The 2025 Tara Rally is on the map

Rally organisers are hard at work behind the scenes to ensure that the legacy of Dennis Kent, ‘father’ of the Tara Rally will live forever.

This year the 55th Tara Rally will take place over three days during the first weekend of June, starting with an early morning recce run on 5 June at Rehoboth to ensure the teams are familiar with the routes and road conditions before returning to Windhoek.

All vehicles will be inspected to ensure they comply with international federation racing safety requirements before they can compete.

The Tara will kick off on Thursday night with the popular special stage on the Tony Rust raceway.

Friday will take the teams back to Rehoboth, where seven stages are planned.

According to Derek Jacobs, assistant clark of the course, drivers can expect a real challenge.

While most of the stages are familiar, Jacobs says they have reversed some of the stages so drivers race in the opposite direction. The rally teams will need to adjust as they familiarise themselves with the routes.

“We reversed the long (32 kilometre) stage. and we’ve turned it and the Rehoboth West stage around. Only the mine stage remained the same,” Jacobs tells Top Revs. The teams and their crews will then return to Windhoek for the third and last day.

The stages in and around Windhoek also hold some challenges for drivers and organisers, Jacobs says.

“There is a bit of a challenge because of the recent rain. Some of the roads are washed away and a grader needs to be put on the roads as some of the ‘dongas’ (trenches and washed away surfaces) are as deep as some cars are high,” Jacobs explains.

Saturday morning will start with the gravel stage outside the Tony Rust Race Track before embarking on the rest of the day’s stages.

“In the true tradition of the Tara, it looks simple on paper – it is not. I can tell you, Friday (at Rehoboth) is going to be a tough day as [drivers] ride the 32km stage twice,” Jacobs says.

In total, the special stages span just under 190 kilometres.

The washed away road surfaces are not the only challenges – long grass poses a potential and not uncommon fire hazard, as the grass is often close to the exhaust system and could ignite, endangering the crew and surroundings.

The scrutinising team is responsible for ensuring that safety measures are in place on the vehicles and in the rally teams.

A racing team consists of a driver and a navigator, normally accompanied by a technical and service crew who ensures the vehicles can be repaired and serviced when the team arrives at a service park.

In keeping with tradition, participants fall into two classes: sedans or S class, and the bakkie (or challenge) class, also known as the CR class.

Among Tara rally teams, the saying goes: You do not win the Tara, you conquer it. Most of the teams are content with merely finishing the Tara, which is known as the ultimate local rally.

Entries for the event closes towards end of the month. The sponsors on board are M+Z Motors, fuel giants Shell and Savannah Car rentals.

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