As a few of you will by now have heard, Rallystar will stop its operations at the well-known Rallystar venue end September 2015 due to the fact that we have sold the property.
With this news behind the back, I can inform you that we are currently involved in negotiations to relocate to a more central venue, closer to OR Tambo International Airport.
These negotiations will however take a while and when completed we will start building the required facility where we will be able to host more than just a rally-, driving- and test track.
The main aim will be to build a world standard RallyCross track, a dragstrip and something for the bikers as well. We will do technical- and driver training and will also involve more adventure sport disciplines.
Nothing is however yet set in stone or near paper and the negotiations looks good, but if some other negotiations are the norm, it has only started.
WHAT ABOUT THE RALLYSTAR.NET WEBSITE
The Rallystar website will continue to bring you as much as possible of the latest motorsport news and we will as usual still have a bit to say about everything.
The website has been running for more than 12 years and we are proud to say that over the time we have published in excess of 10 000 articles and received millions of visits over the time.
As you all know we have very seldom advertised anything on the website and tried to remain as independent as possible over the years.
This meant that I have always sponsored the website from Rallystar Motorsport Academy and also the Route Note income for many years. Very few if any person has ever contributed a cent.
The website is not much appreciated by the current NRC and their lack of any support or encouragement is noteworthy as Rallystar has always been a leading, if not the leading website, especially when it comes to rallying.
I suppose it is a well-known fact that the lack of support has never really worried me as I have never been very comfortable with only my heels sticking out! It is a tragedy however to think about the money going into the sport while the rulers do not worry about the media coverage – except when they have meetings discussing “the way forward”!
We know that we have rendered a huge service to the sport and withstood many attempts to get us completely out of all. This year so far was in fact the first time since 1982 that I have not been to any rally.
Our contribution to the sport and the fact that we were responsible to promote the sport through the website and the Academy, did help but could not save the sport over the past few years as the fact that the costs have been driven out of proportion due to the tactics of single minded if not simple minded people. The sport lost all its character and the passionate guys who could drive anything on wheels have disappeared from the scene.
Mainly due to this situation things had to be changed in my businesses and after long deliberation with all involved in the Rallystar.net website we have decided that the only way I will be able to keep the Rallystar website going, would be to charge a small fee to our readers.
When this suggestion was placed on the table – we all looked at each other and I knew what my colleagues were thinking.
Let us however not go there – and keep the faith that some loyalty and maybe even a bit of appreciation will come forward and we will get enough subscribers to keep the Rallystar website going and even improve on the service we rendered up to now. There are many, many things we can do with your support!
If I have to judge according to the number of letters and messages we receive, the readership numbers and measured Facebook support, then we will, with a bit of luck bring you much more that what you have been getting up to now.
So depending on your response we will either be able to keep up the current standard of reporting or we will be able to bring you much more. Should the unthinkable happen and we do not get enough support from you, I will have no option but to shut this site down and concentrate on my other businesses. Subscription money will of course be refunded.
You will have a choice to register and pay for the service monthly at R30pm or to pay an annual fee of only R240.
If you do not wish to register, you will still be able to read the intro paragraphs of all the articles but you will not be blessed with the content.
(The registration fee will be implemented and active within the next week – first week of August 2015)
Your support will be much appreciated and will allow us to keep everybody currently involved on board in appreciation for all their hard work over many years.
It will be great to see some loyalty from our regular readers and with proper support we will be able to do much more for you and enhance our service substantially and you will also benefit from your subscription in a number of ways.
Please try this out for a year and if you are not happy – you simply need not renew your subscription. I am sure you will remain on-board for many years.
THE SPONSORSHIPSEEKERS WEBSITE
The SPONSORSHIPSEEKER website has now almost been completed and we are all very, very excited by the prospect. This website will start operations during August 2015 and that will mean that you should have enough time to secure some sponsorship funds for the 2016 season
Allow me to give you a short description of this unique website:
Sponsorshipseekers is a system that will make it easier for both Sponsorship Seeker (Seeker) and Sponsor.
The SponsorshipSeeker website is proactive with a number of options ranging from the traditional sponsorship to unique ways of generating sponsorship or raise funds.
Gone are the days when you could hardly do much more than sit around waiting for something to happen after you sent out hundreds of Proposals – now you can make it happen.
By combining all possible resources SponsorshipSeeker will create avenues where you will make money faster than you believe and to cap it all – sponsors will also save millions while getting the best possible deals and even better exposure than the past when they forked out the cash and hoped for the best.
Active enthusiastic applicants will be richly awarded.
WHO MAY REGISTER ON SPONSORSHIPSEEKERS?
Registration will be open to all:
sportsmen and women,
scholars, clubs, schools,
Universities and colleges, teams,
authors, inventors,
charities and people who have special needs and causes.
Even small businesses will afford to sponsor and gain from it more than ever before.
The plan is to kick off during August 2015 and run properly by September in time for most 2016 sponsorships.
Watch the Rallystar website and then the actual SponsorshipSeeker site when it kicks in.
You may be one of many who will now be able to compete on level footing with the chequebook brigade!
A dream is eventually starting to come together. We may just make the playing fields more even.
Full information and registration facilities will be available soon.
Watch this space and you are welcome to contact us for more information on our sponsorship seminars and introduction sessions.
Thanks to all our regular readers over so many years – we hope we will be able to bring you many hours of joy and motorsport in future and that the SponsorshipSeeker initiative will truly cause a turnabout in motorsport as well.
Leon Botha