Competitors are gearing up and the course is set for this year’s Rally of the Bay.
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This year’s AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay will be staged this Saturday, August 12, in the forests and shire roads west of Batemans Bay and will be round three of the 2017 Gary’s Motorsport Tyres NSW Rally Championship.
South Coast competitor David May from Narrawallee is looking forward to racing his 1996 VS Commodore in this year’s rally having competed at least half a dozen times before. Cars can reach speeds of up to 180km/h on the straight stretches and at that speed “the trees certainly do whizz past”.
May has been racing and rallying for 20 years in various forms, but forest rallying is one of his favourite motorsport disciplines.
“It’s definitely one of my favourites,” he said. “It’s on beautiful forest roads in a great environment that’s perfect for competitors and spectators.”
May has also driven a high-powered Holden VE HDT Group three at Mt Panorama and also a high-powered Subaru at Targa Tasmania.
His co-driver Todd Almond has only last year's AMH Rally Of The Bay under his experience belt on hard ground, however has had a lot of experience operating in the equally noisy environment of water ski racing.
David May happens to be the son of Alan May, founder and previous owner South Coast based company AMH Automotive Group, which has signed on as the naming rights sponsor of the legendary event in a long-term agreement that will see it backing the rally until 2020.
The event will be known as the AMH Automotive Group Rally of the Bay for another four years giving the event a certain and prosperous future building on almost four decades of heritage.
The Batemans Bay rally can trace its origins back more than 40 years and was voted the best round of the 2015 NSW Rally Championship. There are 38 cars registered for this year’s event.
Locals can check out all the cars at the service park at Corrigans Beach Reserve and the rally headquarters for the first time will be just across the road at Corrigans Cove Beach Resort.
Cars will be waved off at a ceremonial start on Orient Street on Saturday at 9am and the designated spectator spots to view the actual race are at Ross Ridge Road off Runnyford Road at Mogo and River Road north Nelligen.
Batemans Bay rally driver Paul Jenner is disappointed not to be racing in this year’s Rally of the Bay after doing well in the Narooma Forest Rally last month, but he was just not able to get his car ready.
He will be racing in the Minidulla rally at Shallow Crossing, Termeil on September 23 and will be playing in active role in this weekend’s rally helping out at the service park at Corrigans Beach Reserve. He recommends heading out to the two spectator spots to see all the action.
