Castrol Team Toyota is in confident mood ahead of the sixth round of the South African Rally Championship, the Garden Route Rally, which takes place between George and Kynsna this weekend (August 26 and 27).
Johnny Gemmell and Scottish co-driver Drew Sturrock and Leeroy Poulter and Elvene Coetzee are among a strong entry in the premier Super 2000 class in their factory four-wheel drive Toyota Auris rally cars.
“We have an engine upgrade for this event, which gives us more top-end power,” said team principal Glyn Hall. “We had a big test in the Longmore forest immediately after the recent Volkswagen Rally and found quite a big gain in performance.
“This is the first time we will enjoy a good gain in power this season, but we’re not sure how much difference it will make as we know from the DVD route notes that the Garden Route Rally is going to be very tight. We might not be able to make full use of the additional power.
“It’s a new event for everybody and this is good for Leeroy. The Auris has been particularly good in rough stages, so it will be interesting to see how fast we are in the tight forest stages.
“My main job this weekend is to keep Johnny and Drew focused on the rally. We’re in a good position in the championship, particularly if we win our appeal against MSA’s decision to exclude them from the Toyota Dealer Gauteng Rally in June, which will put them in the lead instead of fourth.”
The rally will start from the new Garden Route Mall near George airport at 12.00 on Friday 26. The first day will consist of four gravel special stages, three of which will be in the Outeniqua forests, and a short tar stage at the overnight stop in Knysna.
Saturday’s action starts at 08.00 from Simola in Knysna and the route will include a repeat of Friday’s three forest special stages plus an additional forest stage that will be run twice. The total distance of the 10 stages is 170 km.
