Tar Challenge is here
Posted Thu, 06 Dec 2007
The Chana Cars in Action Charity Challenge starts on the evening of 7 December — the event has drawn an interesting and varied entry set for the challenge of seven demanding tarmac stages.
Varied and exciting entry list
Thirty-five entries have so far been received for the Chana Cars in Action Charity Challenge, presenting a varied and exciting field. The weekend’s action will see several top rally crews challenged by some pretty impressive racecars as well as a few ultimate streetcars in the mix.
Heading the field is Tar Rally specialist Michele Lupini and Garry Kingsley-Wilkins in the Herschel Audi A4 3.2 quattro Production racer normally driven by Melvil Priest in the Bridgestone series. His main competition is expected to come from Callie van der Merwe’s ex-Hannes Grobler Group B-spec rally Nissan Exa.
The last time the Lupini and Van der Merwe competed head to head was in the All-Tar Rally a couple of years back where they enjoyed a rally-long duel that went all the way to the finish. The Saab 9-3R Lupini drove to victory in that event will also be in the line-up this weekend.
Another notable entry is car 3 — national rally exponent Adrian Karth and Duncan English will be out in the brand new VW Polo the duo will campaign in the national rally championship next year, but they’ll have their work cut out by regional rally stars Michael Otto and Tommy du Toit in a rapid Toyota Tazz and Production Car men Vaughn Williams’ Mercedes-Benz C270 CDI and 2007 Class C champ Robbi Beninca and Deon Crous in Beninca’s yellow racing Golf.
There will also be a significant streetcar presence with tar rally regulars Jan Botha and Anton Wannenburg in a Noble M400 and Rhys Edwards and Jay Nel in the unique SA-built and Corvette-powered Scarab roadster. Several other race, rally and street cars make up the bulk of the 35-car field, but there will be a separate and intense war raging toward the back of the pack…
Chana’s dirty birthday dozen
One of the highlights of the Chana Cars in Action Charity Challenge is the 12-bakkie Chana Star war to be waged toward the back of the field. To celebrate the brand’s first birthday in typical horny Chana style, the company has entered no less than twelve diminutive Chana Star bakkies in their own class at the back of the field.
The Chana Stars, of which one confounded the critics to run in as class winner in its motorsport debut in the recent All Tar Rally, will be crewed among others by several of SA’s top motoring journalists. Favourite is the very Star that won the Tar Rally in the hands of Star Motoring and Cars in Action scribes Jesse Adams and Stuart Grant.
They will have their hands full though as rival car writers, among them 'Lat’ Wiel' presenter Hannes Visser, Wiel editor Ferdi de Vos, Egmont Sippel from Rapport, Citi Motoring duo Glen Hill and Mark Jones and Motor Beeld’s Pieter Oosthuizen, as well as various Chana dealers will be out to beat them…
The full entry list can be seen on motoring.iafrica.com/tarchallenge.
Seven stages of action
The Chana Cars in Action Charity Challenge starts at 5pm on Friday evening 7 December with a stage on and around the Zwartkops Raceway, before a second, longer stage incorporating more laps of the track at dusk. The event re-starts with a repeat of the longer stage at Zwartkops at 7.30am on Saturday 8 December before a tight road section to Gerotek.
The action at Gerotek starts at 8.15am with a blast about the Ride & Handling Track before a stage on the Dynamic Handling Track. Both those stages are repeated in time for an early finish and prize giving at Chana’s Northcliff dealership at lunchtime.
Friday 7 December
14h00 Documentation & Scruitiny – Zwartkops Raceway
17h00 Stage 1 Warranty Solutions/Zenzes Prologue – Zwartkops 6.82km
19h00 Stage 2 Bosal Control Instruments Special – Zwartkops 14.14km
19h50 Parc Ferme – Zwartkops
Saturday 8 December
07h30 Stage 3 Nedbank Zwartkops Special 14.14km
08h15 Stage 4 Auto Carriers King of the Mountain 1 – Gerotek 25.83km
09h00 Stage 5 ATE/Cartrack Dynamic Test – Gerotek 11.75km
09h40 Stage 6 WesBank King of the Mountain 2 – Gerotek 25.83km
10h25 Stage 7 Rand Asia/Signs at Work Dynamic Challenge 2. 11.75km
12h00 Prize Giving – Chana Northcliff
The stage originally planned for Bellairs Mall has been cancelled. A full spectator guide can be downloaded from motoring.iafrica.com/tarchallenge and a hard copy will be available at the start.
Doing it for charity
The Chana First Birthday Cars in Action Charity Challenge is collecting groceries for charity — entrants, officials and fans are urged to bring along donations in the form of groceries to be handed over to the Fred & Martie Feeding Scheme, which has been operating for 26 years and feeds over 450 children in need at lunchtime every day. Excess provisions are distributed to new mothers and old age pensioners.
The public can donate via your local Chana dealership, while a fleet of Chana Star bakkies will be in hand along the Charity Challenge route Friday and Saturday, where rally fans can leave their donations, too.
More info on the web
Everything you need to know about the Chana Cars in Action Charity Challenge is in the web — check out motoring.iafrica.com/tarchallenge.
