The newly created Australian Tarmac Championship has been broadened to provide series honours for all category and class winners.
The four-event series – which includes the Mt Buller Sprint, Lake Mountain Sprint, Targa Wrest Point and Targa Tasmania - was announced last month with Modern and Outright honours included.
With strong interest being expressed in the series by all competitors, the organisers have moved to extend its appeal with all categories and all class winners now to be recognised in the championship, including the Showroom class.
Targa Tasmania event director, Mark Perry, says the championship will now have greater appeal to automotive manufacturers.
“While Targa Tasmania has been used many times by manufacturers to promote their latest cars, the four-round ATC will give manufacturers a genuine Showroom showdown over thousands of kilometres to prove the credentials, and the value of their products,” Perry said.
“The sport has enjoyed a lot of manufacturer support over the years, but no one has been able to say they have the best road car in the country, until now. The Showroom class is sure to see plenty of competition in the years ahead.”
Perry says that it is also important that the Championship honours the roots of the sport.
“In the true traditions of tarmac rallying, cars are grouped according to age, capacity and modification, to create a number of races within a race, and involving all competitors.
“Recognising this, the ATC will offer awards across all categories and classes, to ensure all competitors have a chance at some level of success in the new championship.
“Combined with the Targa Plate, this competition structure is the main reason tarmac rallying has been so successful in Australia over the last 15 years. Regular competing tarmac rally competitors outnumber their `gravel cousins’ by as much as five to one, and we wanted to make sure that all our regular `customers’ were well catered for in the new ATC.”
Mt. Buller event director, Peter Washington, added: “We are lucky to have such a wide variety of cars competing, so it is important that the competitors feel they have a valuable asset, and one that can potentially win them an ATC award,” Washington said.
“This will, in turn, increase the car’s value and help the competitor obtain that all-important sponsorship.”
The inaugural Australian Tarmac Championship kicks off on December 4 with the Mt. Buller Sprint. Targa Wrest Point takes place in Hobart on January 30 and 31, the Lake Mountain Sprint follows on March 20 and 21, with Targa Tasmania ending the series from April 27 to May 2, 2010.