2018 Victorian Rally Championship

The 2018 Focus on Furniture Victorian Rally Championship was won by Ben and Cathy Hayes in a Subaru WRX STi with five wins across the fourteen heats. Consistency proved a winning formula as they scored well in every round, although their three worst results had to be dropped.

The 2WD Championship was dominated by Grant Walker and Steph Richards in their Ford Escort RS1800 who scored nine wins and three second placings.

Clubman Award: Josh Bohm, Hyundai Excel
Co-driver: Darren Davison (with David Lawrance)

Novice Award: Josh Bohm / Anthony Staltari, Hyundai Excel

To see what else happened during 2018 in Victorian rallying, go to the 2018 year page.

To see other years of the Victorian Rally Championship, got to the VRC page.

Need photos notice

Series Regulations

These were specified in the VRC Standing Regulations, which were substantially the same as the previous year.

The VRC was made up exclusively of Special Stage events with competitive distances between 50 and 200 km.

Eligible vehicles were PRC, Group N, Group N(P), S2000, Historic Rally Cars, Classic Rally Cars, Club Rally Cars and CAMS Group G2. ARC G2 were not eligible for VRC points except class awards, while S1600, Group R5, AP4 and G4 were not eligible for VRC points or class awards.

Awards were made for outright champions, 2WD, Clubman and Novice. There were also car class awards as follows: PRC and Group N up to 1400cc, PRC 1401-1600cc, PRC 1601-2000cc, PRC 2WD over 2000cc, PRC 4WD over 2000cc (split into two classes, essentially pre and post 1998, pre excluding any vehicles with fully active differentials, post including S2000), Historic Rally Cars, Classic Rally Cars, Club Rally Cars,  S2000 and ARC G2.

All awards were allocated 30-25-21-18-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 for first to fifteenth.  Crew registration was automatic for the first half of the season, but crews members could elect not to register for VRC points. With fourteen heats, the worst three results were dropped. All awards required competitors to compete in at least 50% of the events.

Events

There were 7 VRC events in 2018, each with two heats, hence 14 heats. Note that the Ada River Rally was originally calendared as Round 2 but was postponed and became Round 3.

  1. Eureka Rally (Vroom and BLCC, also ARC)
  2. Mitta Mountain Rally (NECC)
  3. Ada River Rally (WDCC)
  4. Rally of the Bay (NSW)
  5. Valley Stages (NCCA)
  6. Akademos Rally (MUCC)
  7. George Derrick Memorial Rally (CCRMIT) 

Pointscores

Class Awards

PRC/N under 1400cc: not awarded

PRC/N 1401-1600cc: Brian Newton / Ryan Price, Honda Civic EG6

PRC/N 1601-2000cc: Jason Lennane / Amanda Ramia, Proton Satria 2000

PRC/N 2WD over 2000cc: Brian Semmens / Daniel Parry, Nissan 200SX RV S12

PRC/N 4WD over 2000cc post 1998: Ben Hayes / Cathy Hayes, Subaru Impreza WRX STi

PRC/N 4WD over 2000cc pre 1998: Matt Lee, Subaru Impreza WRX ST
Co-driver: Tom Ruessman (with Paul Eccles) 

HRC: not awarded

Club Rally Cars: Phil Thomas / Ken Radnell, Ford Escort

Classic Rally Cars: Grant Walker / Steph Richards, Ford Escort RS1800

Group G2: not awarded