CASTROL TEAM TOYOTA AT FULL STRENGTH FOR THE RALLY OF SOUTH AFRICA
May 25, 2010 by ProMotor
The Castrol Team Toyota rally team is back at full strength with Johnny Gemmell supported by regular navigator Drew Sturrock once again. Sturrock travels down from his native Scotland for each round of the Sasol South African Rally Championship and had his travel plans for the last event disrupted by the Iceland volcano ash cloud keeping him out of the Castrol Auris for that event.
“Phil Archenout did a good job with Johnny in the Sasol but it was an unfair expectation to assume that Johnny would be at the top of his game with a stand-in navigator that he had no previous event experience with,” says Castrol Team Toyota team principal Glyn Hall. “In the Toyota Dealer Rally in Caledon we saw that Johnny and Drew had settled quite well. With Drew back in the navigator’s seat Johnny will have the confidence to mount a full-on attack in the Rally of South Africa.
“As with Johnny, Mark Cronje and Robert Paisley have shown really good speed in the three events run so far. The pace at the head of the field is really furious and all of the top six or seven cars are right on the edge the whole time and that puts every one of them at risk of going off the road or damaging the cars. With little to choose between the cars it’s all about having a fast but really clean run. We expect both of the works cars to be right in the mix at the head of the field.
“The Rally of South Africa is one of the tougher events on the calendar, usually the longest in terms of total stage distance. One stage on its own is a challenging 56 odd kilometres in length! It is also usually run in dusty conditions so offers quite a challenge to competitors. Endurance and reliability are key to success in this event and we look forward to sharing success in Ermelo with our partners Castrol, Imperial, and the Innovation Group.
“The Auris S2000 will run in essentially the same specification as it did in the Sasol Rally. Our development effort is now focused on the evolution version of the car that will take advantage of revisions to the S2000 regulations implemented by the FIA, including an increase in the track of 20mm. Our target is to run the evolution version of the Auris in the VW Rally at the end of August.”
In addition to the two Castrol Team Toyota works Auris S2000s similar cars have been entered by Japie van Niekerk/Robin Houghton (New Africa Developments), and by the Pirtek team for Hein Lategan/Johan vd Merwe and Visser du Plessis/Gerhard Snyman. A further three RunX S2000s are entered under the Team Total banner for JP Damseaux/Carolyn Swan, Fernando Rueda/Dave Lewkowicz, and Mohammed Moosa/Grant Martin.
Other Toyotas to watch in the event are those of Michael Otto, class A7 winner last time out, Leeroy Poulter class A6 winner in the Sasol Rally in his RunX, Craig Trott, also in a class A6 RunX and Tjaart Conradie in his A6 Auris. In class A5 the car to watch is will be the Yaris of young Ashley Haigh-Smith.
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