The opening round of the South African National Rally Championship was on the weekend of 27-28 February 2015 in the KwaZulu-Natal, Scottburgh area and the Manitou Group SA Rally team managed to score a win in class S1600.

Being the first event of the season, the Tour Natal Rally, the top eight seeded teams have to draw starting positions and Paul Franken and Henry Köhne drew number one, putting them first on the road. “Being the first front wheel drive car on the road was a big challenge to me, with slippery road conditions we were very cautious on day one. We managed to pick up our pace throughout the event and at the end our cautious approach seems to have worked for us as many teams were caught out by the slippery roads of Natal” - Paul Franken.

The Manitou Group team won three out of the eleven special stages in S1600. This giving them confidence, at the beginning of the season, to compete for more podium positions in class S1600. “We are pleased with our result on the Tour Natal Rally, to score maximum points at the beginning of the season will help a lot towards the Championship” added Paul Franken. The next event is the SASOL Rally in Sabie on the weekend of 17-18 April. The Manitou Group SA Rally team is supported by Manitou Group, Supa Quick Birchleigh, Volkswagen Motorsport and SASOL Racing.

Photos: Andre Laubscher,  andre@runridedive.com

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