Conrad for MTN Polokwane Rally

Rally Championship has so far attracted 32 national and three regional entries, including one from Zimbabwe’s champion driver Conrad Rautenbach.
As usual, altogether 18 S2000 cars will be in action with all the S2000 drivers entered.
Given the current championship standings, that is still provisional until after the National Court of Appeal’s hearing of Rautenbach’s appeal on short cutting, it will be a make or break event for those at the top of the points log.

For once we will see somewhat of a decent event with more than 200km of special stages.
The area has not seen a rally in nearly six years so the competitors will be hard done by if they try and rely on their previous knowledge of stages.
The Clerk of the Course, Jeremy du Plessis, has plotted 16 stages.

They include a short tar stage around the outside perimettre of the Peter Mokaba Stadium that was specially built for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
The main attention will be focused on Zimbabwe’s Rautenbach in his Green Fuel Ford Fiesta who are leading the provisional championship points log on 125, followed in joint provisional second by Mark Cronje in a Sasol Ford Fiesta and Enzo Kuun in a BP VW Raling Polo Vivo.

Johnny Gemmell in the Castrol Team is fourth on 93 points and the chances of him winning the championship is no longer on the cards unless Cronje and Kuun both don’t finish the rally.
And then Enzo Kuun still has to drop one event, which could be the Sasol Rally where he only scored nine points.
In terms of the National Court of Appeal findings, Rautenbach and Gemmell cannot regard their exclusions as dropped points.

Rautenbach will have to drop the 15 points he scored on the Garden Route Rally, while Cronje had one non-finish.
If Rautenbach drops 15 points he goes down to 110, Cronje stays on 116, Kuun drops to 107, Gemmell stays on 93, and Nicolas Ryan drops four places from fifth to ninth.
It becomes all very interesting.

All three the top runners will be going all out for a win or at least a second place.
In the 2WD class S1600 it is going to be a three-way fight between Christoff Snyders, Craig Trott and Tjaart Conradie. Snyders is leading Trott by eight points, with Conradie 14 points behind Trott.
The Class 1400 2WD drive championship can go either way with Megan Verlaque leading Henk Lategan by two points.

It has been a drama filled season so far, and their is every indication that the drama will only end this coming Sunday afternoon in Polokwane. Or will it? – Rally Star.