Lowveld - Nov 21

Photographer: Dries Beetge
their cars to the test,” says Adri Fourie,
TRAC’s corporate social investment
executive manager. The South African
representative challenger in the ARC,
Guy Botterill, and navigator Simon Vacy-
Lyle are among those who cannot wait to
put pedal to the metal in their imported
Toyota Etios R4.
The race for the NRC 1 class on national
level is between Theuns Joubert and
navigator Schalk van Heerden, and Chris
Coertse and navigator Greg Godrich. In
the NRC 2 class, George Smalberger and
Anriko Opperman, in their VW Polo, will
also be in action, and the NRC 2 class
will see Gerald Klopper and navigator
Mari Ducasse in their Toyota Auris, and
Benjamin Habig and navigator Barry
White in their VW Polo. The Swazi-
Cowboy team of Jono van Wyk, and the
husband-and-wife team of JJ and Magriet
Potgieter (also known as the Boertjies),
will also be taking on the forests and
roads of Emakhazeni. The race to the
top of this class will be between Jayden
Els, JJ Potgieter and AC Potgieter, and
proficiency and speed will determine
the champion. Current NRC 4 champion
Jonathan Simms in his famous 2-litre
turbo-charged Tazz will also be entering
Photographer: Tylor-Mason James
the event. Based in Secunda, it is his
life-long dream to go up against national
and international teams. “The TRAC N4
event is one of the best organised, most
scenic, and most technically challenging
in terms of driver and navigator skillsets,”
says Jonathan.
Making a comeback are father-anddaughter
duo Edward and Larine
Strydom in their fast NRC 1/NRC 2 Tazz
1600 20V. It will be challenged by the
talented Henry Mostert and his navigator
Willem Morgen in the highly reliable
NRC 1 12V Toyota Conquest. Further
adding to the theme, the much-loved
classic Ford Escort MK1 driven by the
experienced Natie Booysen with codriver
Johan Smith will compete against
the Datsun 160U of equally qualified
husband-and-wife team Sarel and
Barbara Coetzer. However, these teams
will have to work hard to ensure they stay
ahead of the Malan pair in a Datsun GX,
their biggest challengers.
The low-flying Anton Raaths and Louis
Menge in the Mazda Rotary will compete
against the father-and-daughter team of
Johann and Natasha Fourie in a Castrol
Celica ST185 GT-4 as well as Rocco
Huzak and Marcel Dangoumou driving a
Repsol Celica ST185 GT-4. Both these cars
compete under the Toyota Team Fourie
banner. Arguably the most exciting and
successful rally car Toyota ever built, the
Celica AWD Turbo won the WRC Drivers’
Championship in 1992 and the WRC
Manufacturers’ accolade.
Both Johann and Rocco intend on
challenging some of the newer
generation rally cars for overall honours.
Andrea Raaths and her mom Isabel in
their 1600 Golf are the only all-female
team and are expected to raise eyebrows.
Also expected to make a statement is
the spectacular, former-factory Toyota
Corolla RWD of the Lukas van der
Merwe Jr/Tommie Coetzee pairing.
Should the current lockdown conditions
remain, it is hoped that spectators will
be allowed to attend the event this year.
This will be confirmed by TRAC and on
all NRC and Motorsport SA social media
platforms. Those not able to attend the
race in person can catch the exhilarating
action on all the SARallying social media
pages and on RaceDay TV, which will
share the action on various social media
platforms. For more information on
the 2021 TRACN4 Rally of South Africa,
follow @TRACN4 or @SARallychamps
on Facebook and Instagram, or visit
our website, www.tracn4.co.za. The
race secretary may be contacted at
samrallies@mweb.co.za.
Photographer: Dries Beetge