BP Volkswagen team ready for action as Total Rally kicks off 2012 ZA season
The first round of the South African 2012 National Rally Championship kicks off the country’s rallying season this weekend (23-24 March) and the BP Volkswagen team will pull out all the stops to get ahead early. With the brand new Polo S2000 car unveiled a few weeks ago, the squad will be hoping that the stages in KwaZulu-Natal will be kind to them. Volkswagen Motorsport has six consecutive national rally championship titles to its name with the previous generation Volkswagen Polo S2000 after all.
The latest version of the super-supermini has been crafted for the single purpose of winning rallies, and is packed with the latest rallying technology. A 2.0-litre, four-cylinder engine producing 270bhp/200kW driving all four wheels powers the new-for-2012 Polo S2000, pumping 184lb ft/250Nm of torque at 7200rpm, and making use of a Sadev 4/45 six-speed sequential ‘Powershift’-equipped gearbox. As well as a new car, the BP Volkswagen team have two new drivers. Hans Weijs Jnr and Bjorn Degandt are two international competitors who have experience in IRC and WRC championships.
Seasoned campaigners Lnzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson are carrying on as before, and have won the Total Rally twice before – the last time in 2006 – and are eager to claim the event for the new car. Kuun and Hodgson are also two-time winners of the national championship title, and will definitely be in the hunt for a third. Teammates Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries are in a similar position. They know the territory, they are seasoned campaigners, they have a national rally title under their belts, and they will be in full flight searching for another title.
Meanwhile, Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin have a huge challenge ahead of them in KwaZulu-Natal. They will contest the new S2000 Challenge category of national rallying – and their efforts will be backed up by the BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000. The challenge that lies ahead this season is going to test them, but their rally car that has a pedigree which stretches back to include six national rally titles to help them to the end. Finally, Megan Verlaque and Hilton Auffray tackle the S1600 category with their two-wheel drive BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo in search of national rally championship honours – and the start of their first full season as a team.