Rallying in SA receives a welcome boost this weekend at the Algoa National Rally, with no fewer than five brand new four-wheel drive vehicles making their debut in round three of the National Rally Championship, which gets under way in Kariega on Friday.
Cape Town driver Ismaeel Davids and his navigator, Yusuf Ganief, will step up from regional to national level in a state-of-the-art Toyota Yaris, which Davids and the ID Rally team have spent the last two years building.
Under the guidance of Glynn Hall, one of SA’s biggest motorsport brains and a man synonymous with the hugely successful Dakar Hilux vehicles as well as Gazoo Racing in Australia and New Zealand, the car is certainly set to be a featured vehicle which draws lots of attention.
Also moving into the top echelons of national rallying are the Born to Fly Team of brothers Nico and Juandre Nienaber, who have set the local scene alight with their speed and car-craft so far this season.
They will be competing in their brand-new Rally Technic-built Hyundai i20.
The Border Towing team of Wade van Zummeren and Henry Adams, as well as Jody van Zummeren and James Johnson, will be in state-of-the-art VW Motorsport-built VW Polos, while the brand will also be represented by the privately built Liqui Moly Team VW Polo of Riekus Schmidt and Marco Griesel.
In total, 19 of the 45 entries are four-wheel-drive cars, so rally fans are in for an absolute treat as these high-powered vehicles take on some of the best rallying roads in the country.
Friday’s action begins with the ceremonial start at the VW Auto Pavilion at 10am before the first stage gets under way at the Spiders Web area outside Despatch at 10.10am.
It then heads to the Jachtvlakte area at 2pm, and finishes with a night stage starting at 5.15pm on tar on the Daniel Pienaar road where it crosses the R75.
Residents are reminded that there will be road closures in this area for the duration of the rally stage.
The bridge on top of the R75 will be closed from 2pm on Friday (Exit 28 R334 Coega/Kariega).
Round four of the National Rally Championship takes place on Saturday and will see the action move to the Longmore Forest with an early start.
The rally cars will tackle the first stage at 8am and spectators are encouraged to be there as early as possible, as the access road to the spectator zone crosses a section of the track.
The Friday stages are free to view and access into Longmore Forest will be charged at R50 per car with card facilities available at the gate leading into the forest.
For a downloadable spectator guide, visit www.algoarallyclub.co.za.
The Herald
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