Volkswagen rally to hit ECape
Anticipation is building around the upcoming Volkswagen Rally on Friday, July 17, at the Auto Pavilion in Uitenhage.
FILE PICTURE: Jari Matti Latvala of Finland and Mikka Anttila of Finland compete in their Volkswagen Motorsport Polo R WRC during the Shakedown of the WRC Finland on July 31, 2014 in Jyvaskyla, Finland. (Photo by Massimo Bettiol/Getty Images)
National rally competitors all flocking to Nelson Mandela Bay to participate in the 12 stages of the event. “We look forward to hosting the National Rally Championship here in the Eastern Cape,” said Mike Rowe, head of Volkswagen Motorsport. “As the headline sponsor, we have been working closely with the Algoa Rally Club, who organise the event, and are confident there is an exciting round of the championship waiting for both competitors and rally fans.”
The rivalry between the national rally teams begins at the Motherwell stage at 12.24am, with a spectator point located on Daniel Pienaar Street (R334) – this is duplicated as stage five, which starts at 4.30pm. Off to stage two, spectators can catch up with the rally field at Volkswagen’s People Pavilion for the Jachtvlakte stage at 1.15pm, with a repeat as stage four starts at 3.34pm.
Port Elizabeth Oval Track Raceway (PEOTR) is the spectator’s location for stage three at 2pm, which will be the Mission Road stage, and there will be a variety of viewing opportunities for spectators available here. After the two repeated stages (four and five), it is time to head to Aldo Scribante Raceway for the final stage of day one, starting at 5.30pm.
There is an early start for the competitors and rally fans on day two, with the field leaving from PEOTR at 6:45am and heading to stage seven on the farm Buffelshoek, where the Spekboom Lapa offers a viewing point on their deck over the flamingo dam at 7.44am.
The Longmore Forest is the venue for the Sinkdam/Culturama viewpoint at 8.30am for stage eight and then 11.4am for stage 10. Spectators will enter the forest area from the main entrance road on the Hankey/Patensie road, off the N2. The spectator point for stage 10 will become available to the public on the completion of stage eight.
Stage nine is the Mission Road stage and will see the field head back to PEOTR for competition from 9.34am before the serious challenge of the 48km long PPC Ultimate stage (stage 10) in the Longmore Forest.
Both stages 11 and 12 are super special stages to be run at PEOTR from 2pm, allowing the spectators to gather and see a two-car race through the final stages of the event.
“Twelve spectating stages, with repeats to make it as easy as possible to spectate, should make it possible for every rally fan to enjoy the Volkswagen Rally,” said route organiser Joe Fourie. “There will be an exciting duel between the teams as they vie for the Volkswagen Rally victory, we invite all motorsport fans to join us for two days of national rally competition.”
