2019 Victorian Rally Championship

The 2019 Hino Geelong Victorian Rally Championship was won by Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic, primarily in a Subaru Impreza WRX. The year did not start well for Arron, with a DNF in the Mitta  Mountain Rally (engine failure) and in the first heat of the Ada River Rally. With a change from the Lancer Evo 9 to the Impreza WRX, reliability improved and they took eight wins from the 14 rounds.

The 2WD Champion Ddiver was Justin Walker in a Ford Escort MkII. The 2wd Champion co-driver was Adam Wright (with Luke Sytema).

The Clubman Champion driver was Ross Stapleton in a Nissan 200SX, The Clubman Champion co-driver was Ognjen Jovanovic (with Nick Seymour).

The Novice Champions were Lochlan Reed and Will Murphy in a Hyundai Excel.

To see what else happened during 2019 in Victorian rallying, go to the 2019 year page.

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

Arron Windus and Daniel Brkic on the final VRC event of 2019

Series Regulations

These were specified in the VRC Standing Regulations, but we are yet to get a copy. They are assumed to be 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 2019, each with two heats so 14 heats in all. The Novice Award (and the Excel series) did not include the Rally of the Bay.

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

Pointscores

Class Awards

PRC/N under 1400cc: Not awarded

PRC/N 1401-1600cc: Adrian Stratford / Kain Manning, Daihatsu Charade

PRC/N 1601-2000cc: Jeremy Coleman / Tim Watson, Toyota Celica

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

PRC/N 4WD over 2000cc post 1998: Arron Windus / Daniel Brkic, Subaru Impreza WRX

PRC/N 4WD over 2000cc pre 1998: Brad Till / Mitch Garrad, Subaru Impreza WRX Sti

HRC: Not awarded

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

Classic Rally Cars: Justin Walker, Ford Escort MkII. Co-driver: Adam Wright (with Luke Sytema).

Group G2: Not Awarded

Excel:  Lochlan Reed / Will Murphy, Hyundai Excel.