2020 QUEENSLAND RALLY CALENDAR
G'Day Rally Fans, with the 2019 Season pretty much all over bar the shouting, we have been working hard on getting the 2020 season into shape - and it's looking to be a ripper.
First of all things will kick off with Keeny's Test n Tune at Jimna in February. Then we will fire off with 4 rounds of the QRC and 5 Short Course Rally's. Check out the Calendar below for all the dates and locations, but it's gonna be a mix of old favourites and a few new surprises. Rd 1 is Manumbar. Simon and Margot are having a rest this year, but BSCC have got a cracking event in planning bringing us the best of what that area offers. Round 2 we zip up to Airlie for the second running of the Whitsundays Rally. Work is underway on new roads and locations, but it's looking like a festival start in Airlie on Friday Night then a mix of some of the roads from 2019 plus several new roads in the Bowen area. Being run a bit later in 2020 hopefully we won't strike the weather dramas we encountered this year. Round 3 will be Imbil. If this years event is anything to go by, it will be a rip snorta on all the traditional Rally Q roads.. The Final Round will bring something new to the Championship. A brand new Rally on mainly shire roads in Mundubbera, we are doing this one Pace Noted with free recce available several months before the event. Our plan is to have road books and videos of stages available online so that you can prepare early much like Targa style events.
The Novice Series in 2020 will have a whole new structure. To keep things cheaper and easier, we will align the series with short course rallies (KCF's etc) rather than losing the novices down the back of a QRC field. The Novice Competitors choose 3 out of 4 Qualifying rounds and then a Grand Final at the last KCF Round in November. We are hoping this may entice more new competitors to give rally a go, without having to blow their budgets in the process.
Something new for the QRC in 2020 will be the opportunity for R5 / AP4 / G4 Rally Cars to score points in the Qld Championship. Having some of these sexy machines doing battle against the likes of Glen Brinkmann and Ian Menzies in their Evo's will be exciting, and a challenge for all. It is the way of the future, and all States other than NSW have embraced these machines into their State Championships. Bragging rights for beating an AP4 on a stage are pretty cool - (sorry Adrian 😁)
The Point Scoring threshold will be reduced from 60% to 50% as a minor tweak to the system. All details for the 2020 QRC will be published soon on the
www.qldrallychampionship.com website and the Motorsports Australia website. (Get used to that name, folks). Look for the 2020 Qld Rally Handbook. That will have all the details for the 2020 Championship and we'll issue another post once it has gone live.
We will also be welcoming 3 new names to the Qld Rally Advisory Panel. More details will be announced soon, once State Council has ratified the nominations. We are pleased to say that we had more nominations than seats available, so it is very rewarding to know that you are keen to make a difference!
Lot's of Cool stuff in store, not to mention the Championship Awards Night on February 8th. (You won't believe who our Guest of Honour is!!!!) We are excited! Bring on the 2020 Qld Rally Championship
Cheers
Gerard
QRAP Chairman
