Back to business for Nkomazi 400
MALALANE: OFF ROAD RACE RESUMES AFTER SIX YEARS
After a six-year hiatus, the Nkomazi 400 race in Malalane, Mpumalanga is back on the South African Rally-Raid Championship calendar.
The popular event will form the opening round of the 2023 season on Friday and Saturday, 24 and 25 March.
The Nkomazi 400, sponsored by Team Hilux, Rally-Raid and Nkomazi Fuel, was first introduced to national Rally-Raid competitors in 2013.
This year the event will consist of a 65 kilometre qualifying race on the Friday, to determine the starting order for the main race on the Saturday.
On the Saturday, competitors in both the Production Vehicle category and the Special Vehicle category will take on a loop of approximately 175kms, which they will have to complete twice.
The start/finish, race headquarters and designated service point will be at the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot.
On the Friday, the Pirelli qualifying race will begin at 12.30pm from the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot, with the start at 8am for the main race on Saturday from the same venue.
On Saturday, teams will return to DSP for a compulsory service break at the halfway mark, while the finish and podium celebrations will also take place at the Nkomazi Fuel & Gas Depot.
From the start of the main race crews will cross the Jeppe’s Reef road and head in an anti-clockwise direction towards the Nkomazi Toll Plaza, with most of the route traversing property in close proximity to the N4.
They will then head towards the Kaalrug Road and the Louw’s Creek Plantation, the Three Sisters mountain range, the highest point in the area, plus the Holnek area towards the Swaziland border.
Food and refreshments will be on sale at DSP, while route maps will be available online in the week leading up to the event.
Spectators and enthusiasts are invited to enjoy the action and to rub shoulders with the teams, quite a few of whom have recently returned from Dakar Rally in Saudi Arabia.
They will also be able to get a closer look at some of the world’s most technologically advanced race vehicles designed, built and prepared in South Africa.