Motorsport calendar out

According to the 2012 ZMSF calendar, which was released yesterday by the federation’s competitions manager Rose Rushforth, the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally has been slated for the weekend of March 16 to 18.
This year will see the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge acting as the opening round of the tough eight-event 2012 FIA African Rally Championship series for the second year running.
The Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge, which is also the country’s premier motorsport event, was traditionally staged during the last weekend of August in the past years before it was moved to the month of March for the first time this year.
This came after the world’s motorsport governing body, FIA, acceded to a request by the ZMSF to have the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally moved from August to March as they (the ZMSF) wanted to attract more foreign entries for this big event.
And the weekend of March 16 to 18 next year will once again see the race coming in as the first round of the FIA ARC series in which Zimbabwe’s motor racing hotshot Conrad Rautenbach is the defending champion.
In fact, Rautenbach won last year’s Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally on his way to claiming his second African Drivers’ title which he is expected to defend next year.
Apart from hosting the Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally, the ZMSF will also oversee the staging of a number of local and international motorsport events in this country, in what looks like a very busy 2012 season.
A number of motorbike and karting events have also been lined-up for the 2012 Zimbabwe motorsport season which officially opens on Sunday January 22 with a motocross meet in Ruwa, just outside Harare.
There will also be a social 4×4 motor racing event on the same day at the home of local motorsport – Donnybrook.
A drag racing meeting has also been scheduled for the following weekend – January 28 – at the same venue to close out the events of the opening month of the new year.
The first karting event of the 2012 season has been pencilled in for Sunday February 5 at Donnybrook and it will be followed by the second motocross meet of the year at the same venue on February 12.
A number of motorsport activities have also been lined-up for the month of March with motor rallying’s Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally (March 16 to 18) being the major event of that month.
The Toyota Zimbabwe Challenge Rally will be preceded by a motocross event on March 4 at Donnybrook, the same day the local 4×4 organising committee are expected to hold their annual meeting.
The Bulawayo Motoring Club will host circuit races on March 24 in Bulawayo while another karting event has been scheduled for the following day at Donnybrook.
Nothing much will happen during the month of April which will only see some of the top local motor rallying drivers heading to South Africa for the Sasol Rally.
The Sasol Rally, which is scheduled for April 19 to 21, is coming in as the second round of the 2012 FIA ARC series.
In May, there will be circuit races at Donnybrook (May 5), a 4×4 course building (May 12 and 13), a motocross event (May 13 at Donnybrook) and kart racing (May 20 at Donnybrook).
The popular 4×4 Jamboree has been scheduled for May 26 at Donnybrook.
The same month of May is also likely to see a number of top local motor rallying drivers travelling to neighbouring Zambia to compete in the third round of the 2012 FIA ARC series – the Zambia International Rally.
This event has been slated for the weekend of May 11 to 13 in Lusaka.
In June, there would be two karting races at Donnybrook (June 3 and 17), two motocross events at Marondera (June 10) and at Donnybrook (24), and a round of the national motor rally championship (June 30) at a venue yet to be announced.
The KCB Safari Rally of Kenya – the fourth leg of the 2012 FIA ARC series – will be staged during the weekend of June 8-10 in the East African country and it is also likely to attract a number of Zimbabwean competitors.
Karting will return to Donnybrook on July 8 and 29, and in-between these two events will be a mini motocross meet on July 15, drag racing on July 21 and circuit races the following weekend, all at the same venue.
The fifth round of the 2012 FIA ARC series – the Pearl of Uganda Safari Rally – has also been set for the weekend of July 13-15 and a number of Zimbabwean motor rally drivers are likely to compete in this event.
A motocross event has been scheduled for August 5, 2012 in Marondera while another round of the national motor rally championship is likely to be staged on August 25.
The weekend of August 24 to 26 will see the staging of the sixth round of the 2012 FIA ARC series – the Kobil Rally of Tanzania – an event which has always attracted a number of Zimbabwean entries.
The months of September, October and November will also see a number of 4×4 racing, motocross, drag racing and motor rallying events being staged at Beatrice and Donnybrook.
The 2012 Zimbabwe motorsport season will officially close with the staging of the ever-popular motorcycling event – motocross’s Summer Series – in Harare and Marondera in December.
Dates for the 2012 Summer Series have been set for December 5, 7, 8 and 9 and the event will be organised and run by the Bogwheelers Club of Harare who oversee the staging of motocross events in this country.