The good news is that it has been confirmed that we will run the Toyota Rally SA in 2006 as a round of the Australian Rally Championship, and the SA Rally Championship
The tentative dates for Toyota Rally
SA 2006 are August 17, 18, 19, 20. I say tentative as there may still be some
movement with other events, but I feel fairly confident that you can
all pencil those dates in. Any changes, I will
let you know promptly
Toyota are going to be the naming
rights sponsor once more, and they have been a truly fantastic sponsor, and I
thank them most sincerely for their involvement and input last year, and really
look forward to working with them again
Probably the most important matter for
you all collectively is to help us eliminate the rampant ripping off of your
credentials as a means to get into the spectator area. We will put all sorts of
measures in place, including visible policing, but everyone needs to get behind
the concept that only people who actually are officials get free entry.
There was waaaaay too much of officials actually passing on credentials to
anyone standing at the gates waiting to get in, and it became a really serious
issue.
Also, if you know of anyone who simply
climbs the fences etc, tell them it is not on, and/or report them to us. Some of
these idiots get drunk, and present a hazard not only to their stupid selves,
but to the competitors, and thus the whole event. Additionally, they do not pay
to be there, and one certain way to lose this event is to not get the revenue as
expected, as so be in the red.
I can’t stress this enough – please help
us to deal with the people who cheat us. Whistle blow the hell out of them –
they don’t deserve your protection!!
Here are some other items for your
information
* The senior officials group is
now just about set, and I think just about everyone has the job they wanted.
Please call me on 8212 2800 or 0418 834 311 if you want to discuss anything.
Thanks to all for the
swift responses. We will publish the final list shortly on the
web.
* Terre Court joins the organising
group as Assistant Clerk of Course - TECHNOLOGY, and Matt Selley has been
appointed as the representative of the SA rallying fraternity via the SA Rally
Panel. Welcome guys, we all look forward to working with you. There are some new
faces amongst the Stage Management Teams as well. The entire group will be
detailed on our website soon - and published in the next
update
* The 2006 Rally of SA
will again be based in the
* Rally HQ will again be
at the Barossa Novotel Resort, same set-up as last year.
* The service park is again at
Mt Pleasant, with the Barossa council providing a yet more water mitigation
works, which will ensure even better conditions
* The special stages are
generally as 2005. We have potentially two brand new Council Road stage (14km
and 15km respectively), and have made some small (and a couple of large!)
modifications to other stages in terms of direction and start and finish
locations
* The SA Motor Sport Board has
yet again asked for continuous activity at the Forties Spectator Area. This is
the rally's primary source of income. Complaints from last year were well down
from previous years, and comments like too long between cars and large gaps
between first and second run have now been largely addressed and fixed. We think
that the new schedule for 2006 will address that issue completely, as it will
provide just about continuous running around the corporate facility and the
Mistral SuperScreen
* Forestry SA have completed
extra road upgrades in the area and, with 7 spectator points, a major re-design
of traffic flow, new sections of road, and the super screen present, we
believe it will be a very solid improvement on 2005. There is even a new jump
being constructed, and a wide water crossing to add
interest
* The Corporate area will be as
in 2005, though there is talk about a second corporate area elsewhere in the
complex, partly to cater for the additional IMG/GlobalStar Corporates, and
partly to take up anticipated increases generally.
* SARC will run both days as a
piggyback event. We had 39 SA entrants last year (an increase from 17 in 2004),
and are keen to improve on that, and are looking at a Clubman section, and other
possibilities as well
* The Subaru Challenge has
been concluded, following the withdrawal of Subaru from the GARC effective next
year
* Refuel will be under cover at
Mt Pleasant Service Park in a purpose built facility as last
year
* The entire course, including
the bits we may or may not use, has now been approved by Adelaide Hills and
Barossa Councils, and FSA
* There will be a ceremonial
start/street party in Tanunda on Friday night. If you can, please support it by
coming along. The more the merrier! The actual start will be from the Mt
Pleasant Showground on Saturday morning.
* The itinerary is based on one
minute between cars, with the top twenty at two minutes, as last year.
