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Jun 30

Route Set for Lazer Rally of the Bay

By Rally of the Bay 2022

The route for the 2022 Lazer Rally of the Bay has been finalised and crews who have entered the pace noted component of the event will soon be able to begin their reconnaissance.

The route for this year’s event has changed from previous years, with the extreme weather situation over the past 12 months affecting many of the local forest and shire roads. However, the good news is that the organising team has selected some fantastic stages in the forests surrounding Batemans Bay.

“It would have been easy to just duplicate the route we planned to use in last years cancelled event” Road Director John McCredie said. “But unfortunately, some major bridges have been washed away, so roads like the Western Distributor are closed and impassable. On top of that, the Ridge Road Stage has been affected by the major road work construction on the edge of town”.

“So, we had to get creative and use a few interesting Liaison sections to get access to the best roads. Which means we still get to use Ridge Road and Dog Trap Road on the Eastern Side of the Princes Highway, just to the west of Batehaven. We’ve just shortened it a little and reversed what we had planned for last year and this also allows us to keep a Spectator Point just 5 minutes from town”.

“Other roads are ones we’ve used before, including Runnyford Road and a 29km stage that starts in The Western Distributor and then uses Wallaby Road, Clyde Ridge Road and into Drury’s Road. We’ll also be using Bark Shed Road, and Big Bit Road, which haven’t been used for a while, but have been traditional Rally of the Bay stages in previous years”, McCredie concluded.

The event will use six stages, five of which will be repeated to provide a total of 11 stages. The Clubman component of the rally will consist of the first 10 stages. The main event will be approximately 150km with an announcement of stage partners due to be made next week.

The Lazer Rally of the Bay is set to take place on Saturday the 13th of August in the forests surrounding Batemans Bay on the NSW south coast. The rally cars will be flagged away from Corrigan’s Beach Reserve in Batehaven. Lazer High Performance Lighting are the naming rights partner.

Photo: Roy Meuronen

Jun 20

Lazer Rally of the Bay – A Battle of Youth and Experience

By Rally of the Bay 2022

EVENT DATE: 13th August 2022

Round 4 of the NSW Rally Championship is the Lazer Rally of the Bay, and it is shaping up to be a battle between youth and experience.

19-year-old Riley Walters will start the event in his Subaru WRX, with an 8-point lead in the NSW Rally Championship. Walters, who finished 2nd on the podium at last weekend’s Bega Valley Rally, is looking forward to the Batemans Bay based competition.

“When we started the season, we really didn’t come into it wanting or even expecting to be leading the Championship”, Walters said.

“This is the first time that I’ve competed in the NSW Rally Championship and after the challenges of the last two years getting the car right and finally being able to do some rallies post-Covid, I’m just having an absolute blast”

“There are so many talented drivers that we’re up against, and if this season isn’t our year, I still have plenty of time to try and win the series in the future. My co-driver Andrew Crowley has been a massive support, helping me to improve and find our rhythm, so it’s already been a winning year for me.

“The car still has a lot of improvements that we can make, but it’s very reliable, so we don’t want to push our luck with any changes at this stage of the Championship”, Walters concluded.

Walters and Crowley’s main rival will be Tony Sullens and co-driver Kaylie Newell, who won the Bega Valley Rally, sit 2nd in the NSW Championship standings, and are the current State Champions. Sullens has far more experience than his younger competitor and will be hoping that this experience will give him the edge at the Lazer Rally of the Bay.

There are many other contenders, including Tim Wilkins and Jim Gleeson in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 9. Wilkins has had a string of bad luck at the last two Championship events, exiting both Round 2 and Round 3, whilst in the lead.

Event Manager, Nigel Bland is preparing for a big field on the 13th of August 2022 and expects the event to attract teams from all over Australia.

“We’re expecting a bumper entry”, Bland said. “The Lazer Rally of the Bay is a popular event and because it’s the first pace-noted rally since the beginning of the season, we know there are teams itching to get into the forests on pace-notes.”

“Once again, we’ll be basing our rally headquarters in the heart of Batemans Bay at the Batemans Bay Marina Resort, with our Service Park at Corrigan’s Beach Reserve in Batehaven”, Bland continued.

“Teams will come from mainly NSW, but I’m expecting to see at least a few Victorian and also a few Queensland based teams. As far as the roads go, we’ve been busy selecting the best roads in the area, and you can look forward to seeing Clyde Ridge Road, Wallaby Road, The Old Highway, Bark Shed Road, and a few other popular stages used”, Bland concluded.

The 2022 Lazer Rally of the Bay is a round of the NSW Rally Championship and East Coast Classic Rally Series (ECCRS), plus also incorporates the NSW Clubman and NSW Hyundai Series.

