PoloDriver

Round four of the South African National Rally Championship was a tough outing for the Volkswagen Sasolracing team. The Volkswagen Rally, the squad’s home event, was a challenging two-day drive. A glut of punctures on day one caused problems, slowing the Polo S2000 teams down, increasing stage times. Enzo Kuun and Douglass Judd scored the highest result of the weekend with a fifth place at the event, also taking the first stage win of the rally, having had a good start from the off. The pair also won three of the final four stages, while team-mates Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries came in one place behind them in sixth.

Henk Lategan and Barry White claimed two stage wins, taking the team’s total to nearly half of all the victories available. Lategan and White competed under Super Rally regulations on the second day, though, after getting stuck after a flying finish on day one. The recovery time needed to get them back on the road necessitated running in Super Rally. Meanwhile, defending S2000 Challenge champions Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin were forced into retirement for the first time in two seasons. Gearbox problems sidelined them with four stages to go.

‘It has been a tough weekend for the whole team in Port Elizabeth,’ said Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. ‘We didn’t achieve the results we were aiming for, but made very good use of the opportunity to do some extended testing with Lategan and White competing in Super Rally on Saturday. The stage wins are a clear indication that we have the pace, the focus now is on tying all those together to clinch the results the pace should be providing,’ Rowe added.

A strong contingent of Polos made up the rest of the field. The older-specification S2000 Challenge class was led by the Team Total Toyota Auris of Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Hilton Auffray, but Morne Janse van Rensburg and Rikus Fourie out up a good fight in the matt black GC Diesel Racing Polo which wore its PoloDriver.com sticker once again with pride. The GC Diesel Racing four-wheel drive Polo Vivo finished the event in eighth place. The two-wheel drive S1600 Polos of Chad van Beurden and Henry Dearlove, and Paul Franken and Henry Kohne started well, but sadly dropped down the event rankings on day two.

Volkswagen South Africa also took the opportunity to unveil the Polo Rally Cup in Port Elizabeth, and while official details are yet to be confirmed, PoloDriver.com believes it to be an FIA-approved R2 class one-make series, using S1600 cars. More details as they are announced. The next round of the 2013 South African National Rally Championship is on 16-17 August, and will see the Volkswagen Sasolracing crews competing in Gauteng.

[Images: ledbitter@quickpic]

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The third round of the South African National Rally Championship saw two Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000s finish in the top five places. Enzo Kuun and Douglas Judd claimed third overall, while Henk Lategan and Barry White were the fifth car home. Two days of dusty competition saw the crews drive 10 stages, with Lategan and White the fastest Polo S2000 on day one, holding onto third place overnight. Kuun and Judd were two places below. Day two saw Lategan and White overshoot a stage, costing them valuable time and two places. Kuun and Judd meanwhile remained consistently within the top five stage finishers on the second day to improve their standings and take their first 2013 podium.

‘We started off well and our times were quite good,’ said Lategan. ‘We were perhaps a little too cautious on this event, though, and should have pushed harder. What we do have is a top five finish for the weekend, which remains a good result.’ Kuun was pleased with his and Judd’s result. ‘The credit for this victory must go to the Volkswagen Sasolracing team, a massive achievement for them and a just reward for all their hard work,’ says Kuun. ‘This event was a big step for me after the first round accident and having to handle all the jumps this weekend. This has been a chance to build real confidence going forward.’

Fellow Polo S2000 pilots Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries were fast from the off, the pair third in stage one and claiming victories in both stages two and three. A technical issue saw them miss the rest of the first day, however, and they entered day two under Super Rally rules. Here they immediately went into battle claiming a fourth, two second places and a stage victory to finish 11th overall on the event. ‘We had a good run on day one, leading the rally,’ says Fekken. ‘We stayed with the leaders and did good times today under the Super Rally rules and the Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo S2000 is very good. Our issue on day one was unfortunate but we still made a strong showing this weekend.’

For reigning S2000 Challenge champions, Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin, the Gauteng event started on an unexpected, but exciting note, when Peskin received a call to say his wife had gone into labour three weeks early. He rushed home to be present for the birth of his daughter, Cameron. Gerhard Snyman, who normally navigates for Japie van Niekerk, stepped in to aid Zulu as co-driver. The pair put in a good performance on the event, despite not having worked together before. An accident by another competitor in the final stage saw Zulu and Snyman sent to parc fermé instead of completing the stage. With just a minute needed for them to claim victory in the S2000 Challenge category, the final stage incident came as a disappointment. The pair still brought their Volkswagen Sasolracing Polo Vivo S2000 home second in the S2000 Challenge category – seventh place overall.

Other Polo finishers included Chad van Beurden and Henry Dearlove who placed 19th, and Paul Franken and Henry Kohne who came in 28th. Unfortunately Megan Verlaque and Oliver Verlaque in a Super 1600 Polo Vivo failed to finish the event. The Volkswagen Sasolracing team, meanwhile, will compete next in their home event, the Volkswagen Rally, on 19-20 July when they bring national rally action to fans in the Eastern Cape.

