Expect a fast and furious rally in Secunda

SECUNDA – It is going to be fast and furious action all the way when the top South African rally teams, including a surprise package, tackle the compact, flowing stages of the Secunda Motor Rally, the first ever national event to be staged in this area of the Highveld.

This event happens on 15 and 16 May.

The Secunda Motor Rally, third round of the 2015 SA National Rally Championship, will consist of 12 special stages over an approximate distance of 185km in a very compact format – the furthest stage being only 17km from the service park at the popular Lake Umuzi waterfront complex in Secunda.

Leading the charge in Cosmos Country will be the current championship leaders Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton in their Ford Performance Fiesta S2000, and defending champions Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee (Castrol Team Toyota Yaris).

The rivalry between Cronje and Poulter in the two opening rounds in Kwa-Zula Natal and in the Lowveld have made for a riveting rallying spectacle.

They were in a class of their own, and while the Ford driver emerged victorious on both occasions, it will only serve as extra motivation for Poulter to score a comeback win in Secunda.

The surprise package is the return of former SA champion Hergen Fekken to the Volkswagen Sasol racing fold.

Fekken was part of the Castrol Toyota outfit last year and finished the 2014 SA Rally Championship in third position overall in a Yaris S2000.

He missed the first two rounds of the 2015 season after being dropped by Toyota, but will now be back in action in the third Volkswagen Sasol racing Polo, replacing the Dutch driver Hans Weijs.

More good news is that Pierre Arries, the man who navigated Fekken to back-to-back SA National Rally Driver’s championship titles in 2008 and 2009, will again be next to him, replacing Belgian Bjorn Degandt when they take on the Secunda dust.

This means that Arries’ seat next to Gugu Zulu, whom he navigated for in the first two events of 2015, culminating in a very welcome third position in the Sasol Rally, will now be filled by Hilton Auffray, who has also been part of the Volkswagen team in the past, navigating for Megan Verlaque in a Polo S1600.

The other Volkswagen Sasol racing pair, Henk Lategan and Barry White (VW Polo), showed promising pace in Kwa-Zulu Natal and also in the Sasol Rally until an unfortunate accident put them out of contention on the second day.

With more tweaks to their Polo envisaged, they could spring a surprise in the inaugural Secunda event.

Another welcome entry is that of Japie van Niekerk in the NAD Ford Fiesta S2000.

Van Niekerk was injured in an accident with the Polo of Lategan/White in the Sasol Rally last month, but has responded well to treatment and has been declared fit to compete.

However, it will not be the Irishman Gordon Noble in the navigator’s seat of the Ford for the Secunda Rally, but rather Van Niekerk’s long-time friend and navigator for the last three years, Gerhard Snyman, who makes a welcome return to top-line rallying.

In line with the pre-determined starting positions that now rotates from event to event, the Namibian Wilro Dippenaar and Kes Naidoo (North City Panelbeaters Toyota Auris) will be the first crew to come under starter’s orders when the event begins at the Graceland Casino on Friday, 15 May at 1pm.

The 21-year old Namibian will sweep the road for Lategan and White, Poulte and Coetzee and Cronje and Houghton, with Van Niekerk and Snyman starting fifth, followed by Zulu and Auffray and Fekken and Arries.

Giniel de Villiers and Carolyn Swan in the second Castrol Team Toyota Yaris will be next to be waved off, with Thilo Himmel/Armand du Toit (Sasol racing VW Polo) and privateers Ernie van der Walt and Greg Godrich (Toyota Yaris) as the final S2000 crew to tackle the first six stages before the overnight point at Lake Umuzi on the southern outskirts of the town.

In the S1600 class Richard Leeke Jnr and Rikus Fourie (ATS Ford Fiesta R2) will be first off the starting podium, followed by current log leaders Paulus Franken and Henry Kohne (Manitou Group VW Polo R2) and the class winners in the Sasol Rally, Chad van Beurden/ Nico Swartz (Beurden Transport VW Polo).

A short but spectacular 3.7km stage next to the lake at the complex will be the final stage on Friday night.

The rally will restart at Lake Umuzi on Saturday morning, providing spectators with another opportunity to see the cars and the service crews in action.

Another five stages, described by Clerk of the Course Willie du Plessis as “an interesting mix of different road surfaces” will then be tackled before the event finishes at Lake Umuzi in the afternoon.

The service park at Lake Umuzi will be open for setup from Thursday and scrutineering will take place at Secunda Toyota from 6pm onwards.

This will include an autograph session, providing another opportunity for rally followers to meet the top rally crews in the country.