Team Sasol looks for home podium

Team Sasol's pair of Ford Fiesta S2000s has a firm goal for the 20th Sasol Rally - to give Sasol a memorable podium!

Neither Mark Cronjé and co-driver Robin Houghton nor Jon Williams and Cobus Vrey are prepared to stick their necks out and say which step of the podium they would want to stand on come Saturday afternoon but it should be obvious!

Based on Team Sasol's performance in the opening round of the SA Rally Championship in KwaZulu-Natal three weeks ago, it could well be the top step.

"I'm extremely excited about the Sasol Rally," exclaimed Mark. "It is the best-organised and best-attended event in terms of spectator appeal. We'll carry on where we left off in Natal. I'm comfortable with our pace, the Fiesta is very good and we have a great team behind us and a very enthusiastic sponsor supporting us."

Mark added: "What happened in Natal, happened. We've analysed the incident and have come to terms with it and put it behind us. We'll keep going. The roads in Mpumalanga are very good although they can be a bit rough in places."

Because the Sasol Rally is a round of the FIA African Rally Championship, competitors have a chance to drive over the route in a controlled recce environment, which Mark and Robin feel will add to the overall speed of the event and intensify the competition.

"It is very difficult to judge the exact approach to a corner or jump on the DVD; we will make our usual notes and check and refine them on the recce. This year's Sasol Rally is longer than usual at 200km so I can play myself in on the first leg on Friday and see what our pace is and that of the others. I have unfinished business."

Robin says: "I'll spend 5 - 6 hours preparing our notes from the DVD instead of ten hours. The Sasol Rally is going to be very exciting for the fans and competitors because of the route recce, which will make the pace even faster than it usually is. We won't stick our necks out as we want to bring the car home."

The Sasol Rally is famous for its tarmac stages in Sabie, White River, the super special in the Nelspruit 'spaghetti junction" and more recently, KaNyamazane. Robin has firm views on how to approach these highly popular spectacles: "You have two scenarios - you can lose the rally - or win it! That might sound obvious but we can make up as much time in a well-driven very short tar stage as we can on a ten km gravel stage where you drive 10 tenths, so our approach will be the same throughout the rally."

"The tar stages are nerve-wracking for me as a navigator because if I make a mistake and we wrong-slot or overshoot, it's in front of a lot of people. I'd rather do that in the middle of a forest where a couple of sheep are the only spectators," he grinned.

Much is made of road position; the leading car sweeps the loose stones from the ideal line, disadvantaging those running in front and benefitting those lower down the road order. Teams will start on Friday in their championship order, and on Saturday they take to the stages in rally position.

On the Sasol Rally, road order is important, but not for the same reasons. 

"We are likely to start around 10th which means we have to watch out for rocks that are pulled into the road from the guys ahead cutting corners," Robin explained. "Fans can expect a conservative day one as we want to set ourselves up for a great position on day two."

Jon Williams is equally excited about the 20th Sasol Rally: "This is a big occasion for Sasol and the first time Sasol is represented in the S2000 class. Every sponsor dreams of their team winning their event, and although it's going to be a tough weekend, Mark and I are determined to put on a fantastic show - we both want it badly for Sasol."

"The opportunity to recce the route will allow us to fine tune our notes and this is going to make the rally faster than ever. The team has worked hard to understand and fix our diff issue in Natal. I've seen the pace required to run at the front and seen who the main competition is. Make no mistake, with so many top cars and drivers it's going to be very hard work for all of us in Team Sasol," Jon added.

"The tar stages should be fun with thousands of people lining the four stages. Whether a stage is 200 meters or 20 km, our approach is the same - flat out with the aim of setting the fastest time while trying to be a smooth as possible and not clip a kerb - it's easy to lose 20 seconds with a spin. The huge crowds really give me a lift."

"The secret to success on the Sasol Rally is to find the right blend of speed and endurance. I'm hoping my WRC experience will help a bit here," says Jon.

With 19 years of navigating experience, Cobus Vrey found himself very busy in the Sasol Ford Fiesta cockpit in Durban three weeks ago. He has to operate all the buttons and controls in the computer located between the seats and deliver between 500 and 700 calls per stage.

"We usually only use the controls in the open sections, so if you see us on the road sections and I forget to indicate, I'm sorry," Cobus quipped. "We did have a fuel starvation issue in one stage in Natal and I had to activate a second fuel pump. I looked down, hit the button, looked up again and I was still on my notes, so I'm happy it's not a big deal for me."

Cobus expects the Sasol Rally route to be easier than the season opening Tour Natal Rally. "In Natal, the cane was so high Jon couldn't read the corner ahead and arrived virtually blind with only an idea of the direction. The forest roads are more open, but the cane is sifter than a tree!"

"It's going to be a busy weekend for Team Sasol but we're all looking forward to it," Cobus concluded.