Lazer High Performance Lighting is the rally’s naming rights partner.

Photo: Riley Walters and Andrew Crowley at the Bega Valley Rally. Photo By Roy Meuronen

Nov 26

Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Partners Announced

By Tarmac Rallysprint, Wheelspin

The immensely popular Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Series held over summer at the Sydney Dragway announces a new line up of Event Partners as the Rallysprint gets set to kick off on December 16.

On announcing the partner line up, Event Director and NSSCC President, Brett Middleton, said he was ecstatic that such a diverse range of business are getting behind the event.

“It’s really great to have these partners committing to our series”, Middleton said. “A lot of hard work goes into making the event happen and it is largely run by volunteers who commit their own time to making the event a success. We have a great line up of partners for this season of the Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint, with our five Major Partners all re-committing for 2021/22”.

Whiteline continues as the Naming Rights Partner, with GFB, Shannons Insurance, Premier Pools and Disc Brakes Australia all again signing up as Major Partners.

Other Series Partners include Prospeed Racing, Haltech, Hyundai N Performance, Lazer Lights, TME Motorsport, SRT Design and Construction, DashSport, Evolution Racing Spares, BG of Australia, AGI Roll Cages and Motorsport Race Gear.

You can meet the Partners at any one of the four rounds. The dates for the series are:

Round 1 – 16th of December, 2021
Round 2 – 6th of January, 2022
Round 3 – 10th February, 2022
Round 4 – 10th March 2022

Nov 02

Lazer lights the way for Rally of the Bay

By Rally of the Bay 2021, Rally of the Bay 2022, Wheelspin

Andrew Penny and Rhys Llewellyn at the 2020 event. Photo: Roy Meuronen

The 2022 Rally of the Bay received a huge boost this week with the announcement that Lazer High Performance Lighting will be the events naming rights partner.

Announcing the new multi-year deal, Club President, Brett Middleton is thrilled with the new partnership and is expecting a big field for the event, now scheduled for a slightly later date of August 13. The event will be known as the ‘Lazer Rally of the Bay’.

“It’s great news”, said Middleton. “We’ve been busy planning for the 2022 event in the background and the new deal with Lazer Lamps is the perfect partnership. Lazer Lamps produce the best lighting solutions in the world for rally cars and also for production cars, so to have them as our naming rights partner is just fantastic.”

Kirk Marks is Lazer High Performance Lighting’s Regional Manager, and he was also extremely delighted with the new partnership.

“We are excited to be able to partner with the Rally of the Bay and to contribute to the ongoing success of the event run by the North Shore Sporting Car Club in Batemans Bay for over 20 years. Lazer Lamps have a competition pedigree starting over a decade ago, providing high performance lighting solutions for World Rally Championship Teams and now providing the same support for rally competitors in Australia”, Marks Said.

“We know the event is a competitor favourite and I can’t wait to be part of the action in August next year”, Marks Concluded.

Event Manager, Nigel Bland is preparing for a big field on the 13th of August 2022 and expects the event to attract teams from all over Australia.

“We are really looking forward to the 13th of August next year”, said Bland. “We have already started the planning process and are busy looking into ways to make the event even better than previous years.”

“Once again, we’ll be a Round of the NSW Rally Championship, but we expect that several teams in the Australian Rally Championship will want to include the Lazer Rally of the Bay in their schedules. We know this event is extremely popular and we expect there’ll be crews from interstate heading to Batemans Bay to experience the rally and everything the Eurobodalla Shire has to offer”, Bland continued.

The Lazer Rally of the Bay will be based out of Batemans Bay in the Eurobodalla Shire and will run on the 13th of August 2022. The event will be a round of the NSW Rally Championship, NSW Clubman Series, East Coast Classic Rally Series (2WD and 4WD) as well as a round of the Hyundai Rally Series.

Oct 25

Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Season Changes

By Rallysprint, Tarmac Rallysprint, Wheelspin

The immensely popular Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Series held over summer at Sydney Dragway has been forced to change the dates for the 2021/22 season. Construction delays at the Dragway and Speedway complex has led the organising committee to remove the November round and add a round on January 6th.

The Event Director and NSSCC President, Brett Middleton, said he didn’t want to shorten the series because he knows competitors are itching to get behind the wheel and compete.

“What a year it’s been”, Middleton said. “With everything that’s occurred with lockdowns, and very little motorsport happening, we knew the Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint was going to be popular. We have over 100 entries already for round one, and more are still coming in.”

“We didn’t want to change the dates, but we also didn’t want to shorten the course like we had to last season. So by removing November and adding the 6th of January, it means we still have four rounds and we can use the new longer course we planned.”

