We’re now sitting at 16 days until the Gumtree World Rallycross Championship makes its way to Killarney International Raceway in Cape Town, so we thought we would introduce to you the two South Africans set to compete.

Battling the likes of international superstar drivers Sebastien Loeb, Petter Solberg, Mattias Ekstrom and Ken Block, 25-year-old Ashley Haigh-Smith and 39-year-old Mark Cronje are flying the SA flag.

Hailing from Pretoria, Cronje [above] has extensive rally experience and won the South African National Rally Championship in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

He will be racing with British-based team Albatec, and will be driving a Peugeot 208 RX Supercar:

“The team itself obviously developed the car. I’ve got a monster turbo on it. I think it’s very capable of hitting jumps at quite serious speed.”

Next up is Capetonian Haigh-Smith [above] who, on the other hand, is set to participate in the circuit racing event in an Olsberg MSE Supercar.

The only South African Rally driver to have participated in the Junior World Rally Championship, he will be racing around in a Ford Fiesta.

Here’s the lowdown on the rest of the entrants competing in the season finale of the 2017 WRX, so you know what’s going down:

Sweden’s Johan Kristoffersson has sewn up the World RX Drivers’ title and leads the 22-strong Supercar field into the final round, but the battle for second is set to go down to wire with just one point separating Norway’s Petter Solberg and Sweden’s Mattias Ekstrom.

Also joining the permanent teams and drivers will be Sweden’s Oliver Eriksson in a second OMSE Fiesta and Belgium’s Gregoire Demoustier, who will drive a Peugeot 208 WRX for the DA Racing team alongside returning driver Jean-Baptiste Dubourg. Germany’s Rene Muennich has already experienced the Killarney International Raceway when he drove at the event’s launch and will race his Muennich Motorsport Seat Ibiza.

France’s Cyril Raymond wrapped up the title at his home round in Loheac, but there are still ongoing battles throughout the 16-car field. None more so than for fourth overall, with Sweden’s William Nilsson, America’s Tanner Whitten and Sweden’s Simon Olofsson separated by just four points. France’s Guerlain Chicherit will race in RX2 as he prepares for competing in World RX full time in 2018.

The first time a rallycross event of this kind is set to take place in Africa, you can catch all the action on Saturday, 11 November from 8AM until Sunday, 12 November 2017 at 4PM. Tickets are available here, so get cracking.

Here’s what you’re in for:

A weekend of exhilarating wheel-to-wheel race action on mixed surfaces (dirt and asphalt), the FIA World Rallycross Championship delivers serious indulgence for fans of speed and cars. High profile drivers are equipped with RX Supercars with over 600bhp and the ability to accelerate from 0-60mph in less than two seconds – faster than a Formula One car.

A big thanks to online classified site Gumtree, who are doing wonders for the automotive industry in South Africa (check out their Pre-Owned Car Awards as well), and have sponsored the event.

Ready? Let’s go.

[source:ewn&ewn]