South Racing, the German-based cross-country rally car preparations company, is in the midst of a hectic August rallying programme in South America and is counting down the hours to running two cars in Rally dos Sertões, Brazil’s premier cross-country rally. The event starts in the central-western town of Goiânia on August 20th and finishes at Bonito in southern Brazil on August 26th.
The team will run a Divino Fogäo Rally Team Ford Ranger for the Brazilian crew of Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo Gugelmin and a brand new Conarpesa-backed Volkswagen Amarok for Spaniard Fernando Alvarez and his Argentinean navigator Juan-Pablo Monasterolo.
Varela, winner of the event in 2015, won the Prologue stage in Goiânia and four of the seven timed special stages to reach the finish in Foz do Iguaçu (Igauçu Falls) 14min 22sec ahead of Marcos Baumgart. Poor quality fuel cost him a chance to repeat that success in 2016.
“August has started off with a bang for the team with back-to-back races all the way through until September,” said South Racing’s managing director Scott Abraham. “We had a great result in Hungary last weekend with eighth place for our Czech driver Czech driver Tomáš Ouřednīček and we are also in the process of looking after Rodrigo Gutiérrez in the Atacama Rally this week.
“But we must also focus on the Rally dos Sertões with Reinaldo Varela and Gustavo (Gugelmin) in the Ford Ranger. For sure, we are looking for revenge for last year, where we lost the race because of bad fuel. The team is well prepared and we are looking for a top result. Fernando and Juan Pablo also debut their new car. It should have been ready for Baja Spain, but everyone is looking forward to the first appearance now in Brazil. It is a new generation vehicle. They are exciting times.”
The team carried out a shakedown test today (Thursday) before crews attend their mandatory scrutineering and administration checks at the Goiânia International Circuit later today and Friday (August 18th).
The ceremonial start and Prologue stage will then take place in Goiânia, the largest city in the state of Goiás, on Saturday and these precede seven demanding selective sections across some of the wildest and most difficult terrain in Brazil.
The opening section leaves Goiânia and guides teams to an overnight halt in Goianésia on August 20th before crews move on to Santa Terezinha de Goiás on August 21st. From there the route heads on to Aruanã on August 23rd and then in the direction of Barra do Garça the next day.
Day five leaves Barra do Garça en route for Coxim and the final two stages take in a night halt in Aquidauna on August 25th before the final section into the finish in Bonito, an ecotourism hub in the Mato Grosso do Sul state, on August 26th.
