Sydney to coffs harbour

International rallying will return to New South Wales with the new-look Coffs Coast Rally on November 26-28. The event will be the finale for both the APRC and Australian Rally Championship seasons, and gives Australia two APRC events alongside the qualifier in the Adelaide Hills on October 15-17. Coffs Harbour hosted the World Rally Championship seven times across eight years, before what was meant to be its final appearance on the WRC schedule in 2019 was cancelled due to bushfires in the area . “The NSW Nationals are building a safer and stronger regional NSW by securing world-class events for country cities, showcasing our incredible regions to the world,” said NSW deputy premier John Barilaro. “This is an example of what can happen when you have a council who is prepared to work with the government and stakeholders to bring world-class events to regional NSW.” Motorsport Australia president Andrew Fraser said the governing body will continue to work with … [Read more...] about Coffs Harbour to host Asia Pacific Rally finale

Rally Australia’s current agreement with host town Coffs Harbour is up at the end of this season and there’s no real desire among the WRC stakeholders to return to the New South Wales venue beyond 2019. One source said: “Australia needs to find a new home for its WRC round, we know that. New Zealand is looking like a sensible option for next year. “The thinking is there’s the necessary investment in place to go back there [to New Zealand] and that would give Australia the chance to find somewhere new and, most likely, outside of New South Wales.” The WRC was last in New Zealand in 2012, when the event ran out of Auckland’s Viaduct Basin (pictured top). There was potential for Rally NZ to return to the 2018 calendar with a Tauranga-based event, but next year would most likely be back in Auckland with potential funding coming from the city itself. Rally Australia has been the concluding round of the WRC since 2016, and last year hosted a three-way title decider … [Read more...] about New Zealand tipped for 2020 WRC return

Star signing Fabian Coulthard will carry an updated version of the Local Legends look used by Alex Davison last season on the #19 entry. That same design will this year be carried over to the second car, with Garry Jacobson's #22 Holden to be backed by PremAir Hire. The squad is currently working out of its former base near the Gold Coast, and will take part in the official pre-season test at Queensland Raceway tomorrow. It will then return to its new base at Sydney Motorsport Park to finish preparations for the season-opening Mount Panorama 500 later this month. “We are proud to unveil our Supercars ahead of the 2021 Repco Supercars Championship – albeit from our temporary base at Tekno in Yatala," said Team Sydney managing director Jonathon Webb. "We are looking forward to testing tomorrow then returning home to Sydney Motorsport Park before the Mount Panorama 500. "Fabian’s Local Legends Supercar is an enhancement of the 2020 design, our thanks again … [Read more...] about Team Sydney unveils twin fluoro liveries

The category had been looking at an all-in hub for Melbourne-based personnel, who will need to complete 14 days of mandatory quarantine to get across the NSW border.Inspired by similar systems used by the major football codes, the hub would have allowed the co-drivers to use shared facilities such as gyms and exercises areas to continue their training in the lead-up to the Great Race.However that plan has now been abandoned, with teams left to their own devices in terms of getting staff quarantined. Darwin appears to be a popular choice, with Tickford Racing and Triple Eight following DJR Team Penske's lead and sending the likes of Michael Caruso, James Moffat and Garth Tander to the Northern Territory for two weeks of quarantine. There are no border restrictions between the NT and Queensland and NSW. Others are understood to be looking at hotel quarantine in Sydney.As well as Caruso, Moffat and Tander, the likes of Dale Wood, James Golding and Erebus race engineer Alistair McVean will … [Read more...] about No quarantine hub for Bathurst 1000

The category has used knock-out qualifying at select events since 2018, combining elements of the MotoGP and Formula 1 systems.However the system has now been tweaked to effectively mimic the F1 system alone. There will be two versions of the knockout system, Format 2 and Format 3. Both will use 10-minute sessions to determine grid positions 21-24 in Q1 and then 11-20 in Q2.In Format 2 a third 10-minute session will then determine positions 1-10, while Format 3 will see the first five rows decided with a Top 10 Shootout. Format 2 will be used on the Saturday at Sandown, Symmons Plains, The Bend, Winton, Wanneroo and New Zealand. Format 3 will be used on the Saturday at Hidden Valley and Sydney Motorsport Park.Format 1 – a single timed session for each race – will be used on the Sunday for each of those events.The field will also be split for first portion of qualifying on Saturday, and both sessions on Sunday, for the Symmons Plains and Wanneroo rounds to ease on-track … [Read more...] about Supercars to adopt Formula 1-style qualifying