View his tweet with the image here, and engage with the WRC star directly: https://twitter.com/#!/MadsOstberg/status/162624899679133696/photo/1

The highly popular Southern Car Club-organised event, which was voted BRC 2011 ‘Rally of the Year’, takes place in the forests near Bournemouth and Poole. Over the last 26 years it has grown into one of the best-loved and keenly contested events in the rally calendar.

Over the course of the event, rally officials will drive a fleet of award-winning four-wheel ŠKODA Yetis, which are ideally equipped for the slippery gravel forest roads.

ŠKODA UK will also loan the Dorset Police’s Traffic Division a Superb 3.6 V6 Elegance Estate 4×4 in police livery. This will be used before and during the event by Inspector Matt Butler (Dorset Police Rally Commander) and Neil Roden (Safety Manager, Rallye Sunseeker).

Rick Smith, Rallye Sunseeker Event Director: “The feedback from our senior officials last year about the Yeti was phenomenal, they loved the car, so much so that I know one has recently brought a ŠKODA. We are therefore very pleased to retain ŠKODA as the official car.”

This year’s Rallye Sunseeker will feature a 10% increase in stage mileage, with 11 gravel speed tests for FIA homologated R1, R2 and R3 cars as well as Group A and N. The event will once again begin with a ceremonial start on Poole Quay on the Friday night (February 24), which last year attracted an 8,000 strong crowd, with the action taking place in forests near Ringwood, Ferndown and Wareham the following day. The event includes a stage and Motor Fair at Somerley Park and further information is available from: www.rallyesunseeker.co.uk

Video uploaded to YouTube by SudRallye.

Video uploaded to YouTube by rivierarallynet.

Video uploaded to YouTube by amjayes2.

Video uploaded to YouTube by rallyexara.

After a season of posting strong results, recording victories and podium finishes, two drivers entered the final round of the season with the possibility of winning the Championship. Mark Cronje, in the new Sasol Ford Fiesta S2000 rally team, claimed the final victory of the season to top the Championship standings. However, after a months-long legal battle, Conrad Rautenbach, of the Green Fuel Ford Fiesta S2000 rally team, was declared the South African Drivers’ Rally Champion once the Toyota Dealer Gauteng Rally’s results were nullified.

Rautenbach, hailing from Zimbabwe, is one of the world’s talented rally drivers. After two seasons in what is arguably of the world’s ten most competitive Championships, the 27-year-old was crowned Champion.

It was also a season in which Rautenbach and French co-driver Nicolas Klinger were rewarded with the FIA African Rally Championship title too, this Rautenbach’s second.

The entire debacle left South African rallying clamouring for solid ground, after a series of incidents saw the Championship knocked off its proud perch in South African motorsport…

The cost of all this? Disgruntled fans and organisers, and disillusioned sponsors, the competitors were left largely demotivated. This is no fault of any one competitor, or one incident for that matter. As the months roll by, the cost of this will become apparent, but Handbrakes & Hairpins is saddened to report that Rautenbach will be hanging up his rally gloves – for now.

“I’ve won two FIA African Championships and the SA series as well as competed in the World Rally Championship,” said Rautenbach. “The South African Championship is one of the most competitive there is, but it is fundamentally flawed in that it doesn’t follow the FIA rules regarding pre-event recces which is dangerous considering the pace the leaders run at.”

“The route note system used in South Africa requires a week of watching a DVD over and over on a TV set so that by the time the rally starts, I’ve lost a lot of my motivation for the event. With growing work commitments, I simply cannot afford to take a week off for every rally. The other issue is the inconsistency over the application of the rules, which changes by the event,” Rautenbach added. “I would like to thank everyone involved in rallying at every level, as well as our loyal supporters and of course our sponsors”.

Let’s not forget that this Zimbabwean was team-mate to Sebastien Loeb in 2008 in a Citroën C4 WRC, and finished eighth overall in the World Rally Championship standings that season.

Havng been surrounded by rallying from a young age, and eventually taking dad Billy’s place behind the steering wheel in club, regional and then national rally events, Rautenbach cut his teeth in various events in Africa before launching a campaign on the World Rally Championship in a Ford Puma first in the Junior World Rally Championship (J-WRC) and then in a Citroën C2 S1600. He was then selected by Citroën Racing to pilot a C4 WRC, and he did so with confidence.

The rally ace, who was only awarded his South African Rally Championship title in November 2011, is the cost of indecision and poor decision-making choices. With the next season 60 days and counting from starting, all in South African rallying hope this will be the only evident cost to the series.

