What is it?
The Courier Eureka Rally is the first round of the 2018 Australian Rally Championship.
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The Eureka Rally returned to Ballarat last year after a 46-year absence.
The event will cover more than 600km over two days including 16 special stages totalling about 215km with less than 5km of the special stages on bitumen.
After the Eureka Rally, the six-round ARC series moves to Western Australia for the Forest Rally in late April and then the National Capital Rally in the ACT during early June.
Get a feel of the action by watching this video.
Where is it?
It will see crews tackle 16 special forest stages across the weekend through the eastern Wombat State Forest, and in the forests south of Ballarat between Buninyong and Linton.
Full maps and the complete spectator guide can be seen below.
Who is involved?
There are 49 confirmed entries for the competition, featuring some of the best drivers in Australia.
Former Australian Rally Championship winners Eli Evans and Molly Taylor are set to head the field, along with last year’s Eureka Rally winner Harry Bates, who will be hoping to challenge in the new Toyota Yaris AP4 following a troubled debut for the car in late 2017.
In terms of local hopes, Ballarat’s Ross Stapleton is leading the charge. You can read more about Ross here.
You will be able to follow the live results here.
Where can I watch?
The 50-strong field will assemble in Camp Street, Ballarat from 8.30am on Saturday where well-known rally personality Dean Herridge will interview teams before they are waved off the start line from 9:30am.
On Saturday, spectators will have a choice of two points to view the rally action east of Korweinguboora - at Bunding Blakeville Rd, with the first car due at 10.14am, and again at Farm Rd from 11.40am.
Click on the map below to download it in high resolution.
Cars will pass through these two points again on Saturday afternoon at 2.40pm and 4.40pm.
For those that love to get ’behind the scenes’, the Rally Hub service park at Ballarat Airport is the place to be. Competitors will return to the Rally Hub for a 30-minute service from 1.11pm on Saturday and again at the end of the day’s competition from 5.15pm.
The Rally Hub service park is a great place to get a closer look at the cars, meet the drivers and co-drivers and see crews hard at work.
For those spectating on Sunday, there will be two opportunities to see Australia’s best rally drivers in action south of Ballarat at Ross Creek.
With cars passing through the spectator point twice, from 10.13am and again at 2.04pm, it’s a great opportunity to get comfortable for the day with a group of friends and enjoy the best Australian rallying has to offer.
The Courier Eureka Rally will conclude at the Ballarat Airport Rally Hub at around 3pm on Sunday, with the winners taking to the podium from 4.30pm.
Will there be road closures?
Yes, there will be from time to time.
There are 135 road closures for this weekend’s Australian Rally Championship event in the forests to the east and south of Ballarat, as well as the start and finish stage officials of the eight closed forest stages.
On Saturday various state forest roads in the Wombat Forest will be closed for the rally from 9am till 6pm in the area bounded by Spargo Creek, Blakeville, Greendale, Blackwood, Bullarto South and Korweinguboora, allowing for access along Lerderderg Rd from Blackwood.
On Sunday all, or part of, Sand Road and Kellys Road at Durham Lead, Treloars, Hansons, Monmouth, Incolls, Victoria and Skippers Roads forest roads in the Enfield/Ross Creek Forest and Golden Lake Road and Linton-Piggoreet Road at Devils Kitchen will be closed from 8am till 4pm.
