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Super Africa Rally: Difference between revisions
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Following the departure of #1 Maison de Citroën in 1986, the team would return in 1998, and won the Cup of Africa in 2001 with its highly successful {{W|Citroën Xsara WRC|Citroën Xsara}}. Simultaneously, #3 J.H. Todt-Peugeot Sport won the Championship trophy that year, and the 2000s would see French teams win numerous times. The 2002 championship saw the victory of two British teams once more, #2 Team Prodrive and #4 Team M-Sport. In 2003 Peltier and the RMUA made the decision to expand the rally for a total of 50-teams, along with the introduction of the class system. The change was the single largest overhaul of the race since 1986, when the then 10-team race was expanded to 25 contestants. It resulted in a significant increase in sponsorship for various teams, along with the first clear division of teams based on seniority. The decision to base the system of team seniority rather than through skill-based qualifiers was controversial, though the RMUA assured that the system was administrative and had little effect on the ability for a team to win. The system made it significantly easier for interested sponsors to establish which team they would endow, and in the long-term resulted in sponsors maintaining their sponsorship for longer periods of time. | Following the departure of #1 Maison de Citroën in 1986, the team would return in 1998, and won the Cup of Africa in 2001 with its highly successful {{W|Citroën Xsara WRC|Citroën Xsara}}. Simultaneously, #3 J.H. Todt-Peugeot Sport won the Championship trophy that year, and the 2000s would see French teams win numerous times. The 2002 championship saw the victory of two British teams once more, #2 Team Prodrive and #4 Team M-Sport. In 2003 Peltier and the RMUA made the decision to expand the rally for a total of 50-teams, along with the introduction of the class system. The change was the single largest overhaul of the race since 1986, when the then 10-team race was expanded to 25 contestants. It resulted in a significant increase in sponsorship for various teams, along with the first clear division of teams based on seniority. The decision to base the system of team seniority rather than through skill-based qualifiers was controversial, though the RMUA assured that the system was administrative and had little effect on the ability for a team to win. The system made it significantly easier for interested sponsors to establish which team they would endow, and in the long-term resulted in sponsors maintaining their sponsorship for longer periods of time. | ||
The expansion would see more privateers and novel teams winning either trophy, with privateer teams winning in 2004, 2005, and 2006. In 2008, racing driver Gugu Zulu made history as the first native black African to win a Super-slam for the {{W|South Africa|South African}} #15 Team Shuttleworth. His win was widely celebrated and drew increasing numbers of fans from South Africa. The following year, the {{W|Botswana|Batswana}} #16 Team Pula won an unexpected Championship Trophy with the mechanically troubled {{W|Suzuki SX4 WRC|Suzuki SX4}}. The victories of native African teams has been regarded as widely influential in increasing viewership figures even further in Africa. | The expansion would see more privateers and novel teams winning either trophy, with privateer teams winning in 2004, 2005, and 2006. #48 Team Dakar became the first E-Class team to win the Cup of Africa trophy in 2006, which was seen as an upset victory and widely popular with spectators and fans. In 2008, racing driver Gugu Zulu made history as the first native black African to win a Super-slam for the {{W|South Africa|South African}} #15 Team Shuttleworth. His win was widely celebrated and drew increasing numbers of fans from South Africa. The following year, the {{W|Botswana|Batswana}} #16 Team Pula won an unexpected Championship Trophy with the mechanically troubled {{W|Suzuki SX4 WRC|Suzuki SX4}}. The victories of native African teams has been regarded as widely influential in increasing viewership figures even further in Africa. | ||
==Format and structure== | ==Format and structure== | ||