2012 Total Tara Rally starts in a month
Like Daddy, like daughter. Veteran rally driver Willem Hugo, with his daughter, professional rally driver Stephanie Botha, at last year’s Total Tara Rally.
This year mark’s the 44th consecutive year that Total is hosting the event started in 1969 by local motorsport icon, Dennis Kent.
Rally competitors will complete 266km in stages and a total distance of 715km will be covered in the three-day event that starts Thursday 15 November ending Saturday 17 November. The event will kick off with four stages in and around Windhoek starting at 19:45 on the evening of the first day.
The first stage will take place at the SKW Stadium, the second at Prosperita, the third at the Western Bypass and the fourth stage at Academia. The following day, the event will start at 07:00 with ten stages in and around Okahandja to Wilhelmstal.
The highlight of this year’s rally event is a super special stage taking place at the Tony Rust Race Track at 18:00 on Friday evening. On the final Saturday, rally teams will complete eight stages around Windhoek and two stages at the Tony Rust Race Track ending at 13:00 at the SKW Sports Fields in Olympia. Entries for this year’s rally will open on 8 October 2012.
Rally enthusiasts can look forward to seeing defending champions and local favourites Wilro Dippenaar and co-driver, Morné du Toit in action again. Dippenaar and du Toit (Toyota RunX S2000) swept to victory in last year’s event.
Veteran rally driver, Willem Hugo, will be joined by his daughter, Maretha Olivier as navigator in a Subaru Impreza GT. The car is almost stock standard with minor changes to the suspension, the engine and a protective roll cage, the only major modifications. Hugo will not race competitively but will race “just for the fun.”
Hugo’s other daughter, well-known professional rally driver, Stephanie Botha will be joined by navigator Robby Coetzee. She is the strongest contender among the female drivers.
In a statement, Total said the unique challenges, high ambient temperatures and a tight technical rally route add excitement to the high calibre of Namibian rally championship competitors.
Sanet Mohrmann, Key Accounts Manager of Total Namibia said at Wednesday’s launch that the Total Tara Rally is the toughest event on the Namibian international calendar.
Total Namibia is sponsoring the Tara Rally event to the tune of N$500 000.
