A new season looms and to kick off proceedings, with the first communique of the year, we extend our best wishes to all for a happy, healthy and prosperous 2021.
Regrettably, the unprecedented and daunting COVID-19 pandemic remains with us and will no doubt continue to influence our day-to-day lives for some time to come, placing a variety of, yet to be defined, restrictions on how we conduct our personal, business, social and sporting lives.
Notwithstanding, the SACCS team are confident the 2021 season will resume as planned, albeit under austere conditions, behind closed doors, strictly controlled DSP access, no published vantage points, wearing of mask and all other published COVID protocols.
The topsy-turfy 2020 season transformed many aspects of our sport, including the way we communicated with sponsors, competitors, officials and followers, and the way we presented events incorporating shorter qualifying races and double-header events.
This upbeat approach encouraged the introduction of modified race formats offering diversity and ingenuity, a brand new road book programme, a revised qualifying race start order and a zero percent entry fee increase.
Exciting New Season
This year’s SACCS championship will open with the favourite Mpumalanga 400 in Dullstroom, presenting a new face. The two-day event will comprise a short qualifying race on Friday, 26 March followed by one loop of approximately 120 kilometres traversing new terrain.
Saturday, 27 March will take competitors to the more familiar Mpumalanga 400 route towards the Belfast area, consisting
of one loop of approximately 140 kilometres, to be repeated twice. Race headquarters, the Start and Finish and the Designated Service Park (DSP) will again be located at the Cricket Oval.
Round two, the Sugarbelt 400 at Eston on the outskirts of Pietermaritzburg, Kwa-Zulu Natal will be a new event for most and has not featured on the SACCS calendar since 2015. This two-day event, based at the Beaumont Eston Farmers’ Club will kick off with a 40 – 50 kilometre qualifying race on Friday, 14 May followed by
two loops of approximately 180 kilometres on Saturday, 15 May.
Competitors can expect a challenging new- look Toyota 1000 Desert Race when the SACCS championship heads to
uncharted territory and the varied topography of the Upington area characterised by desolate deserts, harsh landscapes and the fertile Orange River Valley. The area is best known for its export-quality grapes, raisins and wines, which are cultivated along the rich plains of the Orange River.
The three-day marathon event, which replaces the suspended 2021 Toyota Kalahari Botswana 1000 Desert Race will consist of a 40 – 50 kilometre qualifying race on Friday, 18 June followed by two loops of approximately 170 kilometres each on Saturday and Sunday 19 and 20 June.
The Vryburg 400 on 13 and 14 August, the midway point of the championship, will
feature round four and five and will comprise two one-day events. The events will consist of a short qualifying race and two loops of approximately 170 kilometres each day.
The main race loops on Friday and Saturday will traverse new territory on each day.
The penultimate round, a two-day event at NAMPO Park on 1 and 2 October will also receive a facelift. The event will comprise a short qualifying race followed by loop one of approximately 140 kilometres on Friday, 1 October. The final two loops of the event will take place on Saturday, 2 October.
The season finale in Parys, an action packed one-day affair gets underway with a short qualifying race on Saturday, 13 November followed by two loops of approximately 170 kilometres.
New Road Book Programme
SACCS will be introducing a new internationally recognised Cross Country road book system when the season kicks off in March.
The ‘homegrown” road book introduced in 2016 was extremely labour intensive, cumbersome and presented various challenges when editing changes and had no direct GPS data tie in, resulting in many hours of manual input.
System developed and designed by Americans Mike Shirley and Dave Peckham, multiple Cross Country and Baja participants, is widely used in the Spanish, German, Italian, Hungarian and the Portuguese Baja’s as well as the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge, the Silk Way Rally and the Taklimakan Rally, to name but a few.
“The new system provides us with detailed GPS track data, consistent images, colouring, style and text option making the road book easier to read and follow. It also minimises editing time when changes are required, and is more accurate. It allows competitors to print a colour marked up road book and is in line with the Dakar style electronic reader,” commented SACCS Competitor Liaison Officer Mike Lawrenson.
“We are delighted with the prospects of new system which was tested on the recent Kameel 500 in North West Province with very complimentary and positive feedback”, said SACCS chief executive officer Archie Rutherford.
New Road Book Page Examples
2020 FIA Cross-Country Rally Sporting Regulations- Appendix II-5
4. FIA ROAD BOOK LEXICON
Only following symbols should be used. New or additional symbols must be approved by FIA.
Revamped Qualifying Race Start Order
2021 will also see the introduction of a new qualifying race start order, which will be based on the combined national overall seeding list.
Competitors will no longer start the qualifying race in Production and Special Vehicle categories, all competitors will be started in accordance with the national overall seeding positions at two-minute intervals.
The starting gap between competitors is subject to change by the COC should conditions warrant it.
To streamline proceedings only the top five seeded drivers will draw for their starting position.
Zero Percent Increased Entry Fee
SACCS are acutely aware of the current economic climate, therefore to assist competitors in these tough times the decision has been taken to hold entry fees at the prevailing 2020 fees of R 6000..00 excluding VAT for all one and two-day events and R 8500.00 excluding VAT for the marathon three-day event.
Entry fees for Class G competitors will remain at R 4312.50 excluding VAT for all one and two-day events and at R 6500.00 excluding VAT for the three-day marathon event.
| DATE | VENUE | FEE ex VAT |
|---|---|---|
| 26/27 March | Mpumalanga 400, Dullstroom | R 6000.00 / R 4312.50 |
| 14/15 May | Sugarbelt 400, Eston | R 6000.00 / R 4312.50 |
| 18/19/20 June | Toyota 1000 Desert Race, Upington | R 8500.00 / R 6500.00 |
| 13/14 August | Vryburg 400, Vryburg | R 6000.00 / R 4312.50 |
| 1/2 October | Nampo Park, Bothaville | R 6000.00 / R 4312.50 |
| 13 November | Parys 400, Parys | R 6000.00 / R 4312.50 |
Competitors who entered both the Ford Parys 400 and the Toyota Gazoo Racing SA Vaal 400 are reminded of the R 3000.00 ex VAT credit afforded. This credit may be used when entering any one of the 2021 events.
We look forward to an exciting and challenging season ahead and will keep you up to date with developments in our sport.
Suffice to say the SACCS team are always available to deal with suggestions, requests, grievances and compliments.
