New engines for Sasol Fords

The high-speed spectacle that is the 2011 South African Rally Championship reaches a thrilling climax in Polokwane where four teams will engage in a no-holds-barred contest to claim the SA Rally Drivers' and Co-Drivers' Championships.

After storming to three consecutive victories mid-season, Mark Cronjé and Robin Houghton need a win or second place to secure the titles for Team Sasol, while their rivals must win at all costs.

Mark is nine points behind fellow Ford driver Conrad Rautenbach while Robin is five points behind his main rival Guy Hodgson, who navigates for Enzo Kuun in a factory Volkswagen. Teams count their best seven results from the eight-event championship and with dropped scores coming into play, Mark is six points ahead of the chasing pack and Robin has a five-point advantage.

If Team Sasol wins the championship, it will be the first time that a privateer team has beaten any of the factory teams in 45 years. (Francis Tucker and Raggy Schjolberg last achieved that in 1966, driving a Volvo)

An added dimension to the season finale is that the MTN Polokwane Rally is a brand-new event on the calendar and with 204 competitive kilometres spread over 16 special stages, it is also the longest rally of the year.

On sheer pace, Mark and Robin have set 24 fastest stage times from the 85 contested, but in rallying, the most unpredictable of motorsport disciplines, a mere puncture can put paid to anyone's hopes of victory. Over 1200km of high-speed rallying this year boils down to the final few hundred.

"It's max attack for us on this rally; we have the pace to win and we intend to do as well as we possibly can. The engine has been sorted out and we will test before the time," said Mark ahead of the showdown of the year. "As long as nothing goes wrong, there is no reason why we can't run in front again. In Cape Town last month we lost 3 minutes 24 seconds with a puncture and lost the rally by 3 minutes and 14 seconds - it was caused by a rock pulled into the road by another competitor and it just nicked the inside of the rim, but that's rallying. It has the biggest sting in the tail of any form of motorsport that I have competed in. You need a dose of luck."

"I expect everyone to be going absolutely flat out. Johnny (Gemmell), Enzo (Kuun) and Conrad (Rautenbach) all have to win while people like Hergen (Fekken, Charl (Wilken) and Leeroy (Poulter) want to end the season off with a strong result so the pace will be hot from the start," Mark added.

In the second Team Sasol M-Sport Fiesta S2000, Jon Williams and fellow Capetonian co-driver Cobus Vrey are looking to have their first trouble-free event of the year. 

"I really want to give it eleven tenths; I'm ready to throw everything at it. We haven't had a clean run all year; there's been a series of niggling issues which has been a bit frustrating for me," said Jon. "I still want a podium. That would help me end fifth in the championship which will be a satisfying result. I've had the pace to win stages but our campaign has been too inconsistent even though I knew this would be a learning year for me."

"We will try our best. I saw in the Cape last month that putting in a lot more effort into our notes really paid dividends and that's our approach for this event. I don't know the area at all and it sounds like the organisers have put in a lot of effort to take rallying to a new audience which is great for the sport. The autograph session planned is a great way to promote the sport and our team. I'm really looking forward to it," Jon concluded.

The MTN Polokwane Rally takes place on Saturday and Sunday, starting from the Police Club opposite the Mokaba Stadium. Both days get under way at 07h00. Saturday's route of 127km of competitive mileage includes nine stages, mostly on bushveld farm roads, with another seven stages on Sunday covering 77km. The rally finishes back at the Club at 11h30.

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