SA Rally Championship heads for the Eastern Cape coast

Rally drivers do it in the dirt and they get to travel all around the country in the process. After rounds in coastal KwaZulu-Natal, in the forests of the Mpumalanga Lowveld and on the Mpumalanga and Gauteng Highveld, the South African Rally Championship heads to the Eastern Cape for the first time this year for the first of three back-to-back coastal rallies over the next three months.

Coming up is round five of the eight-event series, the Volkswagen Rally on July 15 and 16, followed on August 26 and 27 by the Osram Rally, in its new location on the Garden Route between George and Knysna, and by the Toyota Dealer Rally in the Western Cape on September 23 and 24.

Heavy rains in the Port Elizabeth area have made life difficult for the organisers of the VW Rally, the Algoa Rally Association, and have resulted in changes to the original route, particularly in the area of the Port Elizabeth Oval dirt track where the whole of the 12-km special stage incorporating the track has been underwater.

However, clerk of the course and route director Joe Fourie, is confident the planned route, consisting of eight gravel special stages and four tar special stages totalling some 170 km, will be ready on the day. Competitors can expect fast gravel roads in the traditional Longmore Forest special stages near Hankey, but these are expected to be relatively unaffected by the wet weather as they are A-grade roads.

“We’ve once again had wonderful co-operation from the owners of Longmore Forest, the Mountain to Ocean Forest Company, and we expect the three stages there to again be spectacular and popular with the fans,” said Fourie.

As always, there will be plenty of opportunities for the fans to see the cars in action. The rally starts from the Volkswagen Auto Pavilion in Uitenhage at 12:00 on Friday, July 15, and heads immediately for three intimidating stages in the Longmore Forest near Hankey. There will also be two service parks in the forests. Special stage two, at 35-km the longest on the rally, is the spectator-friendly King’s View stage, which is repeated as stage eight on Saturday.

Competitors will then return to Uitenhage for two tar Super Special stages, which will end the first day at around 18.00. The cars will overnight in Uitenhage, where there will also be a service park opposite the VW Pavilion.

Saturday’s action starts from the VW Pavilion at 08:00 with the first stage on gravel at the PE Oval track, where there will be a service park. Then Friday’s three gravel stages in the Longmore Forest are repeated before the rally moves to a brand new tar stage at the Nelson Mandela Bay soccer stadium in Port Elizabeth’s North End.

The final stage is the traditional shoot-out on the tarred parking area at King’s Beach in Port Elizabeth, with the event expected to finish at around 15.00.