batemans bay

Photo: Dave King

Peter Thompson and Ken Hind will be back at the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay for their third year running in their bright yellow historic 1976 Celica.

Thompson moved to the Eurobodalla Shire several years ago and he considers this event his home rally and also one of his favourite motorsport events. But it hasn’t been all smooth sailing out in the Batemans Bay forests.

“Last year we had a bit of a mixed event,” Thompson said. “We were going great guns until about 14 kilometers from the end of the 45km Rutherford Run to Mogo stage. I overcooked a corner and ran off the road, rolling the car. We were both fine and uninjured, but the poor little Celica was a bit worse for wear and that was our rally over,” Thompson added.

Perhaps fittingly, the Rally of the Bay will be the first event for the car and crew following the Celica’s repair.

“I’m really looking forward to getting out there again,” Thompson said. “But this time I‘ll be taking that corner nice and slow,” he joked.

“It’s great that the organisers and local community could get this event happening again and working within the COVID restrictions. Everyone is hankering to go rallying again. It’ll be very competitive out there, especially at the top of the field,” Thompson said.

Thompson has a long history in rallying, with an extensive list of events in his career as a driver. 25 Years ago he entered the 1995 Mobil 1 Round Australia Trial, one of the last great round Australia endurance rallies. He and his good friend Michael Valantine shared the driving and co driving for that event and Thompson is pleased to see Michael making the trek down from the Hunter region to compete at the Rally of the Bay.

“It’ll be 25 years, almost to the day, that Mike and I were sitting next to each other ready to start the Round Australia Trial. We were also in a similar Celica in that event and we did the full 20,000 kilometers of the rally. I really like the old Celicas and I’m looking forward to competing against Mike at the Bay, although I suspect I’ll be in his dust,” Thompson concluded.

The Celica will be back in the Forests for the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay on Saturday the 4th of July.

Photo: Gravel Pics

Photo: Roy Meuronen

16-year-old learner driver Taylor Gill is itching to get behind the wheel of his Subaru WRX for his first rally. The young gun has teamed up with experienced co-driver, Peter Harris, to compete at the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay on July 4th.

It has been a long time coming for Gill, who was originally scheduled to compete at Rally Australia late in 2019, but the devastating summer bushfires saw the cancellation of the event. Whilst disappointing, there were already plans afoot to enter the full season of the MTA NSW Rally Championship in 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic would also see those plans dashed, and the Newcastle based driver was left wondering if he would ever get into the forests for a rally. Now that COVID restrictions have eased in NSW, the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay will be the first rally event in Australia since the COVID restrictions and the first round of the MTA NSW Series.

“I just can’t wait to do my first rally,” Gill said. “I’m really excited about competing in Batemans Bay and just want to get out there and do some driving. We’ve already done our reconnaissance of the roads, and they look fantastic,” Gill continued.

“We built the car in time to do Rally Australia, but when that didn’t happen, it was a big let-down after all the preparation. We did do a few rallysprints earlier in the year in our old car and ended up winning the Westlake Automobile Club Rallysprint series, which was pretty good. But, I just can’t wait to get out there and do my first real rally,” Gill added.

The Subaru WRX is a 1999 GC8 and was built at home with help from his Dad, family and friends. The build included a full Bond roll-cage and all the latest safety equipment.

Gill has an exemption to rally on his learners permit, something only a handful of other drivers have been able to achieve. Harris, who is 42 years Gill’s senior, is in the co-drivers seat as part of the requirements of the Motorsport Australia exemption.

“Taylor drives sensibly and whilst he’s young, I feel quite comfortable in the car with him,” Harris said. “I’ve done a few rallysprints with him already and I think he’s got a good chance of doing really well in the MTA NSW Championship. I’m in the car to help him learn and get some experience, but ultimately he’ll probably end up with a much younger co-driver in the future,” Harris added.

The Rally of the Bay is also part of the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship ARC4 and Gill is planning on using this event to score points towards that award.

With almost 90 cars entered, including many Australian Rally Championship teams, Gill’s first rally will see him up against some tough competition and will be the ideal opportunity for him and his team to measure their progress against some of the best drivers and teams in Australia.

Stilling at the Alpine Rally 2019. PHOTO: Raine O’Keeffe

After a successful 2019 debut season, Chris Stilling is eager for the restart of the 2020 rally season with the first event at Batemans Bay on 4 July.

Stilling emerged on the rally scene late in 2019 with his first event as a rally driver at the Narooma rally in which he won the event’s ACT novice and NSW clubman awards. He went on to win a number of awards at the Monaro Stages Rally, before finishing the year as the winner of the 2019 NSW Development 2WD class series, ACT Novice Series and finished second outright in the NSW Development series as well as second outright ACT Clubman series.

Stilling, when asked what his aim was for the 2020 AMH Rally of the Bay, said he was out to gain experience and to enjoy the event. “I’m excited just to be part of the event especially as it’s the first rally back for 2020’, Stilling said.

The event is also shaping up to be one of the best on the 2020 calendar with 2019 Australian Rally Champion and runner-up, Harry and Lewis Bates also competing amongst a talented and diverse 90 car field.

