SA Rally

Toyota has a proud heritage when it comes to the sport of rallying, especially in South Africa, where the manufacturer has won many championships over multiple decades of rallying. Lately, Guy Botterill and navigator Simon Vacy-Lyle have been flying the flag for TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA, both within South Africa and on the African continent as a whole.

The pair sealed the 2019 championship in style, adding to a host of championships they had won before, making them one of the top Toyota crews in South African rallying history. They have some big boots to fill, however, as drivers such as Serge Damseaux and Leeroy Poulter set the bar extremely high in their time.

Over the years, names like Damseaux and Poulter became synonymous with Toyota and rallying, but they had many colleagues, including stars like Johnny Gemmell, Hergen Fekken, Giniel de Villiers, Etienne Lourens and more.

TOYOTA GAZOO Racing SA was also the first works team in South Africa to field two female navigators, in the form of Carolyn Swan (who navigated for Fekken and De Villiers); and Elvene Coetzee (now Vonk), who sat beside Leeroy Poulter during his time in the South African National Rally Championship. Elvene's father is Kassie Coetzee, a legendary figure in cross-country racing.

Team members

GUY BOTTERILL

Driver #1

SA rally

Guy Botterill was born on 5 May 1986, with a passion for sport. After many years in various forms of circuit racing including, karting, production cars, Polo Cup and Shelby Can Am, Botterill entered the world of Rally. He made his debut in the motorsport world in a 60cc GP Junior at the age of 10 years. After two short years, he was awarded his provincial colours for Motorsport after winning the KwaZulu-Natal Provincial Championship in the GP Junior Class. Shortly thereafter, he moved up to a more powerful 100cc Stock Kart where he was crowned Champion for the Provincial Championship, Inter-Provincial Championship, Club Championship, Zululand Championship for two consecutive years and was re-awarded his Provincial Colours. After a successful run in the Stock Kart, Botterill moved on to the 100cc Super Karts where he once again dominated the Season by winning the Provincial Championship and placing top three in South Africa. Guy ended his karting career by representing South Africa in Italy at the Karting World Championships. Straight out of school, Botterill moved into Class C of Production Cars where he quickly made his mark by winning Rookie of the Day four times, and finished the season in a remarkable 5th place. Next came a stint in one of the most challenging and competitive classes on the main circuit, namely Engen VW Polo Cup. In his first year in Polo Cup, Botterill was awarded the VW Polo Cup Rookie of the Year Award. With enough time in the seat, he started racing in the Shelby Can-Am series where he finished 4th in the South African Championship in his first year, and missed the title of South African Champion in his second year by 0.01 of a second. He did, however, receive the award for the most improved driver during his short time in the Shelby Can-Am series. 2011 welcomed Botterill into the South African National Rally Championship. Here he found himself amongst Motorsport Legends including Giniel De Villiers, Leeroy Poulter, Jan Habig, Enzo Kuun and Mark Cronje. Botterill has won the S1600/R2 South African Rally Championship four years on the trot, as well as winning the South African National Rally Championship for the first time in 2017. In 2014 he won the S1600 championship before the season was completed and in 2016 won seven out of eight rounds of the championship. Guy Botterill was the first driver in a S1600 car to win a round of the FIA African Rally Championship in 2017.

SIMON VACY-LYLE

Navigator #1

SA rally

Simon Vacy-Lyle was born 1st September 1988 and completed his schooling at Kearsney college in Durban KZN, before going on to complete a National Diploma in Business Management. Simon began his motorsport career in 2006, starting out in Karting, where he was coached and taught all the dynamics of setup and racing tactics by Guy Botterill. Simon went on to compete in karting for the next 5 years at a regional level, before being given the opportunity to navigate for Botterill in 2011, competing in the South African National Rally Championship. Vacy-Lyle attended a course on rally navigation at the Rallystar Motorsport Academy, and has not looked back since. He has competed in rally for seven years and have won four championships: Three South African Class S1600 championships, and one overall South African national rally championship. He currently works for the family business in the wholesale of tools and machinery, as well as keeping an eye on the preparations of their trusty TOYOTA ETIOS rally car.