Find out about the rich history of the Begonia Rallies
The Begonia Rally has a long history dating from at least 1955, possibly earlier as the Ballarat Light Car Club was formed in 1949.
The Begonia Rally was a round of the Victorian Trials Championship in 1962, only the second year of the championship, and has been a round of the VRC in many years since.
Click on the Year to see more details about each edition. Click on the Area to see a plot of the route (where available).
Year Director Area Winning driver Winning navigator / co-driver Winning car Status
1955 Central and Western Victoria Colin Everett Colin Ward Holden Open
1956 W Dick A O Lawrence
1957 R Bell D Dossiter
1958 R Spence
1959 R Spence
1960 Len Paige Wes Sharrock Vanguard
1961 Geoff Hughes Bob Forsyth Open
1962 Ballarat, Grampians, Horsham, StArnaud, Daylesford, Ballarat Kevin Lott Bob Forsyth Ford Anglia VTC
1963 Creswick, Linton, Ararat, Mt Cole, Maryborough Harry Firth Graham Hoinville Ford Cortina VTC
1964 Owen Lawrence, G. Horne South of Ballarat then Daylesford Jack Ellis Frank Guymer Ford Falcon VTC
1965 Mal McPherson, Jack Ellis, Ian Home South of Ballarat then to the Grampians and back through Ararat, Kanya and Avoca Reg Lunn Doug Rutherford Ford Cortina GT VTC
1966 Creswick, Avoca, Mt Cole, Stawell, Grampians, Smythesdale, Ballarat Tony Roberts Peter Haas Holden HD VTC
1967 Max Jackman Ian Johnson Bellet Open
1968 David Foster Jeff Beaumont Ford Cortina Open
1969 M Collins A Lawrence Open
1970 Warwick Henderson
Rex LunnG King
John HallOpen
1971 I Greenbank J Byrne Open
1972 Mostly south of Ballarat Garry Harrowfield David Hodge Ford Cortina GT VCS
1973 Bill Strownix Geoff Boyd Holden Torana GTR Open
1974 Ballarat, Beaufort Garry Harrowfield Geoff Boyd Ford Cortina MkII VRC
1975 Sam Hutchison, Bernard Lakerink South of Ballarat, then Maryborough, Mt Cole Len McKay Ian Baldock Ford Escort Open
1976 Not conducted
1977 Ian McKenzie, Jeff Stewart Scarsdale, Ballarat, Maryboroug Bob Bowden Max Sharrock Datsun 180B SSS VCS
1978 Ian McKenzie Mt Cole, Creswick Warwick Smith Paul Paterson Mitsubishi Lancer VRC
1979 Ross Runnalls, Geoff Boyd Creswick, South of Ballarat Geoff Portman Wayne Gregson Datsun 1600 Open
1980 Geoff Boyd, Ross Runnalls, Ian McKenzie Creswick, Daylesford, South of Ballarat Hugh Bell Damian O’Reilly Datsun 1600 Open
1981 Geoff Boyd, Ross Runnalls Creswick, Daylesford, South of Ballarat Hugh Bell Steve Ellis Datsun 1600 VRC
1982 Geoff Boyd, Ross Runnalls Mostly Daylesford Hugh Bell Steve Ellis Datsun 1600 VRC
1983 Cancelled VRC
1984 Bruce Campbell Creswick, Daylesford David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant VRC
1985 Bruce Campbell Creswick, Daylesford Hugh Bell Steve Ellis Mazda RX7 VRC
1986 Bruce Campbell David Officer Kate Officer Mitsubishi Starion VRC
1987 Not conducted VTS
1989 Not conducted SRS / WRS
1990 Not conducted SRS / Group5
1991 George Davidson South of Ballarat Allan Johnson Jim Maude Holden Commodore VRC
1992 Tim Collins Creswick, Daylesford Graeme Alexander David Stewart Mitsubishi Galant VR4 VRC
1993 Tim Collins Neil Cuthbert Daryl Adams Subaru Legacy RS VRC, ARC(C5)
1994 Tim Collins Graeme Wise Helen Wylie Ford Sierra XR 4WD VRC
1995 Not conducted
1996 (Ballarat Sprint Rally) Closed
1997 Not Conducted
1998 Joe Brick Daylesford Craig Morris Jenny Cole Mitsubishi Galant VR4 VRC
1999 Joe Brick/ Matt Storer Daylesford Scott Pedder Paul Humm Mitsubishi Lancer RSe VRC
2000 Not conducted
2001 Stephen Richards Brett Thomosn Rob Vanderree Mitsubishi Galant VR4 VRC
2002 Not conducted
2003 Not conducted
2004 Not conducted
2005 Stuart Lister Mark Fawcett Simon Ellis Subaru Impreza WRX STi VRC
2006 Cancelled VRC
2007 Cancelled VCRS
2008 Not conducted
2009 Tim Collins Daylesford Mark Fawcett Carrie Morris Subaru Impreza WRX STi VRC / VCRS
2010 Not conducted
2011 Not conducted
2012 John Roberts Daylesford Justin Dowell Scott Spedding Mitsubishi Lancer Evo9 VRC / VCRS
2013 Not conducted
2014 Not conducted
2015 Arron Secombe Ben Major, Mt Cole, Pyrenees Craig Brooks Steve Glenny Subaru Impreza WRX STi VRC
2016 Arron Secombe Creswick, Talbot Andrew Pannam Tim Batten Subaru Impreza WRX STi VRC
2017 Not conducted
2018 Andrew Roseman Daylesford and South of Ballarat Matt Lee Annie Dougherty Subaru Impreza WRX STi VRC
NOTES:
In 1989 and 1990 the events were known as the Begonia Sprint Rally, while 1996 was the Ballarat Sprint Rally.
In 2018 the Begonia Rally was the VRC component of the Eureka Rally (ARC).