News – 12th June

All is set for a great day’s competition tomorrow, with fine and cool weather scheduled. Progressive scores can be viewed during the day here

News – 9th June

• The Spectator Guide is now available on the Spectator page
• An updated seeded Entry List is available here

News – 8th June

• One of the stages took 4 and a half hours to clear of felled trees today. It involved removing 15 or so trees by hand and another 15 or so by chainsaw, cutting trees into logs and then dragging them off the road.
• The Rally Permit for this event can be viewed here

• Officials still required – see Officials page of this website and/or contact Officials co-ordinator to nominate yourself (2 Spectator Marshalls still needed)

News – 6th June

The provisional entry list for the 2010 Bega Valley rally is now available. The top three seeded crews are;

#1 – Peter Roberts / David Darby – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 (NSW)

#2 – Jesse Robison / Adam Wright – Subaru WRX (VIC)

#3 – Steve Forsberg / Craig Whyburn – Mitsubishi Lancer Evo 6 (NSW)

While car numbers are fixed, the prestigous ‘first car on road’ position will be ballotted amongst these 3 crews at the competitor’s briefing at the Eden Fisherman’s Club on Saturday evening.  See competitiors page of this website for full Provisional Entry List

News – 5th June

• 60+ entreis received – 32 VRC, 14 NSWRC, 12 others
• Stage descriptions available Sunday night – see competitiors page for sample
• Weather looking good for the long weekend
• Officials needed (as usual) for controls, road closures and as spectator marshalls

News – 29th May

• Last chance to order merchandise in time for event is 5pm Monday 31st May
• Up to 42 entries (still only 6 for NSWRC) although 1 has now withdrawn
• DVD of the event being arranged – some raw footage will be on show at Presentation on Sunday night
• A slideshow of samples photos from at least 3 recognised photographers will also be shown
• Violent local weather a few weeks ago has brought down many trees on one stage – clean up effort being organised for Saturday prior to event

News – 26th May

• Less than a week to close of entries on 6pm Wednesday 2nd  - not Friday 4th as many might presume.
• 36 entries received to date with 31 from Victoria – only 3 NSWRC entries received so far.
• Latest entries received inlcude Carl Stewart/Zoe Butler and Matthew Amos/Zoey Gillis
• see Entries page for full list.
• Spectator instructions will be available on this website from Wednesday 9th June

News – 21st May

• Grant Walker has entered his brand spanking new BDG Escort along with his son Justyn Walker in another, pinto-engined Escort. Photos of this exciting new car can be found on the Gallery page.
• Other Escorts have been entered by Stuart Lawless (powered by a Nissan FJ motor) and Neil Schey in a beautifully presented Easton’s Yale paint scheme.
• VRC contenders Nathan Reeves/Scott Spedding and Warren Lee/David Lethlean have both entered early.
• At least 5 Hyundai Excels have entered so far
• Entry nunbers now stand at 29 – see Entries page for full list.

News – 18th May

• The first dozen entries have already been received for the event – all from Victorian crews! Very first entry was Ross O’Reilly/Tim McGill. That’s Ross in his Datsun 1600 showing on the video at right of this page. This year he’ll be driving his all-conquering Nissan Bluebird, which has taken him to 3rd in the Rally Bonnie Doon and 3rd in Heat one of the East Gippsland Stages last weekend. See Entries page for list of latest entries received.
• After the recent course check Kam Baker wrote that “The selection of roads is nothing short of awesome. There is tight technical stuff, big wide fast open forest roads that leave the Shire roads for dead. Get your entry in you won’t be disappointed.”
• A new ‘Bega Beanie’ has been added to range of ‘first-time’ merchandise available and this is expected to be a ‘hot’ item for this year’s event.

News – 1st May

• The Supplementary Regulations and Entry Form are now available for the 2010 Bega Valley Rally – see Competitors page.
• Also available now is an Officials’ Nomination Form (some travel financial assistance is available) – see Officials page.
• For the first time, event merchandise is available (caps, shirts, ‘hoodies’, jackets, stubby holders) - see Merchandise page.

News Release #2

Entries opening soon

The Bega Valley Rally will be conducted as a round of the New South Wales and Victorian Rally Championships, as well as a round of the Victorian Hyundai Excel Series, and will be based at Eden on the New South Wales south coast and conducted on Sunday 13 June.  

It will be round three of the seven round New South Wales Championship, following Rally Lithgow (17 April) and Coffs Coast Rally (14-16 May), and the second round of the five round Victorian Rally Championship, after the first round, the East Gippsland Stages on 15 May.

