Rally stars ready for format change, night stages

The Australian Rally Championship has run to a heat-based sprint format this year, with points allocated at the end of each day.

However, the Gippsland Rally reverts to the old-school approach, with the results at the end of the rally all that counts.

Dubbed ‘The Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally’, the rural Victoria event represents the fourth round of the championship.

At the halfway mark of the season, New Zealand’s Hayden Paddon leads the standings with co-driver John Kennard with 256 points in their Hyundai i20 N.

The Bates brothers, Lewis and Harry, sit second and third respectively in the title race on 221 and 192 points apiece – each behind the wheel of a Toyota GR Yaris.

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“Gippsland is another new event and new conditions for us to learn during testing and recce,” said Paddon.

“From what we have seen, the stages look to be medium speed and grip, but a bit smoother than some of the previous events. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Unlike the first three ARC rounds, which were sprint events where you could earn points from your finishing position each day, this is an endurance round where your points are determined by your overall place across the two days – as happens in most rallies.

“This magnifies the importance of finishing the rally with no problems, with no second chance for points on this event. At this point of the championship, it’s important we protect our lead and keep scoring points.

“We are expecting a strong challenge from the Bates brothers again on stages they know well, so we will put our best foot forward to keep the pressure on.”

This year marks the fourth edition of the Gippsland Rally based in Heyfield.

The event will feature 18 competitive stages, including a series of stages at night on Saturday.

The first car is due to set off at 12:30pm AEST on Saturday for SS1. The action will continue through the afternoon and into the evening.

With sunset at 5:45pm on Saturday, the day’s final four stages – SS7 through to SS10 – will be close to dark or in full darkness.

SS11 represents the first stage of Sunday, which begins at 10am. The final stage, SS18, will begin at about 2:45pm.

“I’m really looking forward to the night stages aspect of the rally,” said Paddon. “Night rallying is my favourite, and will be a key part of the rally making up 25 percent of the route.”

Rally Gippsland will be live-streamed on Speedcafe.com and social media.

The Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally schedule

The Middle of Everywhere Gippsland Rally schedule 

* – Stages broadcast live