Good news for New Zealand rally enthusiasts. Eight club rally events across the South Island have been planned for the latter half of 2020 as Covid-19 restrictions begin to ease.
Rally event organisers are reportedly keen to provide their competitors with purposed dates to allow them to begin planning to return to competition once travel and lockdown restrictions have been lifted.
The development comes after the 2020 New Zealand Rally Championships were cancelled indefinitely amid coronavirus uncertainty and the long lead-in team needed to organise and run events.
“The final event of the year will be the popular Lawrence Clubman Rally, comprising 80km of competition over 5 stages – some of which will be the same roads planned for this year’s Otago Rally,” said Otago Sports Car Club’s Norman Oakley.
“The stages will be used again next year when the full New Zealand Rally Championship gets back underway. Planning is already well underway for the 2021 Otago Rally.”
A handful of the purposed events will also make up the remaining rounds of the 2020 Mainland series which began in March at Greymouth.
| Purposed dates | Rally |
|---|---|
| Early July | OSCC, Circle Hill Rallysprin |
| August 8 | ESCC, Catlins Rally |
| September 5 | Autosport, Hanmer Rally |
| September 19 | RATEC, Ashley Forest Rallysprint |
| September 16 | SCCC, South Canterbury Rally |
| October 10 | ESCC, Gore Clubmans Rally |
| October 25 | Autosport, Canterbury Rally |
| November 7 | OSCC, Lawrence Clubmans Rally |
Main Image: GEOFF RIDDER