Rally fans of the Eastern Cape are probably packing their cooler boxes and umbrellas as the national rally championship heads to Port Elizabeth. National rally crews are busy making their way to The Friendly City for the fourth round of the season, which takes place in Jeffreys Bay, the Longmore Forests and at Kings Beach on July 19 and 20.
The 31st running of this event starts at Volkswagen’s Auto Pavilion in Uitenhage on Friday where fans are invited to view the cars, mingle with the teams, and take as many photos as they wish.
“Keeping the rally as close to the people of the Eastern Cape is a primary goal every year,” says route organiser Joe Fourie. “Stage planning and routes all factor in that one important aspect so we can have as many motorsport enthusiasts supporting the rally as possible.”
As with any motorsport event, victory is never a foregone conclusion. There are, however, several candidates in the running for top honours. Among them are reigning champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton (Ford Fiesta S2000), who have two victories this year already but will be hungry after missing out at the last round. Their biggest challenge will undoubtedly come from the factory crews fielded by Volkswagen and Toyota.
The Japanese outfit have the psychological edge here as Johnny Gemmell and Carolyn Swan won this event in 2012, a feat they will be eager to replicate in the Toyota Yaris S2000. They will be backed up by by team-mates Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee who recorded an impressive second place in the second Castrol Team Toyota Yaris in the rain-drenched Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga in April
VW will be looking at Henk Lategan and Barry White, fresh from a podium position in an international event, for a potential win. The other S2000 factory Polos will be crewed by team stalwarts Enzo Kuun and Douglas Judd and their teammates, Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries. If the factory teams can’t keep up the pace the S200 Challenge pair if Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin will be there to defend VW’s honour at its own event.
Defending S2000 Champs Zulu and Peskin will face a renewed effort from Japie van Niekerk and Gerhard Snyman who have abandoned their Polo in favour of an M-Sport built Ford Fiesta. Another crew that could pull off the S2000 Challenge victory could well be Mohammed Moosa and Andre Vermeulen as they did at the last outing at the Gauteng Rally.
If you are in the Eastern Cape or making your way there this weekend to watch these dirt devils do battle then you may be interested in the spectator guide and other pertinent event info which can be found here.
