Eastern Cape rally teams will decide the outcome of the Algoa Rally Club Championship when they tackle the final two rallies of the 2022 season. Fountains Mall in Jeffreys Bay and the Sports Car Club of South Africa have partnered in sponsorship and will host an exciting double header of rallying.
Image by Brendan Kelly
The first rally on Friday, 28 October, is an evening affair that starts with a meet and greet, and a poster signing at Fountains Mall in Jeffreys Bay between 16h30 and 17h00. After this, the rally’s first stage will take place alongside the Mall on the R102 roadway to Humansdorp. The cars will then be loaded onto their trailers and head into the Longmore Forest for the first night Rally stage starting at Culturama at 20h15. The drivers and their navigators will be tested to the limit as they try to keep their speeding cars on the road during the forest stages, which are incredibly daunting during the day, never mind in the dark.
Saturday dawns with a completely new rally, this time hosted by the Gamtoos Ferry Hotel. The cars will compete on the same stages as they did during the night rally, but this time in daylight, with the first competitors setting off at 09h00 and ending off with a champagne spraying podium ceremony at the Ferry Hotel at 17h15.
In the last three seasons, the overall winner has only been decided on the final stage of the last rally of the year, and it looks like history could repeat itself. The leading contenders in the 2022 championship are Oliver de Man and Ingrid Jeacocks in their Toyota Conquest, Clint Koekemoer and Francois Anker in their VW Polo, and Fritz and Elmarie Myburgh in their Toyota Yaris. As they say in most sports, it’s not over until the fat lady sings, and there are another three teams that could upset the apple cart with defending champions Nick Davidson and Ashley Bezuidenhout as well as Johan and Juané Viljoen still being in with a mathematical chance. Unfortunately, Clyde Challenor and Grayham Bishop have had to withdraw from the weekend’s action as Challenor is battling a recurring back injury following a downhill mountain biking accident.
Spectators are welcome to come along and follow the action. Stage maps are shown below. Please be advised that no fires are allowed in the Longmore forest.
