Team sure of doing well at rally in city

“We are very happy with the performance of the Yaris so far and we should do well in Limpopo given a clean run for both cars on both days.”

This was according to Team Castrol Toyota team principal Glynn Hall, who was speaking about the team’s participation in the SA Rally Championship, with the Polokwane Motor Rally coming up this weekend. “Our development programme since the car first made its appearance in the opening round in March is bearing fruit and we will be looking for wins in these last two rounds of the championship,” he said.

The Team Castrol Toyota team, Johnny Gemmell and Carolyn Swan, are currently second in the championship.

They are 40 points behind leaders and defending champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton, and there are a maximum of 100 points on offer in the last two rounds.

Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee are no longer a factor in the championship after being forced to complete three events under reduced points Super Rally rules as a result of problems that saw them drop out on the first day.

However, they have every intention of taking away as many points as possible from Cronje and Houghton and helping their team-mates win the championship.

The Polokwane Motor Rally will start at 12:00 on Friday from the municipal council chambers in the city centre.

The opening day will consist of five gravel stages with a tarmac stage ending the day off at the Peter Mokaba Sports Complex at around 17:00.

The rally will restart on Saturday at 06:30 with the first of four gravel stages some 40km north of the city.

The final stage will be a repeat of Friday’s short tarmac test at Peter Mokaba Sports Complex.