TOYOTA GAZOO Racing South Africa (TGRSA) driver Guy Botterill and co-driver Simon Vacy-Lyle will be heading to the picturesque Mpumalanga town of Dullstroom this weekend, with the aim of picking up where they left off during the previous round of the 2022 South African National Rally Championship (NRC). The pair drove their South African-built and developed Toyota Starlet to victory during Round 10 of the championship, and will be taking on the forest tracks around Dullstroom in the same car.
“We’ve prepared the car well for this weekend,” said Botterill in the build-up to this weekend’s Rounds 11 and 12. “We finally feel that we’re on top of things, and even though we’ve had our fair share of teething problems with the new car, I’m confident that we’re in a good position for this weekend.”
At the same time, teammates Mandla Mdakane and co-driver Kes Naidoo, will be campaigning the team’s second car in the form of a Toyota Auris S2000. The car has served as an entry to the sport for Mdakane, but reliability issues have plagued his attempts thus far.
“We’re hoping for a clean run this weekend,” said the Johannesburg-based driver. “We’ve shown good pace over single stages earlier in the year, but haven’t had the opportunity to string it all together. With a bit of luck, we’ll get that chance in Dullstroom.”
The weather in Dullstroom for this weekend is predicted to be mild and dry, in stark contrast to Botterill/Vacy-Lyle’s last outing for TGRSA, which was in extremely muddy and wet conditions, during the Parys 400 – final round of the 2022 South African Rally-Raid Series (SARRC), where they finished in fourth place during the final round.
This year’s TRACN4 National Rally will kick off with a ceremonial start at the service park at Lakenvlei, just outside Dullstroom. This will be followed by seven stages in the area forming Round 11 of the season. Saturday will see Round 12, the final of the season, start at the oval in Dullstroom itself, again followed by seven stages bringing the 2022 NRC to a close.
Botterill/Vacy-Lyle find themselves in third place in the championship standings going into the final weekend. They are just three points behind the crew in second place, and 67 points off the log leaders. While two rounds of the NRC theoretically offer enough points for the TGRSA crew to still win the championship, it is only a mathematical chance. A more realistic goal is to finish second in the championship, and Botterill/Vacy-Lyle is sure to be pushing hard throughout the weekend, in pursuit of that result.
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