NEW. Portions of the Garden Route Rally will be new to competitors. Picture: Dave Ledbitter.
The Garden Route Mall, conveniently situated close to George airport and the junction of the N2 highway and Knysna Road, will host rally headquarters, the start and finish on both days and also the event’s sole service park.
Clerk of the course Joe Fourie promised a tough, technical route that will take competitors from the start in George on Friday to the Wilderness and back to George for the overnight stop.
“We once again have a rally that will test both driver and co-driver,” said Fourie. The event is organised by the Algoa Motor Sport Club on behalf of the National Rally Commission. This is our third visit to George and the Garden Route for our rally,” Fourie said. “We have to thank the local authorities, including municipal, traffic and police, for their co-operation in assisting us obtain the necessary permissions, without which we could not stage what is a popular event with enthusiasts.”
There will be a total of 12 gravel special stages over the two days, five on Friday and seven on Saturday, covering a racing distance of 180 kilometres, with the liaison stages adding another 270 kilometres. The longest stages are two and three on the Friday, covering a distance of 22 kilometres each. The shortest is Friday’s opening stage of five kilometres, which is situated just 400 metres from the Garden Route Mall, and this will also be the final stage on Saturday.
The events will start at the Garden Route Mall at 11am on the Friday and competitors will cross the N2 after the opening stage and on to two challenging stages in the Karatara Forest between George and Knysna.
The first day, which covers the same route as last year’s event, ends after two more special stages in the Wilderness area. The rally will restart on Saturday morning at 7am with stage nine utilising part of the historic Montagu Pass, the first time this pass has been used in a rally for some 20 years.
This means it will be a new experience for most competitors.
Two new stages will follow in the Outeniqua Mountains. Stage seven (Koesterbos, repeated as stage 10) is a 15-kilometre test and stage eight (Jonkersberg, repeated as stage 11) covers 18 kilometres.
The final stage, a repeat of Friday’s short opening stage alongside the Garden Route Mall, will finish around 3pm.
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