High-octane action at VW Rally
[caption id="attachment_39555" align="alignright" width="405"] FOR THE PETROLHEADS: Henk Lategan in his Sasol VW Polo will be one of the VW factory team drivers taking part in next week's VW Rally which starts at the VW factory in Uitenhage and ends at the Nelson Mandela Stadium in North End[/caption]
PETROLHEADS need to get set for the Volkswagen Rally next weekend which is going to be a humdinger! This is going to be a rally where spectators are in for two days of spectacular racing.
The event, next Friday and Saturday, is the mid-point of the 2014 season and has a new final stage and finish at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The starting point is the traditional ceremonial start at AutoPavilion in Uitenhage on Friday.
There is a new Super Special stage next to Port Elizabeth Oval Track Raceway (PEOTR) and the scene has been set for another exciting pair of evening stages in Jeffrey's Bay.
"We've put a lot of effort into making this a spectator spectacular," route director of the Volkswagen Rally Joe Fourie said.
"The stages are accessible, there are plenty of spectating opportunities and we also have two Super Special stages to maximise the action."
While most of the focus for this event is on the competition in the national South African Rally Championship and the fight for the overall victory, motorsport fans can also look forward to fierce competition among the local Algoa Rally Club members.
The Algoa Rally Club organises and runs the Volkswagen Rally every year, with a long-standing sponsorship from Volkswagen South Africa.
The regional entries that compete are in addition to the national field of rally entries that contest the eight-round national championship.
"We're expecting a field of approximately 25 Algoa Rally Club entries," chairman of the Algoa Rally Club (ARC) Neville Bartle said.
The Volkswagen Rally will form part of the ARC 50k Challenge which sees the most successful rally team of the year winning a regional championship prize to the total value of R50000.
The Volkswagen Rally spectator guide will be available in The Herald next Thursday and will also be made available online.
Visit the Volkswagen Motorsport (Volkswagen Motorsport_za) Facebook page, follow the Twitter account @VWMotorsport_za and the website http://www.algoarallyclub.co.za/ for rally information. - Bobby Cheetham
