The townships of Avoca and Elmhurst, in central Victoria, will host Round 4 of the Victorian State Rally Championship on Saturday 18th July. Promoters CCRMIT Car Club will conduct the 51st consecutive running of the “George Derrick Memorial Rally” in the forests surrounding both towns. Over 80 crews will compete through both day and night in the event, with those crews making it to the end completing over 100 kilometres of competitive driving on closed roads, under Special Stage conditions.

Winner of last years event, Jesse Robison, has again entered his Subaru WRX and with new co-driver, Adam Wright, is keen to repeat his win of 2008 after a run of bad luck so far in 2009. Reigning VRC champion, Mark Fawcett, also in a Subaru WRX will be looking to continue his winning streak having taken first place in the previous two rounds of the 2009 series. Chasing close behind are a host of other competitors keen to see a podium finish ahead of the race favourites.

In the sister event taking place at the same time, round 3 of the Clubman Rally Series, young charger

Andrew Bell will also be looking to continue his winning form after taking out the previous event at Rushworth. Once again a large field of competitors will be looking to overcome Bell and bring home the trophy for themselves.

The competition for class awards in the Victorian 2 Wheel-Drive Championship and Manufacturers Hyundai Excel series will also be fierce with strong fields entered in both.

The rally cars will be on display in the main street of Avoca from 10.30am before the start of the event at 11.30 am. From Avoca the cars will head out into the forest for the first group of Stages followed by a service and refuel at Elmhurst. The cars will return to Avoca for their final service late in the day before being released to contest the final stages in the early hours of darkness.

There will be ample opportunity to see the cars competing with 3 spectator points close to Avoca. The spectator guide will be available free to everyone at the start of the event.

Clerk of Course Mike Twycross, when asked why CCRMIT had brought the event to Avoca said, “We were well received by the local community and businesses when we brought the George Derrick to Avoca in 2005 and 2006. They were night time events and this time we decided to bring the rally into the daylight and lift the profile of the event in 2009. The roads in the area are very well suited to rallying and offer good variety and challenges for crews. That is to our benefit and we hope that by bringing over of 250 people associated with the rally into the town, we can provide a benefit to local businesses in these challenging economic times”.

ENDS

Notes:
Contact: Mike Twycross 0418 994 468 email: mike.twycross@bigpond.com
Car Club of RMIT (CCRMIT) Inc. is a Confederation of Australian Motorsport affiliated club.
Our aim is to promote motor sport events in a safe and responsible manner and to encourage responsible and safe on road driving amongst our members when they are not competing. We are a not for profit organisation and our club is funded by membership subscription, our motorsport and social activities.
Web: http://www.ccrmit.com