Atkinson advised to run Heat One in Canberra

The nation’s capital, home to the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship, caught the brunt of a huge storm front which swept the entire state of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory.

Forecast rain for the rally week increased day by day and, ultimately, more rain fell than what was forecast, placing organisers in a tough place with an unenviable decision to make.

The call to cancel the Heat altogether was made by the Rally of Canberra organisers at around 11.00 am on Saturday after stage cancellations and adjustments to the day’s action had already been made. Blue Range, in traditional ‘East West’ areas of Tidbinbilla, was cancelled and the other two stages were adjusted to avoid the worst areas affected by rain.

In all, three stages were scheduled to run on the adjusted itinerary, and with less than 25% of competitive distance remaining, only half the points would have been awarded to ARC competitors.