Desert last challenge for teams
Rally
The M&Z Motors Swakop Rally, presented by the Walvis Bay Motor Club, is the sixth and final round of the Namibian National Rally Championships on Friday and Saturday (17 and 18 November) in and around this coastal town.
Quite a few developments have taken place in both the S Class for cars and the Off-Road Challenge Class (CR1, CR2). A nice full field with possibly 21 entries awaits the coast's rally supporters over 125 kilometres and 12 special stages.
Peer Röhm, who has raced with a 2x4 VW Polo in the S1 Class since the beginning of 2022, would have entered the last round with a Ford Escort MK2 in the S2 Class with Pieter Steyn as navigator. Unfortunately, an engine problem caused Röhm to withdraw. Allan Martin and Maretha Olivier are back in the S4 Class with Martin's fast 4x4-Skoda R5 1.6T to give Wilro Dippenaar and Carolyn Swan a run for their money in Dippenaar’s Ford Fiesta R5.
Three welcome appearances can be expected in the S4 Class by Oswaldo Mendes and Cecil Koorts (Mitsubishi Evo), Issai Nhinda and Dian van der Merwe (Subaru Impreza), as well as Willem Hugo and Amanda Hugo (Subaru Impreza).
Kai and Katja Pretorius will make their debut in a Toyota Corolla (S1), while Paul Oosthuizen and Johan du Plessis will race an S1 VW Golf MK1. The last surprise is Koos and Jaco Coetzer, also with a VW Golf MK2, for stiff competition in S2.
Off-road
Rian Kritzinger exchanged his 2x4 Nissan Hardbody V8 (CR1) for a 4x4 Ford Ranger V8 of five litres.
He and navigator Ian Stander will start in the CR2 class on Friday with the roaring Ranger to chase Loic Bathfield's V8 Century CR6. Bathfield has not faced much opposition this past year.
Although the men race in two different classes, Kritzinger and Bathfield can entertain the spectators with exceptional racing.
The V8 Nissan still owned by Kritzinger will be piloted by Chrizelda Engels and co-driver Ruan de Lange in the CR1 class.
Unfortunately, the brothers Ewald and Hein Bisschoff will not be in action at the coast in their CR1 Hilux V8. The Bisschoffs will be back with a bang in 2024.
The CR2 4x4-Polaris RZR of Johan Grobler and Riaan Hennop will make their mark against the welcome competition of Dirk Redman and Frikkie Koeglenberg's Toyota Hilux in the CR2 class.
The rally starts at M&Z Motors just after six o'clock on Friday afternoon, with three stages for the day. The last special stage will be raced in the industrial area on Friday evening at 20:00.
The competition starts on Saturday at 11:00 at M&Z Motors and ends at 16:00 with the final stage at the Go Kart track.
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Quite a few developments have taken place in both the S Class for cars and the Off-Road Challenge Class (CR1, CR2). A nice full field with possibly 21 entries awaits the coast's rally supporters over 125 kilometres and 12 special stages.
Peer Röhm, who has raced with a 2x4 VW Polo in the S1 Class since the beginning of 2022, would have entered the last round with a Ford Escort MK2 in the S2 Class with Pieter Steyn as navigator. Unfortunately, an engine problem caused Röhm to withdraw. Allan Martin and Maretha Olivier are back in the S4 Class with Martin's fast 4x4-Skoda R5 1.6T to give Wilro Dippenaar and Carolyn Swan a run for their money in Dippenaar’s Ford Fiesta R5.
Three welcome appearances can be expected in the S4 Class by Oswaldo Mendes and Cecil Koorts (Mitsubishi Evo), Issai Nhinda and Dian van der Merwe (Subaru Impreza), as well as Willem Hugo and Amanda Hugo (Subaru Impreza).
Kai and Katja Pretorius will make their debut in a Toyota Corolla (S1), while Paul Oosthuizen and Johan du Plessis will race an S1 VW Golf MK1. The last surprise is Koos and Jaco Coetzer, also with a VW Golf MK2, for stiff competition in S2.
Off-road
Rian Kritzinger exchanged his 2x4 Nissan Hardbody V8 (CR1) for a 4x4 Ford Ranger V8 of five litres.
He and navigator Ian Stander will start in the CR2 class on Friday with the roaring Ranger to chase Loic Bathfield's V8 Century CR6. Bathfield has not faced much opposition this past year.
Although the men race in two different classes, Kritzinger and Bathfield can entertain the spectators with exceptional racing.
The V8 Nissan still owned by Kritzinger will be piloted by Chrizelda Engels and co-driver Ruan de Lange in the CR1 class.
Unfortunately, the brothers Ewald and Hein Bisschoff will not be in action at the coast in their CR1 Hilux V8. The Bisschoffs will be back with a bang in 2024.
The CR2 4x4-Polaris RZR of Johan Grobler and Riaan Hennop will make their mark against the welcome competition of Dirk Redman and Frikkie Koeglenberg's Toyota Hilux in the CR2 class.
The rally starts at M&Z Motors just after six o'clock on Friday afternoon, with three stages for the day. The last special stage will be raced in the industrial area on Friday evening at 20:00.
The competition starts on Saturday at 11:00 at M&Z Motors and ends at 16:00 with the final stage at the Go Kart track.
[email protected]
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