* The "Super Special" (the last
stage) will run at one minute intervals for all cars, with the first ten running
last in reverse order
The Web site is up and running again
at www.toyotarallysa.com.au -
keep an eye on it, as it is updated just about daily as we get
going
Officials (and competitors)
registrations are now open, and I invite you to log on and fill in and submit
your forms as soon as you can. This year, as last, we will be very strict about
maximum numbers, and given that a lot of stages reached reserve listing pretty
smartly last year, it will pay to be quick. Talk to Chris (Christine POTTS -
Officials co-ordinator) on 8212 2800 on Mondays, Wednesdays or Thursdays,
or email her on chris@toyotarallysa.com.au anytime.
Pretty soon, only registered officials will get updates
We are working on key dates for
training, but one thought, which I support, is to simplify it a lot – and only
have some key briefings, and a couple of lecture style sessions, which I think
will be very helpful. Again, the list will be first published on our website.
There won't be too much sitting in lectures at all, I can promise you,
especially for those with the relevant experience
There is a lot of other background
work going on, and I will try to update our activities for your information
every couple of weeks. One thing that would be helpful right now is the donation
of clean carpet off cuts. If you have any spare, we can use them. Just drop them
to my warehouse at the rear of
Please remember that we really
welcome your input - any ideas about running Toyota Rally SA, or improving what
we are doing, or stuff you think we should know about, let's hear it - and I
promise it will be considered
Also, over the last couple of years, the rally office has acquired a collection of previous year’s stickers, posters, badges etc. These are available for all officials. They are at the rally office so please drop in and pick some up.
FOR YOUR INFORMATION - CHANGES FOR NEXT YEAR
The Australian Rally Commission
(ARCom) has announced a series of radical and exciting changes aimed at ensuring
the continued growth of the Globalstar Australian Rally championship.
The most far reaching of the changes is the introduction of the new FIA
Super 2000 formula into the ARC from July 1st, 2006.
This follows the
move the FIA has made in introducing Super 2000 as an eligible category
alongside Group N in the Production Car World Rally Championship.
The
Super 2000 category allows the use of manufacturer homologated vehicles with
2000cc naturally aspirated engines with significant modification, and a control
four wheel drive transmission.
ARCom Chairman
"We expect that current Group N (P) manufacturers Ford and
"Although Group N and Super 2000 are comparable in terms of overall
performance the Super 2000 cars will sound much better and will be able to be
driven more aggressively, and they will certainly add an exciting dimension to
the sport."
The raft of other changes is designed to increase competitor
numbers and reduce competitor costs. These changes have been made after
extensive consultation with competitors at all levels of the sport.
For
2006, ARCom will introduce a second tier of competition for privateers. Level
One privateers will be determined by ARCom as those who wish to compete at an
outright level, and will be eligible for the current Privateer's Cup
class.
The yet-to-be-named second-tier competition allows entrants on a
reduced budget to nominate, prior to their first contested round, the four
events in which they will score points which will count towards a new "stand
alone" series. They will also be eligible to contest the overall championship if
they wish.
Competitors in the second-tier will be limited to 12 tyres
for each event, and will use a control fuel. ARCom is currently in negotiations
for official fuel suppliers for both levels of competition and it is anticipated
that there will be a significant reduction in fuel costs for the second-tier
competitors.
In order to reduce costs and minimise the time spent away
from a team's home base, events will be compacted into four days commencing with
reconnaissance on Thursday and finishing with prizes being presented at the
Official Finish on Sunday.
A ban has been placed on testing during the
week of the event. Separate testing activities are to be provided in each state
during the year.
Changes for Level One competitors include:
- A
limit of 2 engines for the 6 Super Series events. Use of an additional engine
will incur a one minute penalty unless a change is required due to crash damage
(as deemed by the Stewards).
- One gearbox per Super Series event (both
heats) will be imposed. A 30-second penalty will apply for a gearbox change
unless it is required due to crash damage (as deemed by the Stewards).
-
The competitive distance of each ARC Super Series event will be no less than
170, and no more than 200 kilometres. No single day may have less than 80km
competitive distance.
-
WE WISH YOU A MERRY & SAFE XMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR FOR 2006 – FROM ALL OF US
Cheers Ivar
251 days to
go!
