Plenty of action at AMSAG Oberon rally

Rallying returned to the Oberon area on Saturday, November 3 with the running of the AMSAG Oberon Rally, Round 6 of the 2018 Pipe King Southern Cross series. The event was based on Black Springs, with rally headquarters in the Community Hall and the service area in the camping area diagonally opposite. Weather was perfect and the thunderstorm of the night before didn’t leave any boggy roads behind to trouble competitors, although it might have caused some concerns for people camped overnight. The rally was run over eight competitive stages (four stages, each run twice) for a total competitive distance of 108.6km, all within Vulcan State Forest.

The meal break between stages 4 and 5 gave crews the opportunity to make any necessary repairs and to sample the catering provided by the Black Springs P&C who were running a barbecue at the hall. Spectator access was excellent, with all points easy to get to and offering good views of cars doing spectacular things. With 55 cars starting the rally there was a good variety of cars and driving styles to watch.

Overall winners of the event were Richard Shimmon and Katie Fletcher in a Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VII. As they set fastest time on all eight stages they would have been hard to beat. It was obviously a day that suited all-wheel-drive as cars with this specification took the first five placings.

1. Richard Shimmon/ Kate Fletcher – Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VII,
2. Ron Moore/Jo Moore – Mitsubishi Lancer EVO VI,
3. Chris Jaques/Kate Jaques – Mitsubishi Lancer EVO IX,
4. Joe Chapman/Adrian Grabham – Subaru WRX,
5. Mark Kent/Tristan Kent – Mitsubishi Lancer EVO III.

Full results will be available from the AMSAG web site at www.amsag.com.au. The Australian Motor Sport Action Group (AMSAG) is a nonprofit association with 500+ members which conducts and manages motor rallies throughout country New South Wales for its members.

If history repeats the next rally to be run out of Oberon will be the first round of the 2019 NSW Rally Championship, probably in April. The forests around the town make it a perfect place for the sport and nobody ever leaves disappointed.

A full report on the rally can be found at https://ausrally.com/2018/AMSAG_Oberon18/

This article was published in the Oberon Review on November 11, 2018