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Super Africa Rally | Featured article
Author: Erik
Project: Liberta
Summary: The Super Africa Rally (SAR, /sɑːr/; French: Super Rallye d'Afrique, SRA) is a cross-continent, multi-stage, marathon endurance rally along the western coast of Africa. Taking place between Tangier, Morocco and Cape Town, South Africa, the competition runs through 21 countries and over 14,000 kilometers of road. It is the longest regularly organized motor race of its kind, having run every year since 1961, excluding 2020. The rally is organized by the Libertan National Motorsports Organization (LNMO), coordinated and managed through the Rally Motorsport Union of Africa, and endorsed by the FIA. The competition is organized into a three-week period, each day the contestants have to average roughly 750 kilometers. Contestants race against the clock, but penalties can result in the first car to cross the line not being declared the winner. Generally, crossing the finish line first results in a Championship trophy, whilst winning by fastest overall time results in the Cup of Africa trophy. Crossing the finish line first as well as winning by fastest overall time is referred to as a “super-swing”, awarding the winning team with both trophies. The competition is unique among similar large-scale rallies as it requires four persons per participating car, two drivers, one mechanic and one navigator.
Most of the route of the Super Africa Rally is based on its non-televised, enthusiast counterpart and predecessor, the Great West Africa Rally, inaugurated in 1946. In order to avoid local instabilities, the route of the rally has been subject to numerous alterations throughout the years. The rally has changed significantly since its inception, starting out as a comparatively small competition, with a total of ten teams. Most of the viewers were Libertan, and coverage was made by radio, switching to deferred live television in 1979. In 1986, the number of participants was increased to 25 teams, and again to 50 teams in 2003. In 1994, the televised program was reorganized to feature constant live broadcasting and made frequent use of action cameras mounted on top of and inside the cars. The rally has increasingly diversified, both in drivers and spectators. In 1983, Ghanian Kacely Yeboah was the first black African to participate as a driver, and in 2008, the South African Gugu Zulu became the first black African to achieve a super-swing victory. As more African drivers participate, the rally has gone from a mostly Libertan and Western European audience to roughly 90% African spectators. Contemporarily, the Super Africa Rally garners over 280 million non-concurrent television viewers per season, being among the most watched events ever. The final day is regularly the most watched, with estimates ranging over 100 million watching. The SAR is credited with having contributed to local African interest in motorsport, acting as a multicultural social event across borders, as well as facilitating improved diplomatic relations between African countries. The rally has also drawn criticism and controversy over the alleged promotion of dangerous driving, increase in pollution, neocolonial bribery and influence peddling. Several safety precautions have been introduced following repeated accidents involving participating rally cars, pedestrians, and other cars. (more...)