The much-awaited third leg 3 of the Namibian Rally series kicks off this weekend in Tsumeb with 12 entries. Derek Jacobs from the Namibia Motorsport Federation (NMSF) has described the rally, with headline sponsors Shell V-Power and M&Z Motors, as a crowd pleaser due to multiple viewpoints.
He said it is an excellent route with a good quality field comprised of veterans out to prove a point.
Organisers told Woema that preparations are well underway for the rally that starts at 10h00 on Saturday morning.
“This rally had a lot of spectators last year. There are some good places to watch the rally, including along the tar roads and at the entrance of the oval track towards the end of the stage,” said Jacobs.
He added that one of this weekend’s entrants, Marko Himmel, aims to follow in the footsteps of his father, Richard Himmel, a legendary Namibian rally driver with multiple titles under his belt.
Himmel and his co-driver Francois Schoonbee will be driving a Toyota Etios, the same car driven by his father.
They will be up against Zachary Martin and his co-driver, Anique Schoeman in their 2-litre (l) VW Polo. In the CR1 Class, Ekko Eisenberg and Horazio Rietz in their V8 JAC T8 bakkie will be going up against SJ Schoeman and Chane Havenga in their Toyota Hilux.
About a month ago, Namibia’s most iconic motorsport event, the Tara Rally kicked off tonight at Windhoek’s Tony Rust track.
It is the oldest known rally in Africa and perhaps the toughest rally on the continent.
The year’s event, which has secured major corporate backing from Shell V-Power and JAC Motors as the headline partners, attracted 17 entries to set the stage for an adrenaline-filled event.
This year’s Tara Rally was won by Wilro Dippenaar and his navigator Carolyn Swan, who secured their third consecutive win.
In the CR2 Class, the winners were the M&Z Motors team of driver Ekko Eisenberg and Horazio “Rassie” Rietz.
Second place went to SJ Schoeman and Chane Havenga, and third place was taken by Chrizelda Engels and Ruan de Lange.
In terms of rally rules, different classes of vehicles ensure a level playing field.
These classes consist of the S and CR classes which indicate sedan or challenge (bakkie) classes. The S1 class allows cars with an engine capacity of up to 1600cc, the S2 class is sedans with an engine capacity of 1601 to 2000cc, and the S3 class is cars with engines with 2001 to 3000cc.
S4 is fitted with 3l engines and above. Additional factors also determine the class category, such as whether a vehicle uses a turbo or a rotary engine.
The CR class consists only of two classes, namely the CR 1 and CR 2.
CR1 and CR2 refer to 2×4 and 4×4 vehicles, respectively.
A rally racing team consists of a driver and navigator, typically accompanied by a technical and service crew.
The crew ensures the vehicles can be repaired and serviced when the team arrives at a designated service park.
Rally motorsport involves racing on public or closed roads with a variety of rules designed for safety, fair competition and vehicle eligibility.
Key aspects include driver and co-driver roles, vehicle requirements, safety regulations and navigating special stages.