The next round of both the New South Wales and Victorian Rally Championships is set for Sunday 9 June – the Bega Valley Rally, based at Eden.
Entries are now open and the Supplementary Regulations and Entry Form are available from the event’s website at www.begavalleyrally.com.au/competitors
This year there will be 11 special stages for the Long Course (8 for the Short Course), which will again extend into Victoria. Two completely new stages this year with 9 others run in different combinations from last year (two will run in reverse direction). No stage will run exactly the same as last year. None of the stages are repeats, nor run in reverse (except for a few kilometres of one stage).
The famous 20 kilometre shire road south of Eden, The Snake Track, will be used for the first time in the Bega Valley Rally since 2007. This stage will only be run by those contesting the Long Course, which will cover 350 kilometres, with 185km being competitive (53%). The three shire roads (Snake Track and two roads in Victoria) bring the total shire road distance to 57 kilometres (or 31% of the competitive distance).
The Short course (for ACT Regional, NSW Clubman and NSW Excel Series) totals 275 kilometres with 135km being competitive (49%). These crews can elect to continue on and complete the long course without affecting their series result.
The road book for this year has been upgraded with Neal Bates/Coral Taylor checking it. To quote Neal:
“A couple of stages in the event are the best stages I've ever seen in this country. Generally the rally is very fast and smooth. Coral and I checked the course and we hope we've done a good job of that. We've tried to make the roadbook as consistent as possible.”
This year is the celebration of the 40th year of the Bega Valley Rally – its Jubilee. To commemorate the occasion, a special ‘Long Tales and Exaggeration’ function is being planned for the Saturday night, with such rally characters as Ross Dunkerton, Ed Mulligan, ‘Dinta’ and Kate Officer, Neal Bates, and others, planning to be present to relate tales. The night will include video footage from previous events and a ‘canvas’ of old photos will be raffled. Anyone who has had a past association with the event is most welcome to come along and reminisce.
Last, but most definitely not least, we are very pleased to announce that Inkjet Wholesale is supporting the event and offers a trophy and a $500 cash award. Crews will be eligible for the cash award as long as their car carries the Inkjet Wholesale decals during the event. The winner will be drawn at the presentation on the Sunday night after the event – so all crews have equal chance to win this award as it won’t be based on results!
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