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The Total Rally on 8-9 March saw the Volkswagen Sasolracing team have mixed results, on what was the first round of the 2013 South African National Rally Championship. Decisively won by South African rally champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton in their Ford Fiesta S2000, the highest-placed Volkswagen Sasolracing car in Kwazulu Natal was the Polo Vivo S2000 of Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin, which finished fifth. Further down the field, Megan and Oliver Verlaque completed the event 15th, and sixth in the S1600 class. It was a disappointing event for the flagship squad of Volkswagen Polo S2000s, though, with one car retiring, and two others involved in a serious incident.

Former champions Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson crashed out on Friday’s stage three, while battling for second place with the Fiesta S2000 of Jan Habig and Robert Paisley. The Polo was severely damaged after rolling end over end several times and the pair were taken to hospital for observation. It was slightly better news for Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries. After competing in the Super Rally, they went off the road on Friday’s first stage and were unable to continue. After setting second-fastest times in Saturday’s first two stages, they lost time with a puncture on stage 12. The pair finished 18th overall and 11th in S2000, and it was a frustrating reminder of the Polo 6R S2000’s potential.In the third Sasolracing Polo S2000, 18 year-old Henk Lategan and his co-driver Barry White impressed in their debut, finishing third on Friday and recovering from contact with a concrete tunnel wall and a brief grass fire to finish 13th in S2000. Their incident saw the cancellation of stage eight, the first of Saturday’s six gravel stages, as officials and bystanders extinguished the blaze caused by the car’s hot exhaust setting fire to the dry undergrowth. Lategan marked himself as a champion of the future with a spirited fight-back which saw him take the honours from his more illustrious rivals on stage 12 on his way to 23rd overall.

Other top 20 Polo Total Rally finishers included the S1600 machine of Chad van Beurden and Henry Dearlove, and the S2000 Challenge car of Morne Janse van Rensburg and Rikus Fourie. The newly-developed Polo 6R 1600 Group N Manitou Group-sponsored of Paul Franken and Henry Kohne unfortunately failed to finish. The next round of the South African Rally Championship, the Sasol Rally, is at Mpumalanga on 19-20 April 2013.

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This weekend sees the first round of the 2013 South African National Rally Championship, and the newly-formed Volkswagen Sasolracing team is eager to head to KwaZulu-Natal for the 610km Total Rally and get the season of to a good start. The two-day event will see seven stages on day one for the teams to complete, while a further nine will be tackled on the second day. Volkswagen Sasolracing has a trio of Polo S2000s lined up ready for the off, while a Polo Vivo S2000 will contest the S2000 Challenge in the more than capable hands of reigning champions Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin.

Drivers for the Polo S2000 6Rs include the stalwart Volkswagen pairings of Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson, and former championship winners Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries. Henk Lategan (a mere 18 years old!) and Barry White (a navigator since 1993) are newcomers to the team, fresh from the S2000 Challenge category last year. ‘We have a highly skilled and experienced group of people in the Volkswagen SasolRacing rally team,’ said Mike Rowe, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport. ‘I am confident that the Volkswagen SasolRacing team will continue to be a dominant force on the South African rally scene – and will be the standard to which every other 2013 team will aspire.’

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As the rallying season kicks into full swing, Volkswagen Motorsport has another reason to be cheerful, following last month’s second place at the Rallye Monte Carlo. It was announced last week that Volkswagen and Sasol have joined forces to contest the South African National Rally Championship. The two companies call it ‘one of the most formidable collaborations in the national rally championship’. Volkswagen South Africa’s previous rallying sponsor was BP. The 2013 South African National Rally Championship kicks off on 8-9 March at KwaZulu-Natal.

Volkswagen Sasolracing will field three Polo S2000 entries, as well as an S2000 Challenge car in the eight-round year-long championship. All cars will feature a new livery to reflect the new partnership. Stalwart Volkswagen Polo S2000 driver pairings Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson, and Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries will be joined by Henk Lategan and Barry White. Gugu Zulu and Carl Peskin will continue with the Polo Vivo, and will put the new S2000 Challenge car through its paces – a series which they won last year. As far as we’re aware, the technical make up of the 260bhp, four-wheel drive 6R Polo S2000s remain the same.

‘Our partnership with Sasol heralds the dawn of the new era of Volkswagen’s involvement in motorsport in South Africa. In Sasol, we have a partner that is very passionate about motorsport just as we are at Volkswagen,’ said David Powels, Managing Director of Volkswagen Group South Africa. ‘Volkswagen Group is now fully involved in the world of rallying, and Volkswagen South Africa has benefitted from the involvement. We have forged strong relationships with our German colleagues over the past 12 months, and are confident that this relationship will serve our team well in the 2013 rally championship in South Africa’.

‘Sasol Oil’s and Volkswagen’s partnership will make for an exciting season,’ said Alan Cameron, Managing Director of Sasol Oil. ‘The partnership is a strong strategic fit, leveraging the two leading companies’ respective product innovation and technical superiority capabilities. This association will be beneficial for both companies and for the fans who will witness exhilarating performance. It will also create an experiential platform for our wide range of customers to engage and connect with the Sasol brand through our products.’

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