|
Every so often there is a groundswell of demand from the rally fraternity for another Round Australia Trial. Although these events are relatively expensive to compete in because of the time and distance involved, the negatives are gradually overcome by the desire to get into the outback, experience some automotive adventure and meet the challenge of an event that takes people outside their comfort zone.
I have always been in the forefront of the people who would like to see the Round Australia Trial tradition continue. Having competed in three, the 1964 Ampol Trial, the 1970 Ampol Trial and the 1979 Repco Reliability Trial, nothing would delight me more than to add to that tally. Alas, it seems that although lots of people want an event to happen, no one is prepared to do anything about it.
So, having been drawn in to organising the 1995 Mobil 1 Trial under similar circumstances, here we are again, making the supreme sacrifice (well, not quite) so that others may enjoy the Round Australia experience. Hence the Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial was born.
Naturally I turned to the organising team that had so successfully run the 1995 Mobil 1 Trial. Tom Snooks, Philip Bernadou and Michael Browning were willing to do it again, as were other key personnel including scorer Garry Searle, Safety and Medical manager Geoff Becker, key organiser Rob Van Leeuwen and many others. This is the best rally organising team available in Australia, without doubt.
The idea for the Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial came about when it was announced that Rally Australia, our country’s world rally championship heat, was to be held on the Gold Coast in 2008. It seemed a good idea to run an outback Trial style event for classic rally cars in the lead up to Rally Australia, finishing at the WRC event and allowing competitors in the Trial to see the world cars in action. Things were going along fine, with an offer from Rally Australia officials for the Trial cars to compete on the Rally Australia stages on the Saturday of the event and other benefits.
Then came the news that Rally Australia was postponed for at least twelve months. We polled our entrants (approximately 80) as to whether this would affect their plans to compete in the Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial. The response was unanimous – everyone wanted to proceed with the Trial. This certainly demonstrated to the organisers that outback trialling is what the competitors want.
There will be two levels of competition in the Red Centre to Gold Coast Trial, the Trial and the Challenge. The Trial will be more competitive, having lesser quality roads and faster average speeds. The Challenge is designed for older cars, or those that do not have have full rally preparation, and will have easier roads and times. Many control points will be common for Trial and Challenge.
We are proud to be associated with outback health organisation
Frontier Services. We have agreed that Frontier Services be our charity partner for the event, which will give them opportunities to raise their profile through our media coverage, and organise fund raising events (but not collecting money from competitors!). Find out about Frontier Services elsewhere on this web site.
Join us for what will be another chapter in the history of Round Australia trials. We wish you good luck and promise you camaraderie, competition and adventure – and an experience that will change your life.
The organisers: Bob Watson, Philip Bernadou, Tom Snooks, Michael Browning
|
