OzRacingWrap

The Bosch Australian Rally Championship will burst into the 2012 season with an all new and extremely innovative rally event to be staged entirely within the Calder Park motor sport precinct in the north western suburbs of Melbourne .

The 2012 Bosch ARC is being hailed as the world's most market relevant motor sprot discipline thanks to a new  two wheel drive and SUV format that targets  up to 75 percent of the Australian passenger car market.

The crowd pleasing Classic Rally Car category may have its own national championship from 2012 and will see the Australian Rally Championship take over the promotion and marketing of the category as part of the overall plan to broaden and strengthen the ARC as it enters it 45th year.

A proposal to create the Australian Classic Rally Championship is currently being considered and is likely to be approved and announced in the coming months in time for the opening round of  the 2012 Bosch ARC at Calder Park in March.

The Classics have run at the front of the field at rounds of the Bosch Australian Rally Championship this year with up to 15 cars thrilling the crowds with their tail out style and the air of nostalgia.

The proposed Australian Classic Rally Championship will be staged in conjunction with the Bosch ARC in 2012 providing another great element to the series alongside the outright two wheel drive and four wheel drive Rally Championships and the new Australian SUV Rally Championship.

Rally Calder will be the first time an Australian Rally Championship round has been staged in a single venue arena  where spectators will be able to see all the action without having to venture more than a kilometre from the car park and at a venue that is just 24 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD.

Australian Rally Championship competitors will face more than 100 kilometres of stages over the  three day rally with a mix of  gravel, tarmac and several  mixed surface stages over a variety of conditions.

Rally Calder will also usher in the new era of Australian rallying  with the Group G2 unrestricted two wheel drive cars and the innovative SUV category making their debuts at the event creating the most market relevant form of motor sport in the world.

According to the CEO of the Bosch ARC, Scott Pedder Rally Calder forms the cornerstone for the future of rallying in Australia and will be a showcase for the sport.

"The 2012 Rally Calder  is the most important event in the 44 year history of  the Australian Rally Championship, an event designed to bring rallying to  the people and usher in the most successful period of the ARC," said Scott Pedder.

"Rally Calder will enable people to get up close and personal with  the sport of rallying with outstanding facilities, amazing entertainment and plenty of motorsport and non-motorsport action," he said.

"Rallying traditionally has been a sport  that  thrived on variety throwing ever changing conditions, using different surfaces, with events ranging from short sprints to long distance marathons," he added.

"In recent years  the variety has gone out of the sport  and it has become very homogenised and tightly formatted.

"However we believe there needs to be a range of rallies in the Bosch ARC  from arena rallying such as Calder Park to  three-day endurance events with perhaps a tarmac rally,  a rally in  the snow, or  a desert based event along with the traditional forestry based rallies," said Pedder.

"As rally gymkhana  video star Ken Block has shown there is huge interest in what I would call 'urban' rallying using a totally new rally environment combining a range of  elements from concrete walls to junkyards, tarmac aprons, through tunnels and around car parks  and that is what Rally Calder will provide," he said.

"The fact that Ken Block is staging his Gymkhana video at Calder next week  in early September is a  huge boost for  Rally Calder  and will help  highlight the excitement and action fans will be able to see  next March when Rally Calder is staged," he added.

Rally Calder  will comprise seven separate stages used multiple times including five mixed surface stages, one exclusively tarmac stage and a full gravel stage.

As round one of the 2012 Bosch ARC Rally Calder will