NORTHERN REGIONS SUB-COMMITTEE ITEMS OF INTEREST

1. Jeremy is now representing SAHRA after being elected our Chairman.

Special Stage Rallies

RMC 31 March 2012

1. The date change to 31 March had been approved.
2. The organisation of the event is on track.
3. It will start and finish from the Belfast Golf Club and servicing will be there.
4. There will be three stages repeated. The Airfield stage will be used and there is a new stage. Palmer is not being used.

Rallyesport 05 May 2012

1. The event will run in Tzaneen.
2. Dave Brown will be the COC and he is already looking for roads.

SAM 23 June 2012

1. It was reported that SAM is busy with the Sasol and the Regional  will follow.

Regularities/Blind Navigators

1. The All Chicks rally was fine and had 35 entries, including Blind Navigators. The Fiat event had run the previous weekend with 55 entries and no problems.
2. Next events are the Alfa on 15 April and the KZN on the 19May – the organisation is underway for both.

Rally sprints & Gymkhanas

1. The RallyStar event had taken place on 11^th February. There had been a New Zealand competitor entered.
2. HMC had run a test day at Bronkhorstspruit with 11 entries.
3. MSA confirmed that  running a Club event the competitors still need Medical Insurance (R560). A document of concerns about the requirements for Rallysprints will be drawn up and that the clubs need to approach MSA together  through this committee to discuss this matter.

Marshals

1. A meeting was held with about 40 of the marshals attending,  mainly from Pretoria.
2. The marshals were complaining that the marshal boards were too big for some cars.
3. The marshals need help and training with the new clocks.
4. The meeting discussed the possibility of sponsorship, clothing and bibs.

National Rally Report

1. The first event will be the Tour Natal 23^rd March. The following event will be the Sasol 20^th April.

Rules & Regulations

1. MSA had loaded a set of unchanged 2011 regs onto the web for 2012. This will be rectified.
2. The changes for 2012 should include the revised lateness penalty of 10 seconds and the removal of the multivalve factor.
3. S6 will not be a scoring class in 2013.

General

1. There were reports circulating about Fire Strykers not working properly. It was  stated that the marshals had used them on three events last year and that they had functioned correctly.
2. Committee members reported that they had been to the Offroad event and questioned why they had many more entries and better support than the Rallies.    GOOD QUESTION!!!!

Toyota Challenge Rally in Zim Roars into Life with our own Pieter Pilusa flying the colours and finishing 7th overall in a grueling event and 3rd in his class. Congratulations Pieter!!! Well done!!!!

THE Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally roared into life at Cresta Lodge in Harare where 15 cars were flagged off on the first day of the grueling three-day motor racing event. But by the end of the first day’s proceedings during the opening spectator-friendly “three-car” Super Special stage at Donnybrook  two cars were out of the running for the overall title.

This year’s Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge – the first leg of the eight-event 2012 FIA African Rally Championship series – has attracted four foreign competitors from South Africa, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

Originally, there were 17 entries but top Kenyan driver Don Smith and Zimbabwe’s South Africa-based Robson Maganezi failed to make it for the event.

The chairman of the organising committee of the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally, Craig Batten, said they are satisfied with the number of drivers competing in this year’s event.

“We have 15 entries that have made it and we have four foreigners from Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia and South Africa and the rest are all from Zimbabwe. We had 17 entries but two haven’t made it.

“This is going to be a very tough competition. Obviously the biggest challenge of the Challenge Rally is for everyone to finish it ” said Batten.

South African Pieter Pilusa and George Chitepo completed the list of cars that managed to finish the event as eight other cars failed to complete the grueling event.

The Zimbabwe Challenge Rally once again proved that it’s no place for the faint-hearted when seven of the 15 cars that entered this year’s event managed to last the distance at the weekend.

The three-day event, which ran from Friday to Sunday, was staged at the home of local motorsport — Donnybrook in Harare — and the surrounding areas of Ruwa and Norton.

And the three-day event, which was eventually won by Zimbabwe’s Jess Watson, once again proved challenging for the competitors as it claimed eight casualties leading to the final stages held in Ruwa on Sunday morning.

The seventh car home was a Nissan GX140 that belonged to South Africa’s Pieter Pilusa who was assisted by Zimbabwean navigator George Chitepo.

Pieter Pilusa flying the colours!