South Racing’s hectic season of international cross-country rallying continues this week, when the German-based car preparations company offers technical support to the Divino Fogäo Rally Team competing in Brazil’s demanding Rally dos Sertões.
The South American country’s premier off-road event is a former counting round of the FIM Cross-Country World Championship and takes place between September 3 and September 10.
South Racing will be running the Brazilian duo of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin in a Toyota Hilux. The pair are the defending Rally dos Sertões champions in the car category and are keen to retain their local title.
Varela’s recent experience with the Toyota Hilux and this event, in particular, makes him one of the favourites for victory. Last year, the Divino Fogão Rally Team won the Prologue stage in Goiânia and four of the seven timed special stages to reach the finish in Foz do Iguaçu (Igaucu Falls) 14min 22sec ahead of second-placed Marcos Baumgart.
“It’s another busy week for South Racing personnel and it is great to be back in Brazil and we are ready for the challenges that the Rally dos Sertões may throw up, ” said South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham. “Reinaldo and Gustavo are an experienced team pairing and we hope that they can retain their rally title with our support.”
This year’s event has been radically modified from the one where Varela was triumphant in 2015. Last year, the route headed from Goiânia to Rio Verde and on to a finish at the Igaucu Falls via night stops in Itumbiara, São Simão, Três Lagoas, Euclides da Cunha Palista and Umuarama.
This year’s event is based in the Brazilian city of Goiãnia. Teams will pass through administration and scurineering checks on Friday, before the competitive action gets underway with a Prologue stage on Saturday, September 3.
The meat of the competition then takes place over seven selective sections in a punishing route that winds its way through Brazil, starting with a stage between Goiãnia and Padre Bernando on September 4 and featuring further overnight halts in Padre Bernardo,
Cavalcante, Posse, Luis Eduardo Magalhäes, Mateiros and Ponte Alte, before the seventh and final stage takes place between Ponte Alte and Palmas on September 10.
The event started out as the Rally São Francisco on 1991. It took place between Ribeirão Preto and Maceió and was open to motorcycle competitors only. It remained in the São Paulo state before moving on to finish in Natal.
Its status began to grow quickly and it attracted some of the bigger names in world cross-country rallying, with French Dakar legend Stéphane Peterhansel a recent former winner, after race officials permitted cars to enter for the first time in 1995.