What will Rautenbach be doing in 2012 and beyond? “Competing in the Dakar Rally has been a life-long dream and we will use the year to build towards an entry in the 2013 Dakar, which may include participating in some the SA Off Road series,” said Rautenbach. “If things change in the SA Rally Championship we could return,” he concluded.

Conrad Rautenbach/Nicolas Klinger - Picture by Evan Rothman.

The sale of the 100th 207 S2000 makes it the best-selling rally car to have been designed and developed by Peugeot Sport, ahead of such icons as the 205 T16. The 100th car is the property of the French team Sainteloc and made its competitive debut on the Rallye Monte-Carlo.

The 207 Super 2000 has been exported to a long list of countries, from Europe to the Middle East, and even as far afield as South Africa.

The Peugeot 207 Super 2000, which was designed and developed by Peugeot Sport under the leadership of Bertrand Vallat, has claimed a high number of titles and individual rally wins, on all types of surface and across a comprehensive spectrum of conditions. It has secured crowns in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge and in several national championships, and has also won such prestigious events as the Sanremo and the Tour de Corse, as well as last year’s Rallye Monte-Carlo!

There is every probability that this impressive record will continue to grow thanks to the latest evolutions that Peugeot Sport has made available to its customers for the 2012 season. Frédéric Bertrand (Manager of Peugeot Sport’s Customer Competition Department) commented on the occassion: “It is rare for a single model to notch up such a successful record. This year will be the car’s sixth season and it still packs the potential to win rallies. We will closely follow and advise our customers, especially since many of them are targeting title success in a variety of championships in 2012.”

Once every two years, the East African Safari Classic Rally took place in 2011. With a long list of Porsche 911s, Ford Escorts and rally cars from the heyday of the sport’s growth, this event proved to be a most thrilling rally in which Bjorn Waldegard claimed the win.

Event organiser Surinder Thatti has been a frequent visitor to South Africa, and his agenda has now been unveiled: The 2012 Classic Rally South Africa.

Taking place from 16 to 22 September, the route will run for seven days over South Africa’s most demanding and challenging rally roads.

Unlike other African rallies, the 2012 Classic Rally South Africa will be staged on closed roads.

The planned route is as follows:
16 Sept: Durban to Richards Bay
17 Sept: Richards Bay to Nelspruit
18 Sept: Nelspruit to Nelspruit
19 Sept: Nelspruit to Bladplaas
20 Sept: Bladplaas to Johannesburg
21 Sept: Johannesburg to Sun City
22 Sept: Sun City to Sun City

With the finish at the luxurious and entertaining Sun City venue, two-hours north of Johannesburg, the resort lends itself to a fitting celebration for battle-weary crews.

The organising team is Henriette Jooste (Director), Willie Du Plessis (Clerk of Course) and Surinder Thatthi (Event Director). Interested in more details: download the event’s entry form: http://bit.ly/zidHSE and regulations: http://bit.ly/xtWfji.

Welcome to issue 217 of HANDBRAKES & HAIRPINS, your favourite free source of rally entertainment!

To download this week’s issue, please click here: http://handbrakeshairpins.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/hh-2171.pdf

As always, please enjoy this week’s read!

Yours in Rallying,

Evan Rothman (Editor) and Eva Kovkova (Photojournalist)

Following recent news that Hermann Gassner Jr will embark on an eight-round IRC campaign with Red Bull SKODA, enquiries from several other prospective entrants have been received including from one team with extensive international experience and from a squad new to the IRC.

“Interest in the IRC is as strong as it has always been and we can’t wait to announce more exciting news in the coming weeks as teams and drivers complete their programmes for the year ahead,” said Francois Ribeiro, the Motorsport Business Director of IRC promoter Eurosport Events.

The IRC covers 13 rounds from February to November in countries throughout Europe. Round one, SATA Rallye Acores, takes place from 23 – 25 February.

The scheme will reward the fastest crew in each class with one extra point per stage win. This not only benefits those who drive fast and finish well, but allows a crew that retires towards the end of an event to pick up some points for their efforts.

With 20 points on offer for a win, 18 for second, 16 for third, going down to a single point, the potential of additional points will depend on the number of stages. Next month’s Rallye Sunseeker International, the season’s opening round, has twelve stages and therefore twelve extra points up for grabs: an incentive to ‘have a go’ if ever there was one.

Registrations for the BRC, BRC Challenge and Production BRC are rolling in and the deadline for early registrations was due to end today. However, recognising that many competitors are still finalising deals for cars and sponsorship, the three championships will continue these early registration fees for the remainder of the season.

For more information on the MSA British Rally Championship visit http://www.rallybrc.co.uk.