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The BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 team fought a hard HMC Rally in Mpumalanga, South Africa, over 13-14 May, and while all four factory cars crossed the line within the top 10 finishers, the fourth, fifth, seventh and ninth places were some way off 2010’s form. The pairing of Jan Habig/Robert Paisley were the top placed VW team, despite Paisley still suffering from a broken collarbone from the Sasol Rally. The duo remained in the top five throughout most of the two days of stages, slipping on three of the eleven trials. Team mates Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries were unfortunate on stage six, when an accident with a photographer halted their progress and the stage was stopped. The event resumed on stage seven. After much deliberation, the pair continued the rally, and scored a fifth-placed finish, just behind Habig/Paisley.

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The second outing of 2011 for the South African BP Volkswagen rally team went even less to plan than the first, but, despite the punishing stages, the lime green liveried fleet of Polo Vivo S2000s lived to fight another day. The 20th Sasol Rally in Mpumalanga from 15-16 April really did punish the Volkswagen team, and it was one of the rare occasions when there were no Polos on the podium. Instead, the spoils went to Toyota teams Leeroy Poulter/Elvene Coetzee in first and Johnny Gemmell/Drew Sturrock in second, while Ford drivers Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger came in third.

Polo pilots Jan Habig/Robert Paisley were favourites from the start, setting the pace with three consecutive stage wins, although a damaged brake pipe soon curtailed them. Mechanical work completed, they went on to finish just 0.4 seconds off the rally leaders at the end of day one. The second day brought more drama, with Habig’s biggest crash for 14 years. One of his Polo Vivo S2000’s rims was damaged on a yump on stage 12, and on landing, the car headed straight for the bushes, rolling end over end for over 240 metres. Injuries were thankfully light; Habig suffered bruising, while Paisley got away with a broken collarbone.

With Habig/Paisley out, the pressure was on for Hergen Fekken/Pierre Arries, who claimed seventh position overall at the rally’s end, but even that was hard won. The first day saw the duo in the top six drivers – and that was bettered on day two when the team were in the top four – but one stage after the Habig/Paisley crash, their Polo Vivo S2000 suffered a broken propshaft, leaving them more than four minutes behind the rally leaders. Climbing up the leaderboard from ninth, Fekken/Arries’ seventh position had the dubious honour of being the highest-placed BP Volkswagen rally car.

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It may not have gone quite to plan last weekend (25-26 March) for the BP Volkswagen rally team, just missing out on a first place at the opening round of the 2011 South African National Rally Championship, the Total Tour Natal Rally, but the team still claimed second, third and fourth places. Ultimate victory went to the Ford Fiesta team of Conrad Rautenbach and Nicolas Klinger. Jan Habig and Robert Paisley finished behind Rautenback and Klinger, while Enzo Kuun and Guy Hodgson crossed the line in third place, while Hergen Fekken and Pierre Arries made up the top four. The blue-bonneted Polo S2000 of Giniel de Villiers and Ralph Pitchford crossed the finishing line in eighth position, making it a full-house end for the BP Volkswagen team.

Volkswagen also claimed the Manufacturer’s title at the event, with six Polo S2000s in the top 10 finishers. Then there were the privateer entries of Nicholas Ryan and co-driver Geoff Tyrer, and Japie van Niekerk and Dave Lewkowitz who rallied their cars to sixth and ninth overall respectively. ‘Getting all four of our cars to the finish was important,’ said Mike Barnard who manages the BP Volkswagen team. ‘Hard work and reliability have always been important and I’m glad to see it has remained the status quo into the new season.’ The Total Tour Natal was the first outing for the new BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S2000 rally car. The BP Volkswagen Polo Vivo S1400 of Megan Verlaque and Lirene du Plessis also debuted as the young development team tackled their first rally together, producing a class-winning and impressive performance.

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