Jan Habig Rallying

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Can Habig do it again?

12 July 2013

Eight contenders! One event! Only one team standing on the finishing ramp as the overall winner!

The scene is set for one of the most exciting rallies of the 2013 season when Jan Habig and Robert Paisley (Basil Read Ford Fiesta) and team mates Mark Cronjé and Roger Houghton in a second Ford Fiesta, take on rival manufacturers Toyota and Volkswagen in the Volkswagen Rally for round four of the 2013 SA National Rally Championship.

Cronjé and Houghton lead the 2013 SA Rally Drivers' and Navigators' Championships with 63 points, a single point ahead of the Habig and Paisley, who clinched overall victory on the Toyota Gauteng Rally last month.

"The fact that the two Fords have now won four events on the trot, proves that their reliability and competitiveness is certainly one of the major factors that come into play when the crews take on the events," said Marius Heyns, CEO of Basil Read. "We were extremely excited to witness Jan and Robert's victory in the Gauteng Rally which they really controlled from the third stage. For us as sponsors, it is about creating an awareness of our brand in the market place, and Jan has managed to encapsulate the very essence of our involvement. Winning the Toyota Gauteng event by 48 seconds made the victory even sweeter. Last year Habig lead the event from the start to the penultimate stage when he suffered a puncture, robbing him of an overall win and he had to settle for the runner-up position."

The 2012 Volkswagen Rally near Port Elizabeth went down in the history books as one of the wettest events in South African rallying history. The area experienced incessant rain for days before the start of the rally which continued throughout the event, resulting in many teams being forced to retire in a contest which saw the bravest survive.

From the outset, Habig proved that his experience and ability to rally in wet conditions would give him an edge over some competitors. Habig started the day 23 seconds behind Gemmell (Toyota Run-X), and won three stages in succession, never putting a wheel in the wrong puddle, and reducing the gap to a mere 12.3 seconds.

With only one point separating Habig and Cronjé, the two Ford drivers will certainly have their work cut out for them on this year's event to keep the trio of Volkswagens driven by Kuun/Judd; Fekken/Arries and Lategan/White behind them, with the top step of the podium always in the back of their minds.

"It is very difficult to predict a winner this season because any one of eight cars can still take overall honours," said Habig. "The main focus during this short break was to see if we could find half a second per kilometre of increased pace - that is how competitive it is out there. It is important to ensure that the set-up is as perfect as we can get it, because the top drivers are competing at the very pinnacle of rallying, and competing at 100%, with only split seconds over long stages determining the outcome of every stage."

"A few new stages have been incorporated by the organisers into the VW Rally this year. This is always seen as a new challenge and gives a new dimension to the rally. Here the navigator's skill comes into play giving the crew which manages to make the best pace notes from the safety DVD, a slight edge," Habig said.

The event will bring rallying to the people and the spectator stage at Kings Beach, which has become synonymous with the Volkswagen Rally, will have the rally enthusiasts out in droves.

The Volkswagen Rally starts on Friday 19 July and finishes on Saturday 20 July at Kings Beach where fans can get really close to their favourite teams.

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