The Volkswagen Rally 2011 is set to be jam-packed with action for both competitors and spectators alike. Round five of the current championship, it marks the start of the second half of the season.
The rally takes place on Friday and Saturday, 15 and 16 July, and has attracted entries from across South Africa. The field of competitors will compete on stages in the Longmore Forest, Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth as they battle for points in the national championship.
The route this year adds one extra stage to the line-up of challenges for competitors and there is a surprise built into the final stage of the event which should make things even more exciting for spectators.
As per usual the event will get underway from Auto Pavilion in Uitenhage, near the Volkswagen main gate. The teams will assemble here throughout the morning until midday when they move off to the Longmore Forest for the first three stages of the rally.
Culturama, Kingsview and Sinkdam are well-known to the rally fraternity and these three stages in the Longmore Forest will see the rally field working hard to post good times. Culturama and Sinkdam are the same stage, Sinkdam is simply run in the reverse direction. This provides spectators with a great opportunity to see the field through the same spectator points in quick succession.
With five stages scheduled for day one of the event, the national field will move to Uitenhage for stages four and five – both of which will take place at the popular Winterhoek location. This has been set up as a back-to-back Super Special which will see the field tackle the stage two cars at a time. For stage five the cars will swop sides.
The closing stages on Friday, starting at 15:40, will provide easy spectating close to home for many spectators and, with the rally field no longer using slick tyres, it should be spectacular as the drivers slide their cars around the route.
Saturday sees the Volkswagen Rally field start their day at the Port Elizabeth Oval Track Raceway (PEOTR) with stage six. This will start at 08:35 on Saturday morning before the rally competitors head back out to the Longmore Forest for a second run at the stages done on Friday.
Saturday’s stages in the forest will run to the same format as the day before with the final stage in Longmore, stage nine, being a reverse of stage seven. With these stages completed the field will return to PEOTR for another run around the oval track before heading to a brand new stage.
Stage 11 is another rally stage right up close to the spectators with the field in competition at the soccer stadium that featured so prominently last year during the World Cup. This is a brand new stage for the rally and should prove both spectacular and interesting.
Slick tyres are no longer allowed and all the rally cars will have to contend with much lower grip due to running on tyres made for gravel conditions.
The final stage of the event will see the field head to Kings Beach for the traditional finish. The organisers have added an extra touch to the event this year by organising a small jump to be part of the route.
This could be a “cat amongst the pigeons” move that might just have an effect on the outcome of the rally for some of the competitors.
Before the field gets to this stage though, there will be a number of activities taking place at the Kings Beach venue. Car parades, karting demonstrations, a drift demonstration, stands and food stalls are all on the programme for this stage and the activities here will begin at midday on Saturday which, including the rally field, should provide nearly four hours of entertainment for motorsport fans.