Tarmac rally takes another step forward

There's going to be some confusion in tarmac rally circles, with a new championship for modern cars finally developed and in place through the makers of Targa Tasmania and the alpine sprint series.

The Australian Tarmac Championship (ATC), not to be confused with the Australian Tarmac Challenge (ATC, formerly the Dutton Rally) and the ACTC (Australian Classic Tarmac Championship) has finally given modern cars a show-in on multi-day open road rallies around the country.

The ATC is made up of the Mt Buller Sprint, the Lake Mountain Sprint, Targa Wrest Point, and Targa Tasmania, and will be organised jointly by Octagon Australia and Mountain Motorsports.

"Competitors have been telling us that they want a national tarmac rally championship, but that it had to include Targa Tasmania, which is seen as the Bathurst or our sport," said Targa Tasmania Event Director, Mark Perry.

"The introduction of Targa Wrest Point (around the Tasmanian capital of Hobart), and the opportunity to make Targa Tasmania the final round, meant the time was right for us to make our events part of a national series."

One of the two mountain sprint rounds will bring some much-needed money into the bushfire-stricken town of Marysville, which formerly provided the base for the Lake Mountain event. Though the competitors and cars will have to stay outside the town when it is run in March, many returning competitors have vowed to support the town in any way possible.

The winners, announced after the final round in May 2010, will claim the title of 2010 Tarmac Rally Champions, and prized totalling around $30,000 worth of value.

2010 Australian Tarmac Championship
• Round 1: Mt. Buller Sprint - December 4 to 6 , 2009
• Round 2: Targa Wrest Point - January 30 & 31, 2010
• Round 3: Lake Mountain Sprint - March 20 & 21, 2010 - To be confirmed
• Round 4: Targa Tasmania - April 27 to May 2, 2010