Graham Wallis has announced details of the shorter, three-day Repco Reliability Trial Rerun and a Reunion Lunch at Tooborac, which will run in conjunction with the longer event, from August 8-10.
Graham has provided information on these events, as follows:
“On the 8th of August, the first day of the rerun, there will be a reunion lunch at Tooborac, this is also to remember Jim Maude who was a major reason that the first Repco stage was held near Tooborac. Historic Repco paperwork, memorabilia and cars have been sourced which will be on display at Tooborac, along with Jim's photos to be brought along by Faye Maude. Of course we are hoping for a big turn out of competitors and officials from 1979.
Secondly, we think that there should be a large number of people able to enter the 3 day event, which finishes at Renmark. The course checker has said that this is worth it for the trip up the border alone.
Day 1: you get to relive the start at the Showgrounds, the lunch at Tooborac
(paid for), a competitive run around the Bagshot Autocross Track, a drive
around the Creswick Special Stage using the original road book from 1979,
then finishing with a paid for dinner at the Ballarat Sailing Club.
The original special and trial stages won't be timed, as this would be impossible with todays' requirements. As an example consider the 422km stage from Marree to Coober Pedy. I competed in 1979 and can testify that apart from two spectators at William Creek, there were no people to be seen anywhere except for the start and finish controls! However, the controls will be open for a specific period of time and you need to arrive within that window to be credited with visiting it.
Day 2 starts with a competitive event using part of the off-road track at the Ballarat Light Car Club grounds, then transports down to Dunkeld for another sub event. From here crews can choose to drive the original Heywood Special Stage on the way to Mt Gambier which will finish at the original control at the A and H society.
Alternatively they can take part in a navigation event from Dunkeld to Mt Gambier. This was not part of the original Repco concept of course, but is included due to requests from various navigators, and there will be a standalone award for the winner.
From Mt Gambier it is but a short distance to SEAC Park where there will be some serious motorsport on the sensational autocross track. This includes a fly over and tunnel as pioneered at Rally Australia. That night will be another highlight as there will be a rally forum, at a classy venue where people from both ends of the field in 1979 will be invited to share their experiences of that memorable event.
No sub events on day but things get serious with a challenging drive, 550km along the border to Renmark. Scenery will vary from the pines of Mt Gambier to farmland around Bordertown, and then on to semi-desert and Mallee country further north.
While untimed, you will need to keep to schedule to avoid having to cut and run and there is some sand (easily avoided, but at a points loss cost) to keep you honest. This day closely follows the original route with some deletions due to changes to roads and, in one area due to the very rough conditions.
Conditions overall are very good, the event won't be a car breaker. It seems that roads in general have been improved since 1979, although in a few places they have got much rougher and hence have been deleted.
The three-day event then finishes with a presentation dinner at the Renmark Club. I think the event is pretty good value for $600, especially as it includes four meals. There is a lot of effort and thought that has to go into these events, to say nothing of the expense incurred by the organisers due to the distances involved.
You won't need a rally car. Pre-1980 is the basic requirement, but any entry which isn't intended as an attempt to clean up in a highly competitive car will be accepted, at the discretion of the organisers.
A CAMS 2S licence will be all that you need; 2NS for anyone not driving the autocrosses. It might even be possible to do the first two days to Mount Gambier, meaning only the weekend would be needed, but no awards will be given, unless you rack up a good enough score on the first two days to negate your missed control points losses on day three!
Of course this format of Repco stages interspersed with sub events continues for the full seven days until the presentation function at Parachilna on day 7.
The final two days, optional, are touring only and will include the 422 stage mentioned above, a stop over at Coober Pedy, then a run back to Port Augusta via Kingoonya and Mt Ive.
Supp Regs are available on the HRA website.â€
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