Stilling aims to compete in as many ACT and NSW events as possible during 2020 to further develop his skills as a rally driver. While concentrating at the Rally of the Bay for the NSW and ACT Clubman series he has not ruled out competing in other series events during the year. At only 22 years of age Chris Stilling is also eligible for the Junior Australian Rally Championship events staged during 2020.

Preparation is a key factor for any motorsport team and Stilling attributes Endurance Automotive, Waterhouse Performance and Manning Automotive as instrumental in preparing his Nissan Stanza for the 2020 rally season.

“I really want to thank Shane from Endurance, Leigh from Manning Automotive and Jamie from Waterhouse Performance for all their advice, support and assistance,” Stilling said. “After the differential broke on the Stanza at the 2019 Alpine Rally, and with the motor needing a rebuild, I had a lot of preparation to do on the car to get it back up to scratch for the 2020 season’ .

Raine O’Keeffe from Triple UFM Shoalhaven ‘Listen to the Raine’ motoring program, and Simply Music Management, has also agreed to continue her sponsorship of Stilling.

“I have reviewed our arrangements and look forward to maintaining our support as we have a young and talented rally driver in Chris” Raine said. “With the delay in the 2020 season due to COVID-19, we look forward to continuing our partnership into 2021,” Raine added.

Joining Chris Stilling in the codriver seat at the Rally of the Bay is Logan Waterhouse, son of Rae Waterhouse. Rae Waterhouse navigated for Stilling in the 2019 season taking out the 2019 NSW Development Series Co-Driver award. Logan Waterhouse, navigated for Chris Stilling’s father, Trevor Stilling, at the 2019 Narooma Rally.

Chris Stilling is following in his fathers’ footsteps, Trevor Stilling. “Chris is very measured in his approach, taking the time to learn from more experienced drivers and continuously developing his skills” said Trevor Stilling, former Australian rally classic champion.

NSW based competitors who aspire for an Australian Rally Championship (ARC) award, can now register and score points towards the ARC4 award by competing at the Batemans Bay based, AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay event.

Motorsport Australia has updated the Sporting and Technical Regulations for the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship and the ARC4 award includes the Rally of the Bay.

The ARC4 award is open to competitors who are not supported by a manufacturer and are not competing in an AP4 or R5 rally car. The structure of the award means that any NSW team entered in the Rally of the Bay and who then goes on to compete in their home state ARC round and one other ARC event can win the award.

“This is a great opportunity for anyone who’s entered in our Rally to score some points in the national competition”, said Nigel Bland, Rally of the Bay Event Director. “The Australian Rally Championship ARC4 category is a great initiative and we’re really fortunate to be one of the State Rounds nominated for points towards the award.”

“There are plenty of teams entered in our event that will likely do a few ARC rounds, like the National Capital Rally and the possible NSW North Coast ARC round, so there’s no doubt they should consider this opportunity, as they could easily find themselves winning ARC4,” Bland added.

There is no fee to register for the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship, but teams considering the ARC4 award must register with the ARC Managers and nominate the events they wish to compete in. Full details of the conditions, including contact information for the ARC Managers can be found in the Sporting and Technical Regulations.

The 2020 running of the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay has now received a ‘Green Light’ from Motorsport Australia. The final approval was given to North Shore Sporting Car Club (NSSCC) based on the event falling within the Motorsport Australia ‘Return to Race Strategy’, which is approved by the NSW State Government.

Whilst NSSCC has been pushing ahead with plans for the Rally, there was always the possibility that further restrictions could have been put in place had the COVID-19 situation in Australia worsened.

“It’s a great relief to get the final approval through” said Event Director, Nigel Bland. “The entire team had a little celebration on hearing the news, albeit by email. With all the extra requirements, and therefore extra work, due to the pandemic, it’s fantastic to know that all that hard work will mean we can get back to rallying” Bland added.

NSSCC President, Brett Middleton, was also pleased to see the final approval given.

“The team putting together this rally have gone above and beyond”, Middleton said. “They have worked tirelessly on getting the Rally off the ground in such difficult circumstances. The amount of extra work that was needed to get the event to fall in line with COVID requirements was enormous, but the team rose to the challenge and here we are with the green light.”

The AMH Rally of the Bay has attracted a record number of entries, with many teams using this event as a shakedown for the start of the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) season later in the year.

“We have 87 entries so far, and whilst there’s plenty of ARC teams entered, the competition to watch will be the teams entered for the first round of the MTA NSW Rally Championship. With such a big field, it’s pretty hard to predict a winner in the state championship, with the likes of Nathan Quinn, Tom Clarke and Gavin Croker all entered” Middleton added.

The AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay will take place on the 4th of July. The rally will start at Corrigan’s Beach Reserve, Batehaven and then move to the Forests surrounding Batemans Bay.

Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, no spectators are permitted at the event, however there are volunteer positions available by visiting the NSSCC website – https://nsscc.com.au/officials/

Tom Clarke is a contender for the MTA NSW Rally Championship PHOTO: Roy Meuronen