Women on track in hot wheels

Motor racing is a manly domain so it's quite refreshing to see just how many ladies have signed up for this year's National Rally opener down in KwaZulu-Natal.

Kicking up dust from March 25 - 26, the Total Tour Natal Rally will give all you speedy sisters out there something to shout about thanks, in most part, to the all-female team of Stefanie Hugo and navigator, Angela Shields.

Competing for Class A6 glory in their Team Total Toyota RunX, you can expect this pair of honeys to give the likes of Gugu Zulu and co-driver Carl Peskin a good run for their testosterone-soaked money.

Hugo, a 24-year-old graphic designer from Pretoria, is certainly no stranger to the rigours of racing as she already has five national rally events behind her name.

For 2011 her driving talents have been suitably matched to the enthusiasm of 28-year-old Shields who, despite being something of a newcomer to the sport, definitely proved her navigational prowess and aptitude during last year's Rally Star Sprint Season held in Benoni, Johannesburg.

Elsewhere you can also expect veteran navigator Carolyn Swan to be lending her pace note skills to Jean-Pierre Damseaux in the privately entered Team Total Toyota RunX.

A bookkeeper by trade, Swan has won every class in which she has competed (N1, N3, A5 and A6) with the exception of S2000.

Now making her debut in the latter is Elvéne Coetzee (daughter of successful ex-rally driver, Kassie) who will be kicking up dirt with Leeroy Poulter inside a Castrol Toyota factory team Toyota Auris.

The navigator for Evan Hutchison in last year's National Rally Championship, Coetzee is an avid driver herself and often competes behind the wheel in events like the Superhatch Series.

Combined with the raw talent of Poulter, this could indeed be the team to beat when the 2011 Total Tour Natal Rally kicks off.