The New Africa Developments (NAD) Ford Fiesta S2000 rally team heads to the Toyota Cape Dealer Rally more motivated than ever after their impressive second place on the Cullinan Rally, and driver Japie van Niekerk will take the same mental approach which worked so well in the dusty fields north-east of Pretoria a month ago.
“It is all about focus and maybe in the past I paid too much attention to what those around me were doing,” says the property tycoon. “I started rallying later than most so I’ve always tried to benchmark myself stage by stage, but on the Cullinan we simply drove as best we could without trying to second-guess our rivals. It worked, and I enjoyed the event much more too as a result!”
In fact, stage times and positions relative to others were not discussed inside the car, Japie and navigator Gerhard Snyman simply doing what the two of them do best. They played themselves in slowly on the first day, and on the second gave their Fiesta its head: the result was a brace of fastest stage times, a trio of runner-up positions, and third fastest on the final stage of the event.
The result moved them up the points log and they now lie seventh in class. Their goal for the next event – which gets underway in the Western Cape on September 19 – is to take the same approach that worked so well recently and aim for another podium.
“On the first day of the Cullinan we also made a change to the suspension set-up and it really worked for me – the car’s handling was totally to my liking. While the conditions in the Cape are going to be different it is a great base to develop from so we’re looking forward to a positive outcome,” concluded Van Niekerk.