The not-so-gentle-art of forest stage rallying returns to the Garden Route area of the Western Cape after an absence of some 16 years with the staging of the sixth round of the 2011 South African Rally Championship, the Osram Rally, in the George and Knysna areas on August 26 and 27.
The Osram has long been a staple of the national championship and moves from its traditional home of Barkly East in the mountainous lower Drakensberg region of the Eastern Cape. The Clerk of the Course is Mike Vroomen of the Sports Car Club of Bloemfontein, assisted by Joe Fourie of the Algoa Motor Sport Club.
The rally will take in approximately 170 to 180 kilometres of mostly Karatara Forest gravel special stages between George and Knysna, probably including one or two of the many small and tricky passes for which the area is renowned.
“This will be virgin territory for today’s crews contesting the national championship,” said Fourie, who is currently putting the final touches to the route. “The last time we rallied in this area was in the Volkswagen Rally in the early 1990s, when we started in George and finished in Port Elizabeth.”
While many competitors will miss the traditional mountain trial nature of the Osram Rally of previous years, the new event with its forests and mountain passes is likely to be a more than adequate replacement. The organisers are enjoying the enthusiastic co-operation of the forest owners, the Mountain to Ocean Forestry Company, who also own the Longmore Forest between Jeffrey’s Bay and Hankey, which features prominently in the annual Volkswagen Rally.
“The national rally championship is turning out to be one of the closest-fought in many years and the continued support of long-time sponsors like Osram is making it possible for us to strengthen this fast-growing and exciting form of motor sport and bring it closer to fans around the country,” said Richard Leeke, President of Motorsport South Africa’s Rally Commission.
OSRAM (Munich) belongs to the Industry Sector of Siemens and is one of the two leading light manufacturers in the world. In the 2010 financial year, it achieved a turnover of €4.7 billion. OSRAM is a high-tech company in the lighting sector and 70 percent of sales come from energy-efficient products. The company, which is very much internationally oriented, has more than 40,000 employees worldwide, supplying customers in around 150 countries worldwide (30 September). www.osram.com