Confident Bay competitors head off to Cape Swartland Rally
The 62-year-old National Rally Championship (NRC) kicks off with a double header this weekend in the Western Cape with the running of the Cape Swartland Rally in the Malmesbury area and surrounds, with some exciting spectator friendly night stages taking place around Killarney International Raceway.
Local rally heroes Neels Vosloo and navigator Rikus Fourie will be taking their Hella-backed VW Polo 1600cc down to the Cape in a somewhat confident mood after having had a faultless performance last weekend in the local Imperium Auto Parts Rally held at Aldo Scribante Raceway, where they ended in third place overall.
“This year we have entered in the NRC4 class which is an open two-wheel drive class and not the NRC2 where we competed before,” Fourie said.
“The rally starts with five gravel stages in the Riebeek Kasteel area before moving to three tar stages at Killarney.
“Neels has never driven on these stages as the last rallies were held in the Caledon area, so it’s completely new territory for him, thus our aim is to go out and have fun and aim for a top five finish overall.”
Joining them in the action will be Oliver de Man and his well-travelled navigator Ingrid Jeacocks, who compete in their Ocean Truck Sales-sponsored classic ex-Toyota Dealer Team Corolla in the NRC5 class.
“It’s our first outing in the NRC5 class together and we going to push hard and hopefully keep it on the wheels as we are hoping for a class win,” an enthusiastic Jeacocks said.
This event sees the return to rallying action of the Toyota SA Dealer team after a seven-year break from the national action with a three-year partnership signed between Toyota and the NRC, starting this year.
This will further extend Toyota SA’s commitment to rallying in SA, where they have been competing in the locally developed Toyota Gazoo Starlet AR1 (Africa Rally 1) cars since 2022.
This additional investment in the NRC bears testimony to the fact that rallying in SA remains highly popular and has shown impressive growth since the reintroduction of four-wheel-drive cars in 2020.
“This collaboration with Toyota is an important step towards ensuring that the NRC, currently in its 62nd year of existence and the oldest running championship in SA, will continue to thrive and grow,” NRC Steering Committee chair Chris Coertse said.
The drivers of the two Toyota Starlet NRC1 4-wheel drive cars, Mandla Mdakane and Jono Van Wyk, know exactly how to put their cars through their paces to entertain the appreciative crowds that line the spectator stages.
The team will be managed by multiple rally championship winner and Dakar rookie winner Guy Botterill, who announced that there is an exciting development of the addition of a third Toyota Starlet to the team this season, that will be driven by an aspiring yet to be announced rookie.
Unfortunately, the muchanticipated debut of the VW Polo R1 four-wheel drive that rally legend Jan Habig has been developing for his son Benjamin and evergreen navigator Barry White has been cut short after a late communication regarding a technical change on the fuel safety system was received, leaving them no time to complete the reams of paperwork for homologation purposes, as it is the first NR1 VW Polo built.
The National Rally series moves to the Eastern Cape on July 5-6 where it seems the ever-popular Jeffreys Bay night stage could be a reality again.