The picturesque town, on the Sapphire Coast of southern New South Wales, provides all the facilities needed to conduct a successful rally – suitable accommodation, first-rate headquarters, exceptional event start location at the town’s wharf in Snug Cove, and plenty of great forest roads.
“This year the event will feature an earlier start, at 0800, which means most competitors will complete the majority of the special stages in daylight”, said Tom Snooks, Clerk of Course, when releasing details of the rally recently.
“We have set the event primarily on the results of a competitor survey conducted after the 2010 event, and this year we offer a total of ten special stages, up from eight stages in 2010 and four stages, albeit long, in 2009. The stages, including three brand new ones, provide greater variation in length, and include three ‘sprint’ stages under 10 kilometres.”
“There are no stages repeated from 2010, and no double use of roads other than two short sections of road (3.1km) that will be used twice. The lengths vary from 5.6km to 33.7km – the final length selection being 5.6, 9.5, 9.9, 12.7, 17.6, 19.4, 19.8, 22.2, 22.7 and 33.7km. So there is something for everyone.”
The total distance of the event will be 385km, of which 174km (45%) will be competitive. A short course (for non-championship crews) will cover 285km, of which 130km (46%) will be competitive. The organisers would like to minimise the amount of transport kilometres but crews that took part in the 2010 survey were overwhelmingly in favour of the popular Edrom Road service park and this involves extra liaison distance to keep returning to the central service area. Crews visit the service park three times.
Five spectator viewing areas have been established for this year, and four of them are within 14 km of the service park, allowing service crews several opportunities to see their crews in action and be back at the service park for the next visit.
The Bega Valley Rally will again be a round of the New South Wales (Round 1) and EXEDY Victorian State Championships (Round 2), as well as the Victorian Hyundai Excel Series. Returning after an absence in 2010 will be the Shannons Insurance ACT Regional Series.
For the Victorian Rally Championship the event will be conducted in two heats, each consisting of 5 stages with the first heat being over 83km and the second 91km competitive.
Entry fees will be the same as in 2010, $570 for the long course and $355 for the short course.
Eden, with good accommodation available, provides an opportunity for a family break over the long weekend. Enquiries on accommodation can be made to the Eden Information Centre at info@tourism.com.au, or by telephone on 02 6496 1953.
All the details of the event can be obtained by visiting the website at www.begavalleyrally.com.au
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