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After a six-year hiatus, the Nkomazi 400 is back on the South African Rally-Raid Championship calendar with this popular event forming the opening round of the 2023 season on Friday and Saturday, 24 and 25 March in the Malalane area of Mpumalanga.
The Nkomazi 400, proudly brought to you by #TeamHilux Rally-Raid and Nkomazi Fuel, was first introduced to national rally-raid competitors in 2013 as the brainchild of Johan Horn Snr., businessman and father of former multiple champions, Johan and Werner Horn.
Preparations for the upcoming Nkomazi 400 are well on track under the meticulous eye of Horn Snr. of Malalane Toyota.
This year, the Nkomazi 400 will consist of a 65 kilometre Qualifying Race on Friday that will determine the starting order for the main race on Saturday. On Saturday, competitors in both the Production Vehicle Category and the Special Vehicle Category will take on a loop of approximately 175 kilometres, which they will have to complete twice to be able to open their scoresheets for the rest of the 2023 SARRC season.
The Start/Finish, Race Headquarters and Designated Service Point (DSP) will be at the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot and in close proximity to its sister companies, the beautifully appointed Paradise Creek Lodge and the charming luxury Nkomazi Kruger Lodge and Spa approximately four kilometres from Malalane.
On Friday, the start of the Pirelli Qualifying Race will kick off proceedings at 12:30 from the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot while the start at 08:00 for the main race on Saturday will also be from the same venue.
On Saturday, teams will return to DSP for a compulsory service break at the halfway mark while the finish and podium celebrations will also take place at the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot.
It promises to be a scenic, but challenging route and competitors who participated in the previous Nkomazi events, might have flashbacks of the sugarcane fields and plantations as well as fast, open sections and testing mountainous terrain. There might, however just be a surprise or two waiting...
From the start of the main race at the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot, crews will cross the Jeppes Reef Road and head in an anti-clockwise direction towards the Nkomazi Toll Plaza with most of the route traversing property in close proximity to the N4. They will then head towards the Kaalrug Road and the Low’s Creek Plantation and if they have time to look around, they will be met by the spectacular scenery of the Three Sisters mountain range, the highest point in the area as well as the Holnek area towards the Swaziland border.
One of the main aims of the Nkomazi 400 was to bring the excitement of rally-raid racing to the people in the Malalane area and spectators will not be disappointed, as they will be able to experience the action on the route from various vantage points.
Mpumalanga based #TeamHilux Rally-Raid team members, the Horn family from Malalane, Komatipoort businessman, Eben Basson and the Witbank-based entrepreneurs, Fouché and Bertus Blignaut, are not leaving a stone unturned to ensure a spacious and comfortable DSP facility for the teams and spectators. Food and refreshments will be on sale at DSP, while route maps will be available online in the week leading up to the event.
Spectators and enthusiasts are invited to enjoy the action of the Nkomazi 400 and to rub shoulders with the teams, quite a few of whom have recently returned from successfully completing the tough two-week Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia. They will also be able to get a closer look at some of the world’s most technologically advanced race vehicles that are designed, built and prepared in South Africa.
For more information about the event and the championship visit:
Facebook: saccsauto or TeamHiluxRallyRaid
Instagram: saccs_auto or TeamHilux.RallyRaid
Twitter: @SACCS.Auto
The MDC organisation has signed an agreement with Yamaha Europe for a unique raid experience for motorbikes. After Allesandro Botturi’s victory in the Tunisia Desert Challenge 2022 on a Yamaha Ténéré World Raid, Yamaha now wants to offer T7 owners the chance to get a real taste of rally raid with the Yamaha Ténéré Spirit Experience. Easily accessible and with a high adventure factor. And we at the Morocco Desert Challenge are happy to help them do just that.
For the first time in the MDC's history, we are opening up the "Raid category" to motorbikes. Until now, this category has only been open to cars. Sporting Director Jean-Claude Kaket makes them a tailor-made course. This way, we want to give riders a taste of the rally-raid experience without immediately feeling the pressure of competition.
With this Experience, Yamaha offers a total package that covers every aspect of rally participation, from preparation to transportation of the bikes and technical support on site. You can participate with a standard Ténéré 700 but technicians from MBSM will fit each motorbike with special wheels and tyres and the necessary navigation equipment before departure. If necessary, they will also fit an extra fuel tank.
Interested? More info HERE.
Important: taking part in the Raid for motorbikes is also possible with another brand and is therefore not exclusive to Yamaha riders.
Source: MDC Newsletter
The Arabic fairytale that only a few have experienced.
There is something special about the desert. How can there be so much where there is nothing. Another different world seemingly raw but just as wonderful and captivating.
With great respect to its origins and a massive responsibility to keep the authenticity alive, RBI team has strived to create the ultimate challenge of man vs. machine, placed right in the heart of the astonishing Tunisian desert.
