MOTORSPORT NEWS Rally

BELA-BELA COMMUNITY RALLIES BEHIND NEW SPORTING EVENT IN WATERBERG

The newly appointed Mayor of Bela-Bela, Councillor Lucas Nhlapo, who is also the Vice President of the South African Football Association, will officiate at the start of the new Bela-Bela Motor Rally, at the recently completed Bela Mall in Limpopo on Friday, November 21 when he flags away the first competitor in the final national championship rally of the year.

 

Hergen Fekken Photo:Dave Ledbitter
Hergen Fekken
Photo:Dave Ledbitter

The event, which will feature the cream of South Africa’s rally crews and state-of-the-art rally cars, joins a number of major sporting events that are helping to put this dynamic Waterberg town on the tourism map.

A number of innovations from a national championship rally point of view include a lunchtime service break of 90 minutes in Bela-Bela on day two of the rally, Saturday, November 22, to allow spectators and fans the opportunity to get close to the cars, the drivers and navigators.

A special effort has been made by the organisers, the Rally Commission of Motorsport South Africa, to create a compact event that makes it as easy as possible for spectators to watch stages and visit the service park without having to travel great distances. The total stage distance for the two days is 176 kilometres and the open sections linking the stages add up to just 98 kilometres. Virtually every stage is just 10 kilometres away from the central rally HQ at Forever Resorts and the Dunlop service park at the old caravan park.

Guy Botteril Photo: Dave Ledbitter
Guy Botteril
Photo: Dave Ledbitter

In addition to the enthusiastic involvement of the new mayor and his fellow council members, the Rotary Club of Warmbaths has also thrown its weight behind the event.  The Rotarians will be turning the Dunlop Service Park into a Rotary International Fan Park for the weekend and are working with the local primary and high schools, church and other charity organisations, Die Suid Afrikaanse Vroue Federasie and the Stadspoort Project, who will all add to the carnival atmosphere with various food stalls, craft markets and a beer garden.

The rally itself consists of 10 special stages on private gravel roads spread across two days, with four stages starting at 12:30 on Friday, November 21, and six starting from 09:00 on Saturday after an overnight stop in Bela-Bela. The event will finish at around 15:30 on Saturday at Forever Resorts in Bela-Bela. The traditional TV podium ceremony and champagne spraying will take place at 16:30 and there will be an official end-of-season prize-giving at Forever Resorts at 19:00.