600 Team Total Toyota RunX) with 97 points after two victories and two thirds. They were unlucky to miss out on a third win in the Garden Route Rally after breaking their gearbox on the final stage while leading.
Former circuit racer Guy Botterill (S1600 Yato Tools Toyota RunX) is an impressive third in the drivers’ championship after two class wins in his debut rally season. Co-driver Schalk van Heerden is third in the co-drivers’ championship with 67 points.
Ashley Haigh Smith (S1600 React Ford Fiesta), who benefited from Trott’s misfortune in the Garden Route Rally to take his second win of the season, is fourth with the same number of points as Botterill. Tjaart Conradie (S1600 Silverton Engineering Toyota Auris) is fifth with 63 points.
Haigh Smith’s British co-driver, James Aldridge, is ineligible for points as he doesn’t compete with a South African license, so fourth in the co-drivers’ championship is Kes Naidoo, who reads the route notes for Conradie. Hilton Auffray, who navigated for Haigh Smith for the first three events of the season, is fifth with 63 points
Megan Verlaque, who leads the S1400 class with three wins to date in a BP VW Polo, is sixth overall in the Two Wheel Drive Championship, also with 63 points. Second in S1400 is Henk Lategan (Q8 Oils VW Polo), who has two class wins to his credit so far. Lategan’s co-driver Pierre Jordaan is leading the championship with nine points, one ahead of Lirene du Plessis, who navigated for Verlaque in the first five events of the year.
Toyota heads the hotly-contested manufacturers’ championship with 672 points to Volkswagen’s 641 and Ford’s 557.
The next round of the SA Rally Championship is the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally in the Western Cape on 23 and 24 September.