Eight days to race – a prologue and 7 legs beginning from the touristy beaches of Djerba to the beautiful Tunisian inland desert areas. The rally will offer various types of dunes, fesh-fesh and nice and fast gravel. Star Wars, the soft white sand of Sabria, the majestic Grand Erg Oriental, the twisty roads with oued crossings around Matmata and the grandiose dunes of Zmela will through you from one element to the other.
If your heart is beating for motorsports and you are looking for the ultimate action-packed rally experience, RBI Sport rallies are just right for you!
Press here to download the Rally Program in PDF format from Fenix Rally's official website
Source Fenix Rally
The Dakar Rally, considered as one of the toughest in many years, is now something of the past and South African Rally-Raid competitors proved their talent while local race vehicle manufacturers and constructors showed their worth and returned from Saudi Arabia to the country with various titles and trophies in the bag.
Now it is time to prepare for the 2023 SA Rally-Raid Championship that starts in two months and an exciting season with popular venues and racing terrain are awaiting competitors. The SA Rally-Raid Championship is internationally recognised as a high-level series and is a favourite of many visiting competitors. This year will be no different and looking at the calendar, a variety of challenging terrain as well as popular events and new events are on the cards predicting an exciting season.
The championship will kick off with a return to Malelane in Mpumalanga with the opening round taking place on 24 and 25 March. This event featured on the calendar between 2013 and 2016 and was twice awarded Best Event of the Year. Malelane is the hometown of the Horn family and the brothers, Johan and Werner, have been avid competitors in the Production Vehicle Category or many years. Johan Horn Snr. is again the driving force behind this event being reinstated on the SARRC calendar.
For the second round of the series, competitors will travel to the Eston and Mid-Illovo areas of KwaZulu-Natal for the traditional Sugarbelt 400 on 12 and 13 May. This event, which ran in the area as a national championship since the early 1990’s, was cancelled in 2022 due to the flooding disaster.
After three years of not competing in Botswana, the TGRSA 1000 Desert Race will return to the diamond-mining town of Jwaneng for Round Three on 23, 24 and 25 June. This will be the only marathon event on the calendar.
The Debswana Jwaneng mine is the richest diamond mine in the world and the historical Desert Race was hosted at Jwaneng from 2014 to 2018. Competitors can look forward to be welcomed back in Botswana by local supporters, and to the biggest sporting event on their calendar.
After a break of just under two months, the SARRC will then continue on 18 and 19 August when the fourth and fifth rounds will be decided at Parys in the Free State. Competitors tackled a wet and muddy event during November 2022 at Parys and fingers will be crossed for the weather gods to play along for a dry event during August.
This year, a new race has been added to the calendar with Welkom in the Free State playing host to Round Six of the 2023 SARRC. This event will take place on 6 and 7 October. The seventh and final event of the season is scheduled for 10 and 11 November and the venue will be announced soon.
If 2022 was anything to go by with exhilarating racing and titles that went down to the wire, competitors, teams, supporters and enthusiasts can look forward to yet another exciting SA Rally-Raid Championship season.
Source: Official SARRC press release
Here is the official statement from AER organizers:
Dear friends,
After several editions impacted by the Covid 19 pandemic, we did everything possible to go on the adventure again in March 2023.
However, despite all our commitment, and in consultation with the Senegalese Federation of Motor Sports and Motorcycling, we have regretfully taken the decision to postpone the 15th edition of the AFRICA ECO RACE.
Indeed, like other sporting events, the current climatic upheavals are forcing us to rethink and adapt our human activities.
Other races have also been hit hard at the beginning of 2023, like the one that has just ended in Saudi Arabia in harsh and unsatisfactory conditions.
The AFRICA ECO RACE is an adventure rally-raid that challenges athletes to go beyond their limits.
As we are writing these lines, the mythical Lac Rose in Dakar, the finish line of our race, is in the grip of major flooding, with water levels rising by almost three meters on its banks*.
Mauritania and its wild landscapes, awaited by all on our event, is one of the most fragile territories due to the extreme events that occur there, such as the sandstorms or the extreme heat that we experienced during our 14th edition, in October 2022.
Based on these observations, we have decided to postpone our event.
As you know, the strength of the AFRICA ECO RACE is its resilience, its history but also its capacity to innovate.
Thus, the 15th edition will return to its historical dates, and will start on December 30th 2023 to finish on the shores of the Lac Rose on January 14th 2024. The weather will be more clement, and less likely to cause extreme events. This edition will innovate, by allowing the greatest number of participants to follow in the footsteps of Thierry Sabine.
True to itself, our race will retain its values of mutual aid, benevolence and friendship.
We are counting on you, but above all, you can count on us,
More information is available on the race's official site: https://www.africarace.com/
Source: Africa Eco Race
Disclaimer:
As a service to the sport we all love and follow, Rally-Raid Network posts numerous media releases from a wide variety of sources on our website. Due to the large number, and some times short time available, it is nearly impossible to review each public release. These articles are written by reporters or press officers who work for various organizers, teams, drivers, riders, and other parties, and they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Rally-Raid Network.
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