Polokwane, Limpopo - The 2014 SA Rally series is heading for a spectacular four-way battle at the Polokwane Motor Rally on 17 and 18 October.
Toyota Yaris crew Leeroy Poulter and Elvéne Coetzee are on track for their first national rally title - they are leading works team-mate and twice former champion Hergen Fekken and co-driver Carolyn Swan by 29 points and defending champions Mark Cronje and Robin Houghton a works Ford Fiesta by 36.5 points - but there are still two rounds and a maximum of 50 points on the table; any one of at least seven crews is capable of winning the penultimate round and sending the outcome of the championship down to the wire at the final round in November.
Poulter and Cronje have been the drivers to beat, winning five of the six rounds so far - Poulter taking the honours three times to Cronje's two - and claiming the lion's share of the special stage victories. Giniel de Villiers and Greg Godrich (Toyota Yaris) were popular first-time winners together in the most recent round, the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally in the Western Cape two weeks ago.
Fekken and Swan, with three podium finishes to their credit, Hollander Hans Weijs Junior and Belgian Bjorn Degandt (Volkswagen Polo), who are fourth in the standings and have been on the podium three times, VW team-mates Henk Lategan and Barry White, fifth in the championship and runners-up in Round3, and Japie van Niekerk and Gerhard Snyman, seventh in the championship and runners-up in Round 5, will all be looking for that elusive first win.
But Clerk of the course Willie du Plessis isn't about to make it easy for them.
"The gravel special stages and the two tarmac stages at the Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane, which will serve as rally headquarters throughout the two days and will host the start and finish on both days, will be familiar," he said, "but they'll be tackled in a different order to last year."
The rally will cover about 550km over the two days with 11 special stages - six on Friday and five on Saturday - totalling 180km of high-speed rallying.
Du Plessis said: "The rally cars will travel in convoy from stadium to the city centre with a police escort for the ceremonial start at noon from the Polokwane Council Chambers."
After an overnight stop at the Peter Mokaba Stadium, the rally will restart on Saturday at 7am and finish back at the stadium at about 1.50pm. The traditional podium ceremony and spraying of champagne will be at 4pm and will be followed by the official prize-giving.
"All the roads are in excellent condition thanks to the efforts of the landowners," promised Du Plessis. "The crews can expect a good mix of fast, open runs and slower, more technical sections.
"Day one will be mostly tight and technical, while day two will be more open and faster - but the big challenge, as usual, will be dust."
Spectators guides giving details of safe vantage points as well as information about the competitors and the championship can be downloaded at SA Rallying and will be available at the start.