When I left Pretoria early Sunday morning it was so overcast that the auto lights on the Hyundai switched on and my optimism about Corona disappearing in a week and a driveable track at Rallystar was about the same. The closer I got to the track the more water puddles I saw next to the […]
2020 WRC RALLIES AN UPDATE BROUGHT TO YOU BY RALLYSTAR MOTORING We at Rallystar your favourite motosport website will do our best to update you on the evolving around the Covid-19 pandemic and the various government restrictions. . No decisions on event dates will be made by the WRC organisers before updates on the respective […]
THE SAD PART OF FRIENDSHIP Some one asked this morning, “When is this going to stop?” after I told him of the passing of one of our stalward members at PMC – Alex Costa – one of the best story tellers, passionate rallyist and one of the Tie-brigade. Always wore his tie when driving a […]
If I say I was not slightly worried when I first had a look at the completely revamped Toyota Yaris Theuns Joubert acquired – I will be lying. The car looked great – but we were supposed to get it set-up for a tar event the following day and it looked high and it sure […]
The FIA Rally Star project brings good news. If you’re between 17 and 25 and pretty sharp on DiRT, your virtual moment could be about to get real thanks to the FIA’s all-new Rally Star initiative. World motorsport’s governing body is chasing the next generation of talent to take them from grass roots right through […]
When the board of the holding company of Mercedes sits around the 12th of February, they are going to decide whether they should leave the F1 scene as constructor team. The team may then be rebranded as Aston Martin. The poor financial performance, objective to develop road-car technologies and their strife to reduce their environmental […]
Most Rallystar readers will know about the war of words between Steve Wyndham and MSA. Lots have been said and claimed by Steve and MSA’s first reply came from their CEO a short input from the current Chairman after they obtained an interim court Interdict silencing Wyndham. Quite a number of Wyndham supporters and […]
MSA seems all bright eyed and bushy tailed after obtaining what we hear is an interim order against Steve Wyndham. The press release they sent out appears below. From what one can read in this release neither MSA nor one single one of the six applicants for the interdict (they were not mentioned in the […]
All of us at Rallystar Motoring would like to wish you a blessed, healthy, properous and fun filled new year and at the same time hope that the third decade of this millenium will bring more joy than especially the one we are moving out of. We will still endeavour to bring you as much […]
Timmy Hansen was crowned as the 2019 FIA World Rallycross Champion a count-back of wins over Andreas Bakkerud at a breathtaking SABAT World Rallycross of South Africa at a sweltering Killarney International Raceway on Sunday. The Cape Town crowd was treated to a spectacular and bruising season finale as the two ended on even points […]
The Toyota driver Ott Tänak finished second overall on the RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España, 17,2s behind Belgian rival Neuville to clinch the World Rally Championship crown. Tänak became the first Estonian to win the FIA World Rally Championship in a tense finale on Sunday afternoon. He snatched second place in the closing Wolf […]
OTT TÄNAK SEALS THE CHAMPIONSHIP … With one more rally to go, Ott Tänak has secured the 2019 World Rally Championship in Spain with the Australian Rally still to come. It was a brave effort from Neuville who truly had only an outside chance to pocket the championship. He started […]
If someone shouts, “Will the real World Rally Champion for 2019 please stand up,” few people will not look in the direction of Ott Tänak, before any one stands up. This morning before the start of the last leg on Rally Spain, the only driver with a bit of a risky, if not illogical mathematical […]
EGG IN THE FACE MOMENT FOR ME… When I wrote the previous article this morning before the RallyRacc Catalunya started, I said that I doubt Loeb would be able to pull off his 10th win in succession in Spain. Well to say the least, Sebastien Loeb made me look more stupid than the youngsters he […]
I suppose that what happens in 1m36s before or on a WRC rally does not say much, but the message was clear when Khris Meeke posted the fastest time on his third run, beating Dani Sordo by 0.3s and Jari-Matti Latvala by 0.7s. Ott Tanak is not world champion yet! If you are a betting […]
RallyRACC Catalunya – Rally de España Three days, seventeen special stages, three hundred and twenty five comma 56 Spanish stage kilometres and some serious luck, and then maybe lucky for him, Rally Australia stands between Ott Tänak and his maiden WRC title. Everything where a winner or champion is crowned has a Fat Lady […]
HAT IN HAND TIME AGAIN…after quite a number of years. If this was not necessary – I promise we would not have asked. Looking at the number of readers of the Rallystar website and Facebook page I can not help but smile. Thousands of people do read our reports on a daily basis and […]
OLIVER SOLBERG SECURES SECOND U.S. WIN AT SUSQUEHANNOCK TRAIL RALLY When you has it, you has it. I can just imagine what it is like to manage a 17 year old hot head driving a Subaru that goes like the proverbial clappers. That will be bad enough without him having won a previous event, after […]
BIRTHDAY BOY BRAD BINDER’S – BIG BASH! (11 August 2019) Leon Botha So used to something going wrong for us South Africans – due to many reasons of our own making, I was pleased to see “our” Brad Binder sitting on the front row of the Moto2 GP grid in Austria. Armed with a naartjie […]
This is worth a look. Dieter Zetsche the former CEO of Mercedes retired a day or so ago. BMW send him and the world this very funny message.
