SASOL RALLY PROMISES THRILLS

The Toyota Dealer Gauteng Rally promises and exciting climax to the 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship. This eight event series has been finely poised form the start of the season in Natal back in March. As ever, the S2000 rally formula has produced close and often unpredictable results with the fortunes of the top five competitors waxing and waning with the passing of each event as each of these emerged as a championship challenger.

It took until the start of the second half of the season for any one driver to score more than one win in the series with Castrol Team Toyota’s Johnny Gemmell taking that honour when he won the Volkswagen Rally in the Eastern Cape at the end of July. That win came back to back with Gemmell’s win in the Rally of South Africa, and set up a fierce competition for the Championship with Gemmell and Enzo Kuun tied on 88 points each with three events to go.
Going into the Gauteng Rally Johnny Gemmell trails Enzo Kuun by 21 points with 25 available for the win, a situation that favours Kuun but given the unpredictability of the season so far anything could still happen. For Gemmell it’s a must win situation.
“It’s not over till it’s over,” says Gemmell. “We have had a bit of misfortune in the past two events whilst Enzo has had a clean run. Our Castrol Auris S2000 is well up to the task of a win on home ground for Toyota. We need to chase form the start and make sure that Enzo has to extend himself to protect his championship lead.
“The series is just so competitive. There are as many as 18 S2000 cars out there with the top seven or eight capable of setting stage times within seconds of each other. Stage results are often scored down to tenths of a second so just the slightest slip can see you sent to the back of the pack and out of the points. The smallest mechanical glitch will be a serious setback. Something as basic as a puncture, a constant risk when you are driving hard, will likely see you out of any meaningful point’s position.
“It’s often harder to protect your lead than it is to chase the lead and that’s the situation that Enzo is in right now. It will be maximum attack from us. We are going for the win!”
Back up for Johnny Gemmell’s championship chase will come from the sister Castrol Team Toyota Auris of Leeroy Poulter and Robert Paisley. Poulter showed promising form in his first outing in the Auris in the top S2000 class in the Swartland rally in mid-September. He adapted very quickly to the demands of the top class and finished in ninth place. In the latter stages of the event Poulter’s times moved ever closer to those of the established S2000 competitors.
Also in the mix are a brace of Toyota privateer entries in S2000 with the New Africa Developments Auris of Japie van Niekerk and the team Pirtek Auris S2000s of Henin Lategan and Visser du Plessis all showing very good form so far this year. To this mix can be added the Team Total RunX of Jean-Pierre Damseaux, currently sixth in the championship and a past rally winner in this car. All of these cars can aid Gemmell’s cause by getting into the results ahead of Kuun.
“Throughout the season we have continually improved the Auris S2000 and Johnny Gemmell has certainly shown the potential of the car as one to beat in South African rallying,” says Castrol Team Toyota team principal, Glyn Hall. “We have been frustrated by niggling issues in the past two events but the outright performance of the Auris has always come through in a clean run.”
“The situation going into the last event is closer than the point’s gap would indicate. I expect that in the end the 2010 Sasol South African Rally Championship will be decided by just seconds, hopefully with Johnny ahead. The team has put in an extreme effort to ensure that we are at the top of our game for this exciting climax to the series. It’s going to be a nail-biting weekend for the team and our partners Castrol, Imperial, and the Innovation Group who will all be out in force to offer there support.”

STORY BY TOYOTA