Australian Rally Championship, West Australian Round, night stage. 2006.

The Australian Rally Championship (ARC) is a 6 Round National motorsport Championship run in forested countryside throughout Australia. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2559x1926, 1077 KB) Summary http://en. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (2559x1926, 1077 KB) Summary http://en. ...

Current Competition

In 2006, the Australian Rally Championship started in the nation’s capital, Canberra, with the Rally of Canberra for the first time being run as a Round of the Super Series as well as remaining on as the opening Round of the FIA Asia-Pacific Rally Championship. The coastal tourist town of Busselton, near the Margaret River in WA moved to the second Round position before the series traveled to Queensland on the Sunshine Coast town of Caloundra then headed down to the southern forests of Tasmania. From there the Championship headed to the Barossa Valley for South Australia 's event and then Victoria 's Yarra Valley wine region. While not a Round of the Super Series, the World Rally Championship Round, Rally Australia, is the seventh and final Round in the ARC calendar and the final scoring opportunity for the manufacturers Championship. The championship features support from the regular manufacturer teams (Toyota, Mitsubishi and Ford) - having suffered the loss of manufacturer team Subaru in 2005 - and also boasts a field of privateer teams. Each event runs over two competitive days, with points scored by the top ten placed teams on each day. The final victor is decided by the most successful combination over the two days competition. Each event starts and finishes with a gala run and also supports the outright competition for manufacturer and driver. For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... For other meanings see Canberra (disambiguation). ... The Asia-Pacific Rally Championship (APRC) is an international rally championship organized by the FIA. The championship was first held in 1988 and won by Japans Kenjiro Shinozuka in a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4. ... Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd)  - Product per capita  $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  4,070,400 (3rd)  - Density  2. ... Population: 282,645* (2005)[1] (11th) Location: 100 km from Brisbane State District: Caloundra, Maroochydore, Kawana, Noosa, Nicklin Federal Division: Fisher, Fairfax For other uses, see Sunshine Coast Australias Sunshine Coast (population 282,645 with up to an additional 50,000 in visitors and seasonal workers) is a coastal... Toyota Motor Corporation ), or Toyota is a Japanese automaker and the worlds second largest automaker by sales revenue. ... Mitsubishi Logo The Mitsubishi Group ), Mitsubishi Group of Companies, or Mitsubishi Companies, all refer to a large grouping of independently operated Japanese companies which share the Mitsubishi brand name. ... Ford may mean a number of things: A ford is a river crossing. ... For other uses, see Subaru (disambiguation). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Competition Classes

The Australian Rally Championship caters to a range of different competitors in the series and with a number of classes and categories; competitors can start rallying at the level that best suits their budget. The outright competition is fought out amongst the names of rallying and is the ultimate test for the competitors at the pointy end of the field. The ARC’s top drivers compete in Group N (Production) - cars which have direct links to their road-going counterparts. The ARC also offers opportunities for manufacturers who don’t produce Group N cars to build comparable machinery under both the Group N (P) and FIA Super 2000 regulations. Another award that is desirable for competitors to chase is the Privateers Cup for competitors who don't have support form the manufacturer teams. The F16 Championship is the small car category (1600cc, 2WD) and a budget-level place to start rallying. The outright winner of the Championship is an Australian Champion in the small car category and is added to the record books. The Aussie Cup is the Australian award for large cars (over 2500cc) that enables competitors in the big cars to run popular passenger car models such as V6 and V8’s. Amongst the outright awards are the opportunities to chase individual class awards that are based on car capacity and specification which gives competitors the opportunity to pursue class victories. In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group N referred to a set of regulations providing a set of rules for standard production vehicles for competition, often referred to as the Showroom Class. This contrasts with the Group A all-out competition production-derived vehicles. ... Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an FIA specification and classification for production based race cars. ...

The Cars

The more successful cars in recent years of the ARC have been the 4WD 2.0L Turbo models such as the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolutions, Subaru Impreza WRX STIs and the Toyota Corolla ARC-spec cars, which are actually running Toyota Celica GT4 chassis, engines, etc. Michael Guest and Mark Stacey campaigned a RWD 2.5L normally aspirated Ford Focus during the 2006 season, switching to a Ford Fiesta prepared for the Super 2000 class in 2007. Most of the cars in the privateer fields are of a similar make, but other makes with success have been the Mitsubishi Mirage, Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, Subaru Legacy, Datsun 1600, Datsun 240Z, Nissan Stanza and the Suzuki Swift GTi. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Subaru Impreza WRX STI (formerly STi, officially changed in 2006)[1] is the highest standard-edition trim in the Subaru Impreza compact car line, produced by Japanese automaker Subaru. ... The Toyota Corolla is a compact car produced by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has acquired significant popularity throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. ... For the high-performance versions of the Celica, see Toyota Celica GT-Four The Toyota Celica name has been applied to a series of popular sports cars made by the Japanese company Toyota. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Ford Fiesta is a mid-class supermini car designed by the Ford Motor Company in Europe, and also manufactured in Brazil, Mexico, Venezuela, China, India and South Africa. ... Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an FIA specification and classification for production based race cars. ... The Mitsubishi Mirage is a subcompact car produced by Mitsubishi Motors from 1978 to 2002. ... The Galant VR-4 was the range-topping version of Mitsubishis midsize sedan, available in the sixth (1988-1992), seventh (1992-1996) and eighth (1996-2002) generations of the vehicle. ... Subaru Legacy station wagon (third generation) US-spec Subaru Legacy The Subaru Legacy is a mid-size car introduced by the Japanese manufacturer Subaru in February 1989 as a larger, upscale companion to the companys Leone/Loyale (which was known, in some countries, by its trim level only, Subaru... A Datsun 510 racing car used in vintage racing. ... The S30 Nissan/Datsun 240Z (known in Japan as the Fairlady Z and later in other markets as the 260Z and 280Z) are sports cars from Nissan of the 1970s. ... The Nissan Stanza was a compact car introduced by Nissan in 1977 and was a badge-engineered brother to the Nissan Auster and Nissan Violet. ... The Suzuki Swift is a subcompact automobile from the Suzuki Motor Corporation. ...

A Subaru Impreza WRX competing in an Australian rally.

Image of a subaru WRX at the Rally of Victoria, October 2003. ... Image of a subaru WRX at the Rally of Victoria, October 2003. ...

The Drivers

As with the cars, it tends to be the factory-entered drivers that take the outright placings. Some of these drivers have been Cody Crocker, Scott Pedder, Simon Evans, Neal Bates, the late Possum Bourne and Ed Ordinski. But privateer crews that have enjoyed success have been, to name a few, Dean Herridge/Bill Hayes, Leigh Garrioch/Ken Garrioch and Bill Hunter/Patrick Hunter. Peter Raymond George Bourne - better known as Possum Bourne (April 13, 1956 - April 30, 2003) - was a champion New Zealand rally car driver. ...

Past Winners

Australian Rally Champions

Colin Bond (born 24 February 1942) was an Australian racing driver. ... Ross Dunkerton in the 2006 Targa West rally Ross Dunkerton (born July 16, 1945) is a former champion Australian rally driver from Western Australia. ... Ed Ordynski (born 11 November 1950) is an Australian former rally driver. ... Coral Taylor (born 1961) is an Australian female rally co-driver. ... Peter Raymond George Bourne better known as Possum Bourne (April 13, 1956 - April 30, 2003) was a champion New Zealand rally car driver. ...

Group N Rally Championship

Australian Manufacturers Champions

Australian Formula 2 Rally Champions

Australian F16 Rally Champions