ARTICLE ISSUED BY:  ROD HERING

Photography by:  Dave Ledbitter

PREVIEW: RALLY SA (17-18 August)

Fresh from his career best third overall on the recent HMC Regional Rally, Nic van der Westhuizen is bullish about his chances of success on the 5th round of the SA Rally Championship, the Rally of South Africa which is a new event on the calendar this season.  The team starts Rally SA in second place in the title chase and will be looking to close the gap down to the leader.

The SA Earthworks Ford Fiesta team claimed their maiden win in Gauteng in June and joined an elite group of four different winners from the first four rounds of the SA Super 1600 Rally Championship so far.  Van der Westhuizen and co-driver Henry Dearlove are looking to become the first double winner of the year.

Run previously as the Zulu Rally in 2006/7, few of the Super 1600 youngsters have any experience of the conditions which is where the SA Earthworks team has an advantage in that co-driver Dearlove has competed on the roads on both occasions the event was run.

The Ford Fiesta R2 should be well suited to the rougher second day stages in the forests around Richmond due to its longer suspension travel and with van der Westhuizen growing in  confidence and ability on with every passing rally, the fight for S1600 honours will be fierce.

“I’m very comfortable in the car and its abilities but again this will be a new experience for me.  We will do the recce run although I seldom change the organisers’ route note descriptions, maybe just a few tweaks as we go along.  The recce evens out the playing field but will make for a long week as we leave base on the Tuesday before the event”, said the Midrand-based mining equipment manager.

“Obviously we all want to win.  I really want to finish ahead of Craig {Trott} to close the points gap a bit and would like to get closer to Ashley {Haigh-Smith}’s times.  We haven’t yet had a head-to-head battle so maybe it will happen this time”, he added.

Henry Dearlove has already formed a game plan from his previous experience of the event.  “There is a particular stage that if you drive it properly, you can gain ¾ of a minute on the field.  Ashley is the danger man especially with his experience of making his notes on the World stage that he’s competing on.  Craig and Guy {Botterill} will also be strong but I don’t believe Nic has to stand back for any of them”.

Dearlove believes the rally will be the wildcard of the season as it has only been run twice before.  “Previously as the Zulu Rally, tyres were not restricted but now there are limits to how many can be used and that will add an interesting strategic dimension to the event.  The Ford will be good in the rougher forest stages as it handles the jumps very well.  I remember quite a few rough patches and a lot of jumps on Saturday’s stages.  It’s going to be an exciting ride”, Dearlove concluded.

The rally South Africa will start and finish at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on each day, with a ‘promotional’ special stage on tarmac ending each day’s action.

The rally gets underway at 11h30 on Friday, heading for the Valley of 1000 Hills for three stages before returning the popular holiday city for the tarmac finale.

The cars leave Durban at 06h50 on Saturday for four stages in the Richmond area before the final Durban stage at 15h44.

The SA Earthworks Ford Fiesta R2 is built and maintained by Race Prep in Randburg and enjoys additional support from Construction Tyres, High Power Equipment (HPE) and Shantui.

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