After a three year hiatus, one of the best-loved rallies on the east coast of Australia will make a return. The Sapphire Coast Sporting Car Club (“SCSCC”) will be resurrecting the Bega Valley Rally on the 11th and 12th June 2016, with support from local Nissan and Hyundai dealer, Momsen Motors.
The Bega Valley Rally has been conducted on the NSW south coast since the 1960s, when it was originally known as the “Southern Mountains Rally”. The event will be the third round of the Gary’s Motorsport Tyres 2016 NSW Rally Championship, the third round of the Focus on Furniture Victorian Rally Championship and the second round of the 2016 Techworkz Development Rally Series.
Anticipation for the event in both NSW and Victoria is high, with crews excited to have the opportunity to once again compete over some of the most iconic rally roads in the country. The event last ran in 2013, where it was won by NSW crew Mick Harding and Julie Boorman and the duo are excited to see it return.
“The Bega Valley Rally was always one of the best events every year, with brilliant roads and a great atmosphere. I can’t wait to get back out there and have another crack at it,” said Harding.
The event starts from the Bega Showground at 1:00pm on Saturday with two classic stages on the shire roads of Upper Cobargo Rd and Buckajo Rd, just to the north of Bega. The Saturday stages will not form part of the NSWRC or VRC, but will be optional stages open to all competitors.
On Sunday, the rally moves to Boydtown, south of Eden, for another seven stages over 154km on a fantastic mix of forest and shire roads. Every stage is unique, with no repeated roads, and there are two brilliant and challenging 36km stages to test the focus and concentration of crews. The event finishes with two of the best stages of the entire rally, and arguably, two of the best stages on the east coast; Ben Boyd and the Snake Track.
Event Clerk of Course, Ian Slater said “the club is proud to bring this historic event back to the Australian rally calendar, and we intend to bring it back in all its glory. We’ve had such a positive response from the rally community, local government, business leaders and the local community in general that we’re certain we’ll see a big field this year.”
The 2016 event is the first in a long-term plan for the club. “Our intention is that the Bega Valley Rally will once again become an annual event on the NSW and Victorian rally calendars. The event is important for the region, bringing a large number of visitors to the area over the June long weekend, and it is always a rally that delivers great enjoyment to competitors,” said Kim Boyd, President of the SCSCC.
The event organisers are grateful to have local business, Momsen Motors, on board as the sponsor of the event for the next three years. Momsen Motors has been operating in the Bega region since 1938, and is currently the leading Nissan and Hyundai dealership in the region.
Supplementary regulations will be published shortly on www.rallynsw.com.au/events/bega-valley-rally. For updates, visit the Rally NSW Facebook page (www.facebook.com/rallynsw).