With the New Zealand Rally Championship cancelled for 2020, questions are now being asked if the Australian series will follow its neighbour's lead.As recently as last week, the Australian Rally Championship said that they were "looking at all possibilities and scenarios and have two or three different calendar options".
But does New Zealand's decision change anything?
Not according to Motorsport Australia's General Manager - Media and Communications, Paul Riordan.
"There's definitely been no discussion about cancelling the championship," he said.
"We've been working with event organisers throughout this process, and we're trying to get an understanding of the government restrictions in relation to all motorsports."
Event organisers are keen to keep things on track as well.
"The ARC management team are formulating a revised calendar and have been bouncing that around between panel chairs, event organisers and the Australian Rally Commission," one ARC organiser told RallySport Magazine today.
"All the organisers are keen to make sure the championship happens, although at this stage we're unsure what that looks like."
Cramming a six-event championship into the second half of the year won't be easy, if indeed the ARC is given a six month window.
Once restrictions and social distancing laws have been eased significantly enough to run rallies, then that time period may well be only three or four months.
It would then seem unlikely that a six round championship can be expected, although running rallies into December now seems more likely than not.
If an event, or events, need to be cut from the calendar, the decision of who needs to 'take one for the team' won't be an easy one.
A revised 2020 calendar is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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