As
the Sasol South African Rally Championship hurtles towards a thrilling finale, BP Volkswagen's Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson are in the
pound seats with a handy nine-point lead over Castrol Toyota's Johnny Gemmell and Scotsman Drew Sturrock.
With 50 points still up for grabs - but only a four-point difference between first and second places - Kuun could settle for two second place finishes and seal the championship but that is not in the Capetonians nature.
The 2010 Sasol Rally Championship has been anything but predictable, providing drama and excitement across the country and a mere puncture could throw the championship wide open again, so the Swartland Rally is crucial for the two title contenders.
Kuun and Gemmell are the only double winners this season, the lanky VW driver the latest victor on the Osram Rally last month, adding to his Sasol Rally win back in April, while Gemmell took the laurels home on the Rally of South Africa and Volkswagen events, setting the scene for a stunning showdown where millions of Rands invested by Volkswagen and BP, Toyota and Castrol bear fruit.
Both have failed to finish once so no dropped scores are in play this year - it's a straight fight to the finish. While Kuun can count of the support of two team-mates, Gemmell is effectively riding solo after the sudden departure of the quick Mark Cronjé in the second Toyota Auris.
With any of eight S2000 crews able to take the win, the Swartland Rally is set to be another thrilling contest featuring the three BP Ultimate Volkswagen Polos of Kuun and Hodgson, Habig and his stand in co-driver Douglas Judd and the defending champions Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries.
Habig has been consistent all year, ending on the podium three times and lies 3rd in the title chase with 89 points - 15 behind Gemmell. Fekken and Arries, who have endured a year from hell with three consecutive non-finishes are an unusually lowly 6th in the standings and will relish the chance to take another trophy home, albeit not at the expense of Kuun.
Mark Cronjé is taking a sabbatical from motorsport. At the time of writing, the favourite to take over the second Castrol Toyota Auris is the newly crowned class A6 champion Leeroy Poulter who has the guiding hand of the experienced co-driver Robert Paisley. As gifted as Poulter undoubtedly is, he will be hard pressed to make an impact on the leading quintet or interfere in the championship showdown.
Conrad Rautenbach and Peter Marsh, the all Zimbabwean team, are 4th in the points race and have a point to prove. The former Citroen WRC Junior Team driver won on his S2000 debut and the M-Sport built Ford Fiesta is a competent piece of kit, but results haven't flowed from the talented crew, in spite of leading on numerous occasions this season. Each event is new to Rautenbach, which doesn't help his cause, but that hasn't stopped him from trying to win each and every stage, sometimes with disastrous consequences.
Rautenbach leads the Privateer's Championship on 100 points. He's finished four of the six events, and won the privateer's category each time they've finished.
Five points behind in the Privateer's Championship, the consistent Jean-Pierre Damseaux/Carolyn Swan Team Total Toyota RunX pair, whose best result this season was a visit to the podium on Rally SA, claimed his career first victory on this event two years ago and is well versed in the conditions so could be a contender for another top drawer result.
Team Total team mate Fernando Rueda, fully recovered from pneumonia that kept him away from the Osram Rally, and co-driver Dave Lewkowicz have some ground to make up but the Capetonian also knows the stages well and should put in a good showing.
The 3rd Team Total Toyota RunX entry of Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin should see the pair continue their rapid recovery from a confidence (and car) denting roll in KwaZulu Natal. Moosa is resilient and are good bet for a top 10 placing.
Hein Lategan and Johan van der Merwe, running a privateer Pirtek-backed Toyota Auris, has been a sensation this year, twice challenging the works teams until crashing out. Lategan, a former track racer, should relish the 30km of tarmac stages and set some ultra competitive times.
The second Pirtek Auris is crewed by Visser du Plessis and Gerhard Snyman, who has impressed in the past two events, demonstrating real pace after a slow start to the year. Du Plessis finished his last two rallies well inside the top 10, which is becoming an increasingly crowded place.
Toyota's third Auris privateer, Japie van Niekerk and Robin Houghton (S2000 New Africa Developments/Ctrack Auris) has not had a good year. Proven speed in a RunX last year hasn't translated into solid results in the better machine, not helped by two rolls. They are overdue a change of luck before the season runs out and should be a strong top six contender.
The unluckiest team this year is Charl Wilken and Greg Godrich in their Basil Read/Bizhub Ford Fiesta s2000. Stepping up into the top class from back-to-back production car championships, Wilken has scored but once and will be out to maximize their opportunities and is relishing the tarmac stages, where the Ford Fiesta driver is blisteringly quick.
Volkswagen's privateers include the genial Mokopane businessman Theuns Joubert and co-driver Carl Peskin in their S2000 Salom Group Polo, who have four finishes from six starts and enough talent to run at the head of the privateer's battle on merit.
