King of
Africa attracts a crowd
MERRYN SHERWOOD – Canberra Times
11/05/2008 10:06:00 AM
QUEENSLAND
business owner Marius Swart hadn't driven a rally car since he arrived from
South Africa five years ago. But
yesterday he created a stir when he completed his first day of rallying Down
Under in one of the most exciting cars, the so nicknamed 'King of Africa', the
super 2000 Volkswagen polo.
Swart
and co-driver Gerard McConkey were sitting in 10th spot in the ARC rankings at
the end of yesterday's stages, with Canberra's Neal Bates and Coral Taylor
leading the way.
''It's
absolutely fantastic, it ran without missing a beat today, the driver missed a
few, but the car was just phenomenal,'' Swart said. ''The harder you drive it and the rougher you
are with it, the happier the car is.
''Because I haven't driven for such a long time, five years, we had a
few hairy moments and I backed off quite a bit, but we changed a few suspension
settings and it's just been getting better and better. Swart decided after his five-year hiatus, to
get back into the sport in the best way possible.
Last
year he contacted all the super 2000 manufacturers, the new generation rally
cars, including Canberra-based Toyota Racing Development, and eventually bought
the Volkswagen in November last year.
It
was after the car had won the 2007 South African Rally Championship, for which
it acquired the 'King of Africa' tag.
Swart won't say how much he paid, but it's likely it was more than
$200,000.
It
only arrived in Australia four weeks ago, but this week has been the first time
Swart has driven it and the first time he has driven with McConkey. Swart met McConkey four years ago, when he
was watching an event McConkey was competing in. ''I'd gone up and had a chat to Gerard then,
and so when this came up his name came into my head and I still had his
number,'' Swart said.
''When
I said what it was, he was hooked, and there was no way he was missing out on
that.'' Yesterday a crowd gathered
around Swart's tent to check out the car.
Right down the end of the service park, but it attracted just as many
fans as the others.
''We
are true privateers,'' Swart said.
CONTACT:
Marius Swart – marius@oz2000.com.au