The entries are in, the stages and ready and the arrangements are all in place for the Volkswagen Rally 2010. The start is at Auto Pavilion in Uitenhage on Friday (23 July) and there are more than 40 teams ready to take part.
In total there are 11 stages of rally action waiting for these competitors, varying from gravel and dirt to tar stages, covering the Longmore Forest, Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth. For spectators there are plenty of opportunities to see the rally competitors in action – some of them without having to even move around.
There are three Longmore Forest stages on Friday, starting at 12:53 – two of which are the same, albeit in the opposite direction. This means that spectators can watch the cars through the first stage and then see the entire field come through the same stage, but from the other side for the third stage.
For those who wish to follow the front runners, the spectator point for stage two is not too far away, but spectators are encouraged to skip stages to prevent a panicked rush from point to point.
After the forest the teams will head off to the Port Elizabeth Oval Track Raceway (PEOTR) for stage four at 15:45 on Friday afternoon before heading to the popular Winterhoek stage in Uitenhage at 16:48. The final stage for Friday takes place under lights at Aldo Scribante from 17:35. Spectators will be charged R30 per car for entry to the circuit.
In addition to the rally competition happening at Scribante, there will also be drift demonstrations before the stage and a drift demonstration as well as drag racing after the event.
On Saturday morning the teams will head straight out to Longmore Forest for stage 7 at 08:48. The three stages on Saturday in the forest are repeats of the first three on Friday – with the same schedule, stages 7 and 9 are the same, but stage nine is run in reverse. The final forest stage starts at 11:35 after which the teams will head back to PEOTR for the penultimate stage of the event at 12:16.
The final stage this year will, as per usual, take place in the Kings Beach parking lot. The competitors will tackle this stage from 13:50 on Saturday afternoon. For spectators who cannot make the other stages, a trip to Kings Beach will ensure entertainment at this venue from 11:00 on Saturday morning.
The entertainments include stalls, karting demonstrations, a drift display and parades by Xtreme Veedubz and the Street Rod Club amongst other activities. The final podium of the event will also take place here after the event at 15:45.
The traditional fight between the Volkswagen and Toyota entries will, as previously, capture much of the attention this year – while there will also be keen interest taken in the fortunes of the S2000 Ford Fiesta rally cars which are in their first season. Conrad Rautenbach and his navigator, Peter Marsh, showed the potential of this new entrant to full effect when they won their debut rally in the S2000 class.
Since then they have been involved in the fight up front and proven a thorn in the side of the other competitors. Since each of the teams have had bad luck this season, all of them are very close on points. For the rest of this season it means they will have to work hard – and play safe – to get enough of an advantage to claim the championship title this year.
The Volkswagen Rally acts as the start to the second half of the season and the teams will have to put on their best performance to stay in the hunts for points. Spectators will benefit from plenty of action throughout the field as they see the top rally competitors in South Africa power through the stages to determine who will win the 2010 Volkswagen Rally.
– Credit: Volkswagen of South Africa