VW RALLY HAS A LOT OF STING
author: Andries vd Walt
|
|
Hergen Fekken
|
The Volkswagen Rally, to be held this weekend in Port Elizabeth, is the opening event of the second half of the national rally season and for some competitors the actual start of the season. It is a rally that you have to approach with a measure of circumspection.
Hergen Fekken, the current 2009 South African Rally Drivers champions says that you have to be very careful on the VW. “The stages are very open and fast, but if you put your foot wrong there are small stones and other matter that can cause a puncture”.
Fekken, who says that he has not really had a very good season, is keen to do much better in the second half. “The season has really only started now and no matter what the current point standings are, much can still happen towards the end of the year”.
Fekken, a member of the BP VW S2000 racing team is currently in a disappointing, for him, 6th place on the log. Leading the log is his team mate, Enzo Kuun in a similar car on 67 points, followed by the Castrol Toyota Auris team of Johnny Gemmell on 63. The evergreen Jannie Habig, the third member of the Class S2000 VW BP Polo team is third the n points behind Gemmell.
|
|
Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries in action
|
Fekken says that he has had a very topsy-turvy season so far. He won the TOTAL Rally at the start of the season, was second on the Toyota Dealer Rally in the Cape and then did not finish the next two rallies. But he is convinced that things can change. My car will be quicker on the VW and I intend that Pierre Arries and I will finish and finish the VW well.
Asked about the new format of the event, he was somewhat reluctant to comment. “I am not sure whether I am going to like having to do the first day’s stages again on the second day. I always seem to be faster when I do a stage for the first time and slower the second time around. But maybe that is just my imagination”, he said. “But I like taking on new stages”.
He added that he was very happy with the full introduction of the new timing system. “Timing has become a critical factor on our rallies and it is important that competitors be given the correct times”, he said.
|
|
