The VW Rally 10/11 July 2009

It seems like we only just got back from the South Africa Rally in Ermelo and it's already time for the next one. The Volkswagen rally kicks off the second half of the 2009 Sasol South African Rally Championship and it's sure to be a nail biting affair.

The Castrol Toyota team have won six of the last nine rally's heald there so the odds are good for another victory. Gemmel and Marsh are currently sitting second on the overall championship, this could be their chance to climb back up in the standings.

"It was a disappointing result for us and we will be looking to put that right and get our championship lead back", said an upbeat Johnny of his 6th place in Ermelo.

“There’s still a lot of points out there to take and we are determined to earn as many as we can over the remaining four rallies. It’s been a good fight with Hergen (Fekken) so far. We lead after the Tour Natal, then Hergen levelled with us. We re-took the lead after the Sasol, and now he is ahaead again, so hopefully, we will continue that sequence and leave Port Elizabeth in the lead again”.

The winners of the 2008 Volkswagen Rally, Mark Cronje and Robert Paisley driving the second S2000 Castrol Toyota Auris, was robbed of the Rally SA lead by “a R32 rose joint in the gearbox”. The upbeat driver, 5th in the title chase, rocketed into the lead of Rally SA, building a 33 second cushion in just two stages.

"I was pretty surprised to have such a big lead. The others must have been fast asleep because I was driving well within myself. I can’t wait for the rally because the team has done a lot of work on the car and they have definitely found something extra”, said the Roodepoort-based businessman.

In class S2000, Jean-Pierre Damseaux and Andre Vermeulen (Team Total Toyota RunX) got their campaign back on track with a solid third overall and re-energised, will be looking for another podium finish to make up for lost ground after failing to finish the first three rounds of the championship.

In class A7, the top two-wheel drive class, Evan Hutchinson/Elvene Coetzee (Motorite Toyota RunX) in 2nd place in the title standings, five points behind the class leader, Stevan Wilken/Greg Gericke. The current champions, Chris de Wit/Dean Redelinghuys (Team Total Toyota RunX) got their scorecard ticking over with a good showing after suffering the same start to the season as Damseaux did, recording three non-finishes.

Toyota rules the roost in class A6 with Mohammed Moosa and Grant Martin the quickest pairing in their Team Total Toyota Auris. Moosa is currently sharing the A6 lead with the Team Total Toyota RunX pair of Rodney Visagie and Carolyn Swan who also have two wins.