story by: Volkswagen Motorsport - Rally 18 March 2011
pictures by: motorpicsza.co.za

THE BP Volkswagen Rally Team, six consecutive national rally championship titles to their name, is ready to tackle the start of the 2011 season in KwaZulu Natal on Friday and Saturday, 25 and 26 March. This opening round sees a number of new developments at the team.

In addition to championship winners of 2010, Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson, championship winners of 2009, Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries and multiple national champion Jan Habig – all legends in local rally circles – a new member of the team will compete in 2011, the highly experienced Robert Paisley. Paisley will navigate for Habig from this season.

The BP Volkswagen team also fields a brand new car in the S2000 class this season, joining the three-car team already there. The driver of this new entry is the internationally renowned South African Dakar competitor Giniel de Villiers. De Villiers will have as navigator another Dakar entrant from South Africa, Ralph Pitchford.

Pitchford navigated for Habig last season, learning the ropes in the fast-paced environment that is the South African national rally scene. The experienced gained in 2010 will prove invaluable during his campaign with De Villiers this season.

While the S2000 rally entry of De Villiers and Pitchford will run in the BP Volkswagen Ultimate colours of the rest of the team, it will sport a Red Bull Mobile bonnet, making this fourth entry easily identifiable to spectators.

In addition to the new rally competitors and the additional rally car, the BP Volkswagen team has another newcomer this season – the BP Volkswagen rally car itself. The KZN event will see the team compete in the new BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo for the first time. This car is brand new for the 2011 season, featuring the new Vivo appearance and sporting modified bodywork and mechanics as well.

The team has high expectations of the new car and in early season testing, it appears more than capable of satisfying the challenging demands of the team.

The A7 class will see Gugu Zulu return to action this season with navigator Carl Peskin at his side. Peskin previously navigated for Zulu when they were in action in the A5 class and now returns to compete with the national A7 titleholder for 2011.

In the A5 class there is a new team, that of Megan Verlaque and Lirene du Plessis. This all-girl team will contest the A5 championship behind the wheel of another BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo, albeit at a rather different specification level to that of the S2000 class competitors.

Verlaque and Du Plessis are the current BP Volkswagen rally development team which sees promising young talent identified and then provided an opportunity to compete for a two-year period under the BP Volkswagen banner. After the two seasons a new driver and navigator is identified and the development process begins again.

The first event of the 2011 season in KwaZulu Natal promises to be an action-packed rally that will set the tone for the rest of the season. The S2000 class is again going to grab the lion’s share of attention and with the competition now between the BP Volkswagen Polos, the Ford Fiestas, new Peugeot 207 entries and the traditional rivals to the champions, Toyota, it is going to be a highly competitive season.

There are 14 stages of competition that will take place in KwaZulu Natal and each of them will see the various teams jostling for position while the BP Volkswagen team seeks to stamp their domination on the 2011 national rally season from the outset.