FEATURE: SOUTH AFRICAN RALLYING Peter Baragwanath and Charles Reeler in their potent Nissan.
OUT OF AFRICA Story: TOM SMITH
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ost Aussies and Kiwis who are passionate about rallying acknowledge obvious links to the UK and Europe, certainly know that rallying is alive and well in Japan and south-east Asia, and might also admit to having watched some of the Chinese Rally Championship on YouTube. Most recently the Argentinean round of the World Rally Championship probably also put the spotlight on parts of South America, particularly because of the efforts of Hayden Paddon and
John Kennard in their Hyundai i20 WRCar. And yes, rallying exists in North America, but most Antipodeans will probably hone in on Ken Block’s brilliant series of Gymkhana videos as typical of the sport in the US of A. Africa is something of a mystery, but later generations of rallyists will recall that the East African Safari was part of the World Championship for many years. However, most of us know little about the sport in South Africa, other than the fact that over many years, the best drivers and the rally machinery Glyn Hall and Martin Botha, Ford Laser, in the NGK Rally.
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coming out of SA were a match for anything in the rest of the world. In recent years, under the G2 ARC regulations, a number of South Africansourced 2.0-litre VW Polos made their way to Australia for local competitors. Neal Bates also sought advice from his Toyota counterparts when building his own S2000 Corolla. Various well-known African rallyists have made Australia their home over past decades, including experienced codriver Lofty Drews, and Marius Swart, who has been a Brisbane ‘local’ for some years now in his Polo S2000, to name just two. Thanks to the evolution of Facebook, information from South Africa posted by fellow enthusiasts is much more readily available, and regular photos and memories of past eras of rallying can be enjoyed by everyone. RallySport Magazine set out to reveal some of the glory of South African rallying and has established contact with former South African rallying journalists, Loen Joubert and Roger Houghton, both of whom have contributed to this profile, along with respected rally scribe Martin Holmes. In past years, the sport of rallying in South Africa enjoyed tremendously popular manufacturer and spectator