Bega Valley Rally Website Online

Mar 23, 2009 - 5:24 PM

A website has been established for this year's Bega Valley Rally and is available at www.begavalleyrally.com.au.

The site still has some work to be done but has been brought online as it already contains plenty of relevant information on the format of the event etc. and some history on the event provided by Tom Snook's, this year's Clerk of Course.

Under Tom's direction the future of the event is becoming more assured so make sure you keep this June long weekend free to compete, officiate, spectate, or just generally hang around at the 2009 Bega Valley Rally.

ACRA Back ACT Classic Category

Mar 06, 2009 - 3:00 PM

A classic category was established within the ACT Regional Rally Series in 2008 and the category is set to continue with the backing of the Australian Classic Rally Association.

2008 saw the category won by Matt Thompson who took away a $1000 cash prize for his trouble and a newly established perpetual trophy.

The ACT Regional Rally Series is arguably the strongest series in the country at the moment in terms of registered entrants and field numbers.

In a sign of the times the cash prize for 2009 is downgraded to $500 but this still represents a worthwhile win for those... [Read More]

Big Aussie Contingent For New Zealand's Otago Rally

Feb 25, 2009 - 8:35 PM

Once again a large contingent of Aussies will converge on Dunedin, in New Zealand’s South Island, to tackle the Otago Rally and Dunedin Restaurants and bars.

To date 12 entries have been lodged with the event organisers, and this means that some 100 Aussies, of all shapes and sizes will the trip across the Tasman Sea.

Drivers include Ross Dunkerton, Keith Callinan, Darryn Snooks, Jeff David, Phil Mason, Brad Goldsborough and Neville Whittenbury.

Dunkerton, with co-driver Alan Stean, will pedal a Ford Escort RS1800 over the 240 competitive kilometre two-day course, put together over 13 special stages and all conducted in daylight.

The rally runs south of Dunedin on Saturday 16 May, with a tarmac ‘Super Special’ in Dunedin late in the day; then the rally... [Read More]

Bega Valley Rally Update

Feb 07, 2009 - 2:32 PM

Bega Valley Rally - 7 June 2009

The Bega Valley Rally will once again be using the fast, flowing and highly popular shire roads during this year’s event, to be conducted over the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.

The Bega Valley Council has approved the use of four shire roads for the event on Sunday 7 June. These are the ever popular ‘Upper Cobargo’, ‘Coopers Creek’, ‘Buckajo’ and ‘The Snake Track’ special stages, which provide some of the very best of roads for rallying. These will be combined with four forestry special stages in the forests around Eden and Kiah, some 100 kilometres to the south of Bega.

The eight special stages will comprise a total of 145 kilometres, representing 35% of the total... [Read More]

Bega Valley Rally On In 2009

Jun 04, 2008 - 9:28 PM

Swift action following the announcement of the cancellation of the 2008 Bega Valley Rally has resulted in a commitment to conduct the event in 2009 and beyond.

Graham Roser, organiser of the event for the past 12 years, has arranged for a succession for 2009 by handing over the event to a consortium headed by Tom Snooks.

“I have come under increasing business pressure which entails significant overseas travel”, Roser said in Sydney last week when meeting with Snooks to discuss the handover.

“This has meant I simply can’t find the time that is needed these days to meet the various requirements of CAMS, shire council, et al, and it is in the best interest of the future conduct of this iconic event to have a smooth transition to another organiser.”

Snooks, who has a long history of involvement in organising major rallies, was General Manager of the Bega Valley Rally in the mid-seventies (1972 to 1978) when he was secretary of the... [Read More]

A Long Way To DNF Twice

May 21, 2008 - 8:06 AM

A trip requiring a lot of preparation, planning and travel across the Tasman to New Zealand ended on a low note with ‘dnfs’ on both days for the Snooks Motorsport entry of its Datsun Stanza in the Dunlop Otago Classic Rally, conducted over the weekend of 10/11 May.

“We started off on the wrong foot on the shakedown run prior to the event when a throttle link broke after only 700m and we had to be towed out”, said Stanza driver Darryn Snooks, winner of the 2007 Alpine Rally. “We thought that this was a good start in as much as we had had our adverse luck very early. That thinking was a big mistake!”

“A puncture on the very first stage cost time and we had to cruise through the second stage to the service point where we could get a good spare. Then we went well in the third stage, being in the fastest ten, and came to a complete stop in the fourth with a broken lower rear link, and the tailshaft escaped and damaged the gearbox. So, it meant being towed a... [Read More]

12 Aussie Crews To Tackle Dunlop Otago Classic Rally

May 04, 2008 - 6:15 PM

The highly rated Dunlop Otago Classic Rally has again attracted a sizable number of entries from Australia, with 12 Aussies included in the 50 car field.

The event combines a round of the New Zealand Rally Championship, the Classic Rally and a third category for ‘extreme cars. In all the event will start 100 crews.

Based at Dunedin, on the Southern Island of New Zealand, the rally offers superb driving conditions over a distance of 640 kilometres, of which 260 (40%) will be competitive, including one gem , the ‘Big Berwick’ of 51 kilometres. Four other stages are each around 30 kilometres long so the classic cars will get a good workout.

Heading the Aussies is Snooks Motorsport Team driver Darryn Snooks, in the Datsun Stanza, which he drove to 8th place in the same event in 2007, two places behind Geoff Portman in the second of the team’s Stanzas. Snooks, won the legendary Australian Alpine Rally, conducted over a similar distance as the Otago... [Read More]

Series Pointscores Online

Mar 09, 2008 - 3:17 PM

Pointscores for the various classic series are now online and are linked from our series page .

Classics take 3 of the top 10 places at Cerberus Stages

Mar 05, 2008 - 5:42 AM

Three Australian Classic Rally Car Association (ACRA) members have finished in the top 10 at last weekend’s Cerberus stages in Victoria.

Competing in the first round of ACRA’s Victorian Classic Rally Challenge, Jeff David driving his Porsche 911 finished in a sensational 6th place outgunning many later model turbo AWD cars. Darryn Snooks driving his Alpine rally winning Datsun Stanza followed him home in 7th place by only 7 seconds, whilst his brother Justyn Snooks rounded out the top 10 in an RS 2000 Escort.

The highlight for the rally was the debut of the Snooks Motorsport Nissan 240 RS.* Former Australian Rally Champion Ross Dunkerton took to the wheel and commented on the great turn in and suspension balance. The car was the centre of attention through the rally by many spectators.

Whilst not finishing due to a panhard rod bracket failing, he commented that the 240 RS has a lot of potential and will be a front runner in classic events in... [Read More]

ACRA Series Rego Waived

Feb 26, 2008 - 10:45 AM

Given the late stage at which series regulations were released and the healthy financial status of the club, the committee of the Australian Classic Rally Association have moved to waive the registration fee for the Aussie, Victorian, and NSW Classic Rally Challenges.

Registration for the series will therefore not be required. To score points the only requirement is that you enter the series events as a classic, run ACRA stickers on your vehicle, and abide by the series regulations.

Those who have already submitted registration forms and fees will be re-imbursed.

Note that the Classic Category of the PCD Engineering ACT Regional Rally Series is a special case and for that series you will need to register online at http://www.bmsc.com.au/index-actregister.html.