On September 26 the forests around Canberra will host the Light Car Club of Canberra Corsa de Mille Pini (Race of 1000 Pines). The event is set to attract approximately 40 cars ranging from turbo 4WD Mitsubishi and Subaru through to super competitive Datsun 1600s, Holden Geminis and Hyundai Excels.Â
The event is a point score round for the PCD Engineering ACT Regional Rally Series, the CAMS NSW Clubman Series and the Race Brakes Sydney Hyundai Excel Series.
Canberra has a rich history of rallying through the forests surrounding the city. The Race of 1000 Pines will use some of the well known roads including Castrol Corner, the Pipeline and Oakey Creek Road.
Leading the attack for the ACT Gold Cup will be current points leader Michael Barrett and Tim Batten. The Total Traction Services Evo has not skipped a beat all season and the crew look forward to another home event and will drive hard in an attempt to secure their fourth win of the year. It will not be easy though, as the competition will be trying hard to steal the win from them. Peter Taylor and Kim Martin have improved the pace of the ex Neal Bates Corolla throughout the year and currently only 18 points behind the leaders.Â
Mark Sessions and Matthew Harriott will hope there run of bad luck, which has seen them not finish the last three events, will have finally come to an end. Â
In the Clubman Series the competition will be fierce. Michael Harding and James Thornburn have shown a lot of speed in a Subaru Legacy. Mike Behnke and Brett Southwell in the Honda Civic will give the clubman competitors a run for their money but will be aiming for a top ten outright result.
For new comers to rallying, the Novice category provides plenty of side ways action for spectators and any of the top five are capable of taking the maximum points. Gray and Hodgkin in a Hyundai Excel will be tough competition for Duthie and Hanns in the Datsun 180B
A spectator favourite, Russel Winks in his 308 V8 Commodore will team up with a new navigator for this event. Warren Wills replaces Nick Cox in the left side of the Commodore after Nick purchased his own car and will be driving in the event. This reliable 'ex taxi' is capable of high speeds and with Russell's big drifting laid back style of driving they have the potential to displace turbo 4WDs from the top ten.
Start time for the action is 0700am from the Woden Tradies Club. Come along to the start to meet the crews and view the cars before they take to the forest then get close to the action at any of the spectator points throughout the day. Â
For more information such as a complete entry list or spectator point locations, visit www.lightcarclub.orgÂ