The 2012 Bosch ARC will usher in a new era with the introduction of an SUV series alongside separate championships for both two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive cars.
The 2012 series will mark the last year four wheel drive turbo rally cars will be able to score points, with the 2013 Championship to be open only to two wheel drive machines.
The all new 'stadium' event at Rally Calder opens the 2012 Bosch ARC on the first weekend in March (1- 4) before the Championship moves across the continent to Western Australia for the Quit Forest Rally in Busselton from 30 March to 1 April, with round three the International Rally of Queensland in Caloundra from 25-27 May, round four will be the Scouts Rally SA in the Adelaide Hills on 27-29 July ahead of round five, the Coffs Forest Rally on the NSW Coffs Coast on 12-14 October with the final round, Rally Victoria in the Warrigal-Mt Baw Baw region of Victoria east of Melbourne on 9-10 November.According to Scott Pedder the calendar reflects the desire for the Championship to grow at a sustainable rate ensuring interest in the series expands in a way that will guarantee a healthy future with more participants, sponsors and spectators.
"The Bosch ARC is taking a cautious approach despite the very encouraging growth we have had this year and will add one new event in 2012 although that new event, Rally Calder is a pretty radical and out there concept," said Scott Pedder.
"We could have scheduled seven or eight events next year, however that would have taxed resources and the commitment of competitors at this stage in the expansion of the series," he said.
"I was very conscious of being able to walk before we try to run because the reality is that the Bosch ARC is in a very strong rebuilding phase and it would be easy to overload and create problems that would be counter productive to our longer term goals," said Scott.
"Growth has been phenomenal this year with entries across the five round series up by better than 70 percent compared with the 2010 Championship, despite the fact that last year's series ran over six rounds.
"Every rally in the series has registered strong growth this year with an average of 46 entries on every round of the Bosch ARC this year, up by more than 100 percent on the average of 22 entries on 2010 ARC rounds, " he added
"This has been on the back of initiatives such as the Rallyschool.com.au Australian Junior Challenge and the inclusion of strong fields from the crowd pleasing Classic Rally Cars," said Scott.
With the new SUV series and the prospect of new teams entering the 2012 Bosch ARC we are looking to further expand the fields in the coming year, particularly with the new format at Rally Calder," he concluded.
2012Â BOSCH AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR*
RD 1. Calder Park, VIC : 2-4 March
RD 2. Quit Forest Rally, WA : 31 March-1 April
RD 3. IROQ, Qld : 26-27 May (APRC)
RD 4. Scouts Rally, SA : 28-29 July
RD 5. CoffsHarbour, NSW : 13-14 October Â
RD 6. Victoria :Â 9-10 November
* Subject to final approval by CAMS
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