REDEFINING “THE NEW KID ON THE BLOCK” I missed the first few words of the call, but heard…“Will you help this young man into rallies. He needs some training as he has never driven a rally car. He is from Uganda.” The phone was still not very clear – to be honest I believe the […]
THE CAPE OVERBERG GRAND PRIX The rally that has teeth behind its head as well, but can also place a soft hand on a rally driver’s shoulder when least expected. This is arguably the fastest rally in South Africa – especially after the Mountain Trial Rally in the North Cape disappeared from the scene. Johnny […]
Episode 2 – (die verhaal wat elke moeder hart sal roer – wie onthou nog Sprinbok Radio se middag stories?) VERDER DIE PAD AF – OPSOEK NA DIE PLAASBLITS Geskryf deur Leon Botha Ek het weer vanmiddag tydens besoek aan een van ons borge gesien hoe lojaal die manne aan die maak van die bakkies […]
BOEREPLAAS TOWERGROND – IEWERS RY DIE PLAASBLITS ROND [of dan – die pad tot by die kroning van Suid-Afrika se PlaasBlits] Geskryf deur Leon Botha Het jy al ooit varsoggend met die klipperige pad na die kraal gestap? Koue winter om jou kaal voete gevoel, stoom van beesmis, wat jy al van ver af kon […]
It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of one of the bigger role players in rallies over many, many years. Billy Bright is not with us anymore and I for one will sincerely miss him. His unexpected calls – that stopped about a year ago, his straightforward manner in calling a spade […]
The Geneva Motor Show is fast approaching. And so is the 10th anniversary for Danish supercar brand Zenvo. If everything aligns, perhaps we’ll get a glimpse of the brand’s eagerly anticipated hypercar the TS1 GT. While it already made an appearance at 2016’s Geneva Motor Show, here’s hoping lightning strikes twice in the same spot. […]
RALLYSTAR – THE RALLY PRO’S NEXT STEP IT IS A “MIND GAME” (mostly) So many people believe if you are a reasonably good driver and you can make a handbrake turn, then you are a racing – or goodness forbid a rally driver. The ability to drive a car obviously forms the biggest part of […]
The closest FIA World Rally Championship battle in a generation comes to a compelling conclusion in Australia this weekend when three drivers face the ultimate title shootout. Sébastien Ogier, chasing a sixth consecutive crown in his farewell drive for the M-Sport Ford team, has erased a 23-point deficit in two rallies to head longtime leader […]
Sometimes it is good – or shall I rather say, “necessary” to have a problem. As our regular readers will know – we did not do any updates on the Rallystar website for a number of frustrating days. There was a glitch that those who know how battled to sort out and we could not publish […]
MOTORSPORT IS YOUR PASSION, OR SO YOU CLAIM I would like to extend this request to those of you who truly carry the interest of rallying at heart – tune in to the TV broadcast of the RALLYSTAR NATIONAL RALLY on Ignition TV this weekend. You will note that there are many broadcast times, but […]
There are a few things in life one should not say to most youngsters – at my age – a youngster is anyone under 50! The most common saying that could lead to social tragedy is, “when we were young!” or “in our days” or even worse – “the days when men were men” They […]
INTRO BY LEON BOTHA In the world of motorsport you do not easily find much more than criticism, no matter on what level you participate or think your wisdom fits in. After reading this piece written from Reghard Roets’ heart – from the same room in which he stores his love for motorsport and people, […]
2018 DAKAR PART TWO This is one event where you do not dare say that a specific person will or even worse “can not” win. I gave it a good thought during this week and asked myself the question – “what would you do, if you spent in the region of R4m (excluding the vehicle […]
The toughest rally adventure in the world. An adventure so many people dream about and never do – simply because they do not really aspire to anything more than watching a Sevens Rugby game. There is one program on TV that made me think of many things, even in my life – and goodness knows […]
NOTE: This article has been written in 2014 August 12 – some news will therefore be a bit outdated. NOSTALGIA… When I saw this specific picture of the One-Man-Band again for the first time in 31 years, I think, I could not help but smile. I love thinking back over the years, doing my best […]
“I like it when a plan comes together” the famous phrase used by “Hannibal Smith” in the A-team series. I can repeat these words today after speaking to one of the organisers of the Secunda Rally that will take place 19-20 May 2017. A thousand and twenty seven seven-hundred and one hundred as our beloved […]
When life gets to stock-take time – that is the time when you wonder what you have achieved – then your passion, your achievements and failures, all tend to hit your mind’s screen at the same time. As life goes by, following twisty roads through imaginary (or is it) plantations, maxing crests and power […]
KLIPDALE RALLY Fresh from a win in Gauteng Jacques and I were quite confident that we had a chance to pull off two wins in two weekends. Confident but rally-wise, not absolutely sure. Unlike on the Hall Speed Rally we sported brand new helmets and goodness knows that was a relief as during the first […]
2017 HALLSPEED RALLY I have been looking forward to this “come-back” for a long time, despite making a promise many years ago, not ever, never, ever to navigate for Jacques – that’s my son, again, after he almost wiped us both out during a Sasol Rally. Late last year Jacques acquired one of the most potent […]
The time all of us in the sport or shall I say because of the sport, feared, has arrived for the Rallystar website. But first things first. As all our readers know, Andries van der Walt has been Editor of the Rallystar website for many years, to be honest, the way time flies, I am […]