“The major construction works at the Dragway Complex are running behind schedule and the bitumen surfacing in the new car park area may not be ready, so it made sense to re-arrange the dates and give competitors the opportunity to compete on a longer course.”, Middleton concluded.

The new dates for the series are:

  • Round 1 – 16th of December, 2021
  • Round 2 – 6th of January, 2022
  • Round 3 – 10th February, 2022
  • Round 4 – 10th March 2022
Sep 15

Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Season Shortened to Four Rounds

By Tarmac Rallysprint
Photo by Roy Meuronen

The immensely popular Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint Series held over summer at the Sydney Dragway complex has been forced to shorten the 2021/22 season, with NSSCC President and Event Manager, Brett Middleton, citing several reasons for the decision.

“It’ll come as no surprise to anyone that the ongoing government-imposed restrictions are impacting events and that the end date for lockdown is still unclear. With just a month to go before the first round, we need to ensure we have a clearer picture before opening entries and collecting entry fees”, Middleton said.

“There is also major works still going on at the Dragway Complex itself and the bitumen surfacing in some areas that we plan to use for the Rallysprint are not 100% complete. Obviously, the Sydney wide restrictions are having effects on the timelines for the Sydney Speedway construction, so we also need to be assured that we’ll have a suitable course to use”, Middleton went on to say.

Sydney Dragway is currently closed and there has been no announcement on when operations will re-commence or what requirements will be in place for entry to the facility once open again.

With all these factors in play, NSSCC has decided to reduce the series from five rounds to four, with round one set to commence on Thursday the 18th of November.

“So many events have been cancelled this year”, Middleton continued. “And we know people are really looking forward to doing some motorsport this year. We’d love to be running the first event next month as planned, but it just wasn’t possible”.

“On the bright side, we have a great new course planned and a few new features that we know competitors are going to love”, Middleton concluded.

Whiteline has once again put their support behind the event and has now been the event’s naming rights partner for over six years. In addition to Whiteline, many of last seasons partners have also indicated they want to be involved again.

The event will continue its tradition of striving to be the best event in Sydney for grass roots motorsport. NSSCC encourages all competitors, regardless of discipline, who have never tried a tarmac Rallysprint, to enter something new and experience the excitement of driving a road style course.

The Whiteline Tarmac Rallysprint will again feature discounted entry fees for juniors over the age of 14, and like in previous seasons, each event will feature comprehensive video media coverage. Entries are due to open in October.

Sep 01

NSSCC e-Series – Results after Round 4

By Rally, Results, Wheelspin

The NSSCC Dirt Rally 2 e-Series is now up to Round 5.  The current Pointscore plus stage results for Rally Finland is below.

The leaderboard sees D_OPIE on top, Phil Morley in second and Oscar Middleton in third outright

Round 5 is Rally Australia – R5 Class Cars  from the 10th of September to 24th of September

To enter, purchase the leading rally game Dirt 2.0 on your PC, Mac, Xbox or PlayStation platform.  Once you have purchased and installed Dirt Rally 2.0 on your preferred platform, click here and create a Codemasters account. After you have logged in, you will be able to request access to the NSSCC e-Sports competitions.

Send your racenet username, real name, and NSSCC club ID number to eseries@nsscc.com.au

We will then grant you access to the Club page after which you will be able to join in the competition via the game portal. We will grant access every Monday

POINTSCORE
Aug 31

Motorsport Australia State Council and Panel Nominations Called

By News, Wheelspin

Have you ever wanted to be on one of Motorsport Australia’s decision making councils or panels? Are you a Motorsport Australia Member? Then here is your opportunity to contribute to the direction of Motorsport in NSW.

Motorsport Australia is seeking nominations for 2022-2024 NSW & ACT State Council Executive Office Bearers as well as 2022-2024 NSW & ACT Panel Nominations. The Panel Nominations can be for any of the panels including:

  • Autocross Panel
  • Hill Climb Panel
  • Motor Race Panel
  • Off Road Panel
  • Officials Panel
  • Rally Panel (We currently have several NSSCC members on this panel)
  • Scrutiny Panel
  • Stewards Panel
  • Supersprint Panel

If you want to nominate, you’ll need to download the nomination form and fill in the details. You’ll also need another member to be a seconder and sign the form. Should there be difficulty in obtaining a signature from a seconder, an email endorsement from the seconder containing their name, and member number will be sufficient.

  • Nominations for State Council Executive Office Bearers must be returned by Tuesday 14 September 2021
  • Panel nominations must be returned by Monday 1 November 2021

Please attach the email with your nomination form when submitting. All nominations forms must be returned via email to nsw@motorsport.org.au and you can download the forms using the buttons below.