“The New South Wales event will be conducted in one division comprising eight special stages, of lengths 19 to 27 kilometres, and totalling 185km of special stages, whilst the Victorian event will be run as two heats, each over four special stages, with approximately 90km of competition in each heat. The total distance will be approximately 360km and both championships will be over the same course”, event Clerk of Course Tom Snooks said when finalising the itinerary recently.

“A short course of approximately 240km, with approximately 135km of competition over six special stages, will cater for competitors who do not want to go the full distance”.

“Most of the stages are conducted over great rally roads, some the equal to the ‘lost’ Bega shire roads. None of the stages will be repeats”.

“We have just the one service and refuel location, called Edrom Road Park, which is 300m long by 100m wide with a rock solid base, and the crews will call in here after each pair of stages”.

A non-pacenoted event, the Bega Valley Rally will start from the Eden wharf with the first vehicle leaving at 0900, and due to finish back in Eden at 1700 with the arrival of the first vehicle. The first 25 to 30 vehicles are scheduled to complete the event in daylight.

Competitors who are registered for the championships have priority of acceptance, followed by the Excel Series competitors, and all other entries will be accepted in order of receipt. A full refund of the fee will be made if an entry is withdrawn up to the time of closure of entries. The entry fee for the full course is $570 and the short course $375.

Vehicle eligibility will be based on Production Rally Cars, Group N, Historic Rally Cars, Classic Rally Cars, Club Cars, and any vehicles which are road registered and complies with CAMS Schedule R, although the latter are not eligible to win the event outright. Pre-event scrutiny will be available in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney during the week prior to the event, and in Eden on the Saturday.

Due to other activities being conducted on the South Coast over the June long-weekend accommodation, although more plentiful in Eden than in Bega in past years, will be in demand and bookings should be made as soon as possible to avoid disappointment. Enquiries and bookings can be made through the Eden Visitor Information Centre, telephone (02) 6496 1953, or via email on info@edentourism.com.au  or bookings@edentourism.com.au.

Officials for manning controls, road closures, SOS and spectator points are sought and anyone interested in having a long-weekend away with family and/or friends the Bega Valley rally, with its setting at picturesque Eden and surrounding forests provides an ideal opportunity.

News release # 1

Preparations are well under way for the Bega Valley Rally, to be conducted over the long weekend in June 2010, as a round of both the New South Wales and Victorian Rally Championships.

A course has been surveyed that expands on the successful 2009 event, conducted exclusively in the forests near Eden. It encompasses a total of 370km with almost 185km competitive distance, or 50%, over eight stages (no double usage) and uses some of the best roads available for championship rallying. The course is subject to final approval by NSW Forestry.

A shorter course covering 138km competitive will cater for those crews who don’t want to do the full distance. “Stage lengths vary from 19km to 27km and the course includes a number of new stages on superb roads, not unlike the shire stages around Bega but surrounded by forest rather than paddocks, providing an exhilarating high speed drive that sweeps through undulating country”, Clerk of Course Tom Snooks said recently after returning from his third course drive in mid-January. 

“We have consulted both State Rally Panels on the style of event that would best suit the championships, and approximately 180km overall was recommended as the maximum length, one that would provide a reward for those making the longish trip to Eden”.

The major service area will again be based at the spacious and popular Edrom Road ‘log dump’ with catering, toilet and refuelling safety facilities available. This service area will be visited four times.

The Bega Valley Rally is planned to start at 9am at the Eden Wharf, where a number of cafes are ideally located for early morning coffee or breakfast.

The finish will be back in Eden at the Fishermen’s Club from about 5pm (first car). The Club will provide a similar atmosphere and facilities to the Bega RSL that the rally has enjoyed since the seventies, and the event presentation is scheduled here for approx 9pm.

Rally headquarters and rally control will be based at the Club, which has a first class restaurant serving quality food. With Eden being serviced by a number of quality motels and caravan parks, the Bega Valley Rally provides a great opportunity for families to enjoy the long weekend in a picturesq setting, with rally action only a score or so kilometres away. Whilst Eden has much more accommodation than when the event was based at Bega, early accommodation bookings will be essential due to other actitities that will be conducted in the town on the long weekend.

Enquiries for accommodation can be made to the Eden Visitor Information Centre on (09) 6496-1953, or by email to info@edentourism.com.au.   The Eden Tourism website is http://www.edentourism.com.au

For further details contact Tom Snooks at kemdot@iprimius.com.au or 0428 165 275