Challenging hard should be the Jonnesway/RCF VW Polo pair of Nicholas Ryan and Armand du Toit and the similar Motorite backed Polo of Evan Hutchison/Elvéne Coetzee. Both are good for a top 10 finish should luck be a passenger in these two busy cockpits.
Rounding out the 17-car strong S2000 entry is the fearless Namibian driver Jaco van Dyk and Des de Fortier in their unsponsored VW Polo. Van Dyk suffered a huge roll on the Osram Rally last month and may find his confidence battered, but the exciting new talent is neither down nor out and his exciting driving style is a breath of fresh air in the Sasol Rally Championship.
The front wheel drive classes provide a host of frenetic rallying where consistency has seen two class championships wrapped up for the year.
Heading the two wheel drive brigade is class A7 for 2 litre cars. Here, Gugu Zulu and Cindi Harding (BP Ultimate VW Polo) lead the class title race by 11 points following two class wins.
Gavin Cronjé, the younger brother of Mark, and co-driver Van Aardt Schoeman (Seasons In Africa VW Polo) have just two second place finishes after a string of mechanical issues this season; the reigning Le Mans Cup champion is highly regarded and he should be spectacular to watch on the tarmac stages as he wrestles the VW around faster than it really wants to go, spewing flames from the exhaust as he works the gearbox around the twisty bits.
Local aces Ettiene du Toit/Patrick Vermaak (Toyota RunX) may upstage the regulars with his intimate knowledge of the terrain so this battle should be a fierce one.
The weekend's Class A6 trophy is up for grabs with the promotion of Poulter to the factory Castrol Toyota team. With the 1600cc Championship finely poised, Craig Trott/Robbie Coetzee (Team Total Toyota RunX) should have the advantage with a clear run to the finish line in October. Their consistency has given them 2nd in the class A6 title chase, 3 ahead of Tjaart Conradie, who is not making the trip south.
An exciting A6 entry is the newly crowned class A5 champions, matric scholar Ashley Haigh Smith and Hilton Auffrey in the React Toyota Corolla; yet another Capetonian who knows the route well and could cause a minor upset with a maiden class win.
Locals Charl Strydom/Sakkie Bosman (Sabre Paints VW Polo) should be in the mix as well, and could claim a podium given a reliable run.
Class A5 should see the belated debut of the BP Ultimate Volkswagen Polo Vivo in the hands of former class champion Andre Cleenwerck and co-driver Kes Naidoo. The Vivo is an important car from VW and expectations are high for a serious class winning contender.
Morné J van Rensburg/Derek Jacobs will be out in their GC Diesel/BP Volkswagen Citi Golf if their new Vivo doesn't make the start line, but either way this would be a good chance for the Port Elizabeth youngster to take a class win.
The Production Car class N4 title is locked away in Nelspruit for another season courtesy of the Stassen brothers, so the fight in this class should be between Mike Nathan/Etienne Lourens (AWI Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IX) and Sebastiaan/Daniel Klaassen in their Subaru Impreza STI, while John Peiser/Brian Hoskins (Speed Cycling Components Subaru Impreza GT) could be in the mix as well.
Class N3 is an enigma this season with rookie Robson Maganezi (Linking Africa Ford Fiesta ST) leading the way on 29 points but with three different co-drivers in the Ford so far (the current incumbent is Shaun Visser), Oliver Verlaque leads the class co-driver standings. Megan Verlaque (Toyota RunX) has claimed two wins and a second place and is tied on points with the 2008 Western Cape Regional Rally Champions Abduraghman Amlay/Yusuf Ganief in a similar RunX.
Namibian daughter and father Stefanie/Willem Hugo (Wiel Toyota RunX) claimed a highly popular win on the VW Rally and followed this up with second in class on the Osram event last month. Either of the girls could take a win but Amlay is a master in these conditions, so the battle will be fierce.
There a nine regional entries at the tail of the field, competing in the Western Cape Regional Rally Championship.
The Cape Peninsula Motorcycle and Car Club (CPMCC) celebrates its centenary this year and Clerk of the Course Robert Marle has calculated that this is the 73rd running of this event which has enjoyed numerous names, the most popular one being the Double 12 Rally. He still has road use permissions from the 1947 rally…
The CPMCC Swartland Rally starts from Killarney at 15h30 on Friday, 17th September and heads straight for the "Automark N7" stage, just 5km from the circuit, before returning to Killarney for two stages at the circuit, starting at 16h25.
An early 07h30 start on Saturday takes crews up the N7 to Malmesbury and Moorreesburg for four long stages. Stage 4, "Langgewens" (26.8km) is repeated as stage 7 in the reverse direction, while the "Langvlei" stage (38.9km) will run twice, back to back. The teams return for a second run over "Automark N7" before the traditional final thrash around the Killarney race track.
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