The 2023 Algoa National Rally is set to rock Jeffreys Bay next weekend (7 & 8 July) as the cream of South Africa’s rally drivers descend on the town for the next round of the National Rally Championship. Incorporated into the event is round three and four of the local Algoa Rally Club championship. Mentors Country Estate, just off the N2 along St. Francis Street, will play host to the rally hub, with not only the headquarters being based there but also the ceremonial start and prize giving as well as the first and last stage of each day taking place within their spacious grounds before heading out into the daunting Longmore Forest. The last stage on Friday will be a night stage starting at 19h30 at Mentors alongside their rugby field, with plenty of fantastic spectator viewing points along the way. There will also be a street parade through the streets of Jeffreys Bay starting at 11h30 before the cars head back to Mentors for the official start of the rally at 12h00. Rally organiser Rikus Fourie was in the final process of compiling a detailed spectator guide for all stages, which will be distributed in due course. Entries for the event closed at 24h00 on Wednesday, and with 30 teams already having entered, there was still a possibility of some late entries from the Western Cape expected to join in the Club championship.

Local competitors that will be competing in both the club and national championship are Neels Vosloo and Rikus Fourie in their recently rebuilt Herotel/Hella Sponsored VW Polo 250, as well as Nick Davidson and Ashley Bezuidenhout in their new Stu Davidson and Sons sponsored Toyota Auris S2000. Ingrid Jeacocks will swap her usual navigator seat alongside defending club champion Oliver de Man to read the notes for Magriet Potgieter in her Ford Fiesta 1600.

On the club championship side, Clyde Challenor and Grayham Bishop will be hoping to capitalise on their championship lead in their OMP-sponsored VW Polo Vivo following their great start to the season. Still, they will be hard pushed by the husband and wife pairing of Juan and Tarryn van Rooyen in their Cloud Connect/Fast Internet sponsored VW Polo and the Triple L Plant Hire teams of Ross and Roxanne Bartle in their VW Polo and Deon Kretzmann with Jason Schreiber in their very quick Toyota Etios. Crowd favourite Eddie Banks, with his Wheeltech/1Time Scrap Metal sponsored rear wheel drive BMW E36, returns with new navigator Morris Brown set to have the ride of his life alongside Banks in the navigator seat.