Jan Habig Rallying

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Habig to focus on points

10 September 2013

With only three rounds left in the 2013 SA Rally Championship, the Basil Read Ford Team of Jan Habig and Robert Paisley have put the disappointment of the last event behind them, and are moving on as Ford continues its onslaught on the 2013 Championship.

Habig, currently lying second in the title chase, spoke of the team's strategy for the Toyota Dealer Rally which takes place in the Cape this weekend.

“For us at this point of the Championship it is extremely important to get a good result, and the gap between ourselves and the Ford Fiesta of Mark Cronjé and Robin Houghton has increased, but we still have a reasonable buffer over third place,” said Habig. “I think it is very clear that the opposition teams have done a tremendous amount of work to improve the performance of their cars."

"During the Ford Dealer Rally the top eight cars posted very competitive times, with much smaller time margins. With the faster pace, everyone tends to take more chances, and whilst the Cape roads are normally extremely fast and not very rocky, there are other obstacles like yumps, cattle grids and farm fences that have often taken their toll on this event,” he added.

There will be extra pressure on the Ford teams as they have managed to hog the number one spot on every event this year, and also won the inaugural Ford Dealer Rally last month.

“I think it is going to be a tough event, and it is going to require 110% commitment from Robbie and myself from the very first stage," continued Habig. "Gone are the days when you could hang around and wait until the end of stage 3 to see what strategies are being adopted by the other teams. One just cannot afford to be 10 seconds adrift by that time. Reliability, responsiveness and set-up of the Basil Read Ford will be three key areas that will come into play and I don’t particularly have any superstitions about Friday the 13th.”

The Toyota Dealer Rally starts at 11h00 on Friday at Imperial Toyota Cape Gate, with gravel stages in the Malmesbury area. After an overnight stop the event will restart on Saturday morning at 05h00 with a further Malmesbury stage before the finish back at the start venue at 15h00.

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