Australian Rally Championship CEO Scott Pedder at Calder Park. 75992 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
CALDER Park could be a regular host of a championship rally event if the inaugural “festival of speed” in March is a success.
The opening round Australian Rally Championship (ARC) will be held at the Caroline Springs motorsport facility in what has been billed as a more action-packed form of the traditional rally.
It will be the first time in more than 30 years that a round of the championship will staged so close to Melbourne, and the first time a major rally has been run within the confines of a single motorsport venue.
ARC chief executive officer Scott Pedder said the Rally Calder event would satisfy car enthusiasts of all persuasions, with several rally disciplines on show, including an SUV challenge, tarmac rally (which will feature a Lamborghini Gallardo), a multi-discipline car club challenge, an all-terrain vehicle rally, and trade displays.
Pedder said the event would be much more spectator-friendly than traditional rallies.
“Instead of 20-30km stages, you’ve got 5km stages, and all within easy access for a spectator. A normal rally for a spectator might involve getting to three or four points in a day, and lots of driving to different points. With this one, you park your car and walk,” he said.
“You’ve got so many different motorsport disciplines as well as different places to see things. You won’t sit on a corner and get bored for a day, you’ve got different things to see.”
The idea to run the four-day extravaganza at Calder Park happened by chance. Pedder was driving down the Calder Highway en route to Bendigo, and decided to turn in and have a look around. He was instantly impressed.
“I literally just turned left and came and had a look and drove around and thought ‘what a perfect place to have a really big event’,” he said.
“It’s God’s gift to rallying here, because you can do everything in the one spot.”
Pedder said if the event, which Channel 10 would broadcast on delay, was a success, it could become the opening round of the Australian Rally Championships each year.
The rally will also have its ceremonial start in the Caroline Springs Town Centre on 1 March, while the following three days will feature more than 100km of competitive stages embracing both gravel and tarmac stages with spectacular jumps and a range of challenging conditions including the formidable high banked Thunderdome oval.
Rally Calder tickets are available through Foxtix.
