New direction for rallying

ORGANISERS of next year’s Australian Rally Championship are confident its new SUV class will return manufacturer support to the series, but are unable to nominate any likely brands as yet.

“We can’t say anything yet as we don’t want to scare them away,” said series spokesman Jon Thomson, “but we hope to be able to make some announcements in the coming weeks.”

Subaru Australia, which won multiple ARC titles with its Impreza WRX and had promoted introducing SUV to rallying, has rejected the new class because the organisers will not permit the participation of its potentially dominant WRX-based Forester S in turbo-petrol form.

Mr Thomson said the performance potential of the Forester S would have scared off other manufacturers.

He believes the normally aspirated Forester would still be a competitive prospect for Subaru because it has a similar power-to-weight ratio to other contenders for the SUV class such as the Toyota RAV4 and Honda CR-V.

The revamped Australian Rally Championship in 2012 kicks off on March 2-4 with an innovative event in March to be held completely within the confines of Calder Park Raceway, recalling the early 1970s when the track hosted a form of motor sport called rallycross – a hybrid cross between circuit racing and rallying.

Left: The ARC’s new two-wheel-drive category will accommodate cars such as the Honda Australia-backed Civic Type Rs that have competed in the ARC in recent years.

According to series CEO Scott Pedder, Australia will become the first country in the world to conduct a national rally series for SUVs – the fastest-growing sector of the Australian new vehicle market.

“SUVs are perfectly suited to the sport of rallying, they are built for rugged conditions but are often not full off-roaders, they are marketed as vehicles that cross over from normal road conditions to dirt tracks and, most importantly, there is currently no other form of motor sport that provides an arena for SUVs to compete in,” said Mr Pedder.

“The new SUV category will enable more manufacturers to become involved in rallying utilising vehicles that are quickly becoming the most popular sector in the Australian car market.

“The rules which have been formulated for the new SUV rally championship will keep the cars close to standard with only minor wheel, tyre, brake, suspension and exhaust modifications allowed along with the mandatory safety equipment.

“This means that the SUV rally championship will be a relatively economical way for manufacturers to become involved in rallying and to showcase their product in the heat of competition.”

The inaugural Rally Calder is described as a “stadium rally” and will be staged over three days on mixed surfaces entirely within the Calder Park motor sport precinct, which is owned by Bob Jane and is located only about 25km from the Melbourne CBD.

As well as the introduction of the SUV class (for both 2WD and 4WD models), the event also heralds a new era for two-wheel drive “unrestricted” cars in the series, which has for many years been dominated by 4WD cars like the WRX and Mitsubishi Lancer Evo.

Mr Pedder believes the new rules make the ARC the most relevant motor sport series in the world as SUVs and 2WD cars account for up to 75 per cent of the Australian passenger car market.

“The 2012 Rally Calder is the most important event in the 44-year history of the Australian Rally Championship, an event designed to bring rallying to the people and usher in the most successful period of the ARC,” said Mr Pedder.