Aug 17

AMH Rally of the Bay Cancelled

By Events, Rally, Rally of the Bay 2021, Wheelspin
Photo: Tim and Peter Joass at the 2020 running of the AMH Rally of the Bay – Photo by Bruce Moxon

Organisers of the 2021 AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 event due to COVID restrictions and lack of a suitable date to reschedule the popular Eurobodalla based event.

The event was due to run on July the 17th and was rescheduled to the 28th of August when NSW Government ‘Stay at Home’ orders were announced. With the likelihood of further restrictions and an extension of the orders, the event was again postponed with the hope that November 13th could be a new lucky date to run the Rally.

Event Manager Nigel Bland said that several innovative ideas were considered before making the difficult decision to cancel the event.

“We really wanted the event to happen”, Bland said. “We originally wanted to re-schedule the event into November, but with such a tight calendar in place already, and with other events also looking to reschedule, it became quite difficult to really plan on a November rally.” he added

“We also asked our customers and commercial partners for their feedback, and it was a mixed bag of responses. Some teams said they’d support a November date, whilst others thought it was too difficult to contemplate maybe three or four events in a six-week period”, Bland continued.

“So, we started to think outside the box and came up with a plan. We asked the NSW Rally panel if they would consider extending the NSW Rally Championship into 2022, with the AMH Rally of the Bay running around the end of February or beginning of March. We knew it was something a bit different, and the NSW Rally Panel were supportive of the idea. Unfortunately, the NSW Regulatory Body who needed to approve the plan didn’t agree it was the right approach, so we were left back at square one”, Bland continued.

“So that has really left us with no choice, and like many other events this year, we have no other option than to cancel the 2021 event,” Bland concluded.

Brett Middleton is the North Shore Sporting Car Club President and also the rally’s Commercial and Partners Manager. He was dissapointed that the event has not been able to proceed, but was very positive about the events future and also praised the organising team.

“The team have worked extremely hard”, Middleton said. “We’ve been planning and re-planning this event since January and to have to cancel the event is tough on everyone, very few people know the volunteer effort required to run an event like this. But we’ll start planning for the 2022 event straight away and we even have a few new ideas to make the event even better.”

“I really feel for the Community of Batemans Bay and the Eurobodalla region”, Middleton continued. “They’re doing it tough down there and they were looking forward to our event giving the local economy a real boost. We have some great partners, including the Eurobodalla Shire, Batemans Bay Marina Resort and the Village Centre and Bridge Plaza Shopping centre, but despite the event not proceeding, they know we’ve done our best at promoting the event, the shire and our partners”, Middleton continued.

“The team have applied to the NSW Rally Panel for a July 30th date for 2022 and we hope that this gets the go ahead. The team has a great event leader in Nigel Bland and a media team lead by John Mccredie and despite the cancellation, next year looks to be an even better event”, Middleton concluded.

The 2021 AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay was a round of the NSW Rally Championship, East Coast Classic Rally Series, Hyundai Rally Series, Clubman Rally Series, ACT Regional Rally Series and a promotional round of the Australian Rally Championship.

Aug 10

Midstate Freight Oberon Stages Rally Cancelled

By Caves Classic, Events, Oberon Stages, Rally, Wheelspin

Organisers of the 2021 Midstate Freight Oberon Stages Rally have made the difficult decision to cancel the 2021 event due to COVID restrictions and increased Forestry Operations.

With ongoing restrictions in Sydney and beyond, North Shore Sporting Car Club (NSSCC) is not confident that travel constraints will change sufficiently to allow the event to proceed on the 18th of September.

Event director Jon Thomson said the decision was extremely difficult.

“We’re really in a no-win situation, even if we see changes to the lockdown in Sydney, September is likely to see travel restrictions into regional NSW,” Thomson said.

“On top of that, we haven’t had the opportunity to check and write roadbooks, meet with stakeholders or assess road conditions and suitability.”

“Forestry has also increased their operations in the area and many of the roads we’d originally selected are now in sections that are being harvested, meaning we’d need to look for new roads and change many of the stages we had originally planned on using”, Thomson added.

The event organising team looked at moving the event to October, but the calendar is crowded with events and access to volunteers and particularly securing Rallysafe for the event was proving difficult.

“We really have been left with no choice but to cancel the event altogether”, Thomson said.

“It is a great pity as we had some absolutely terrific roads and stages selected for this year’s rally, but we will be back with an even better event in 2022,” he concluded.

The Midstate Freight Oberon Stages Rally was a round of the NSW Rally Championship, East Coast Classic Rally Series and Clubman Rally Series. The organising team is planning on running the event in 2022 and will seek a date from the NSW Rally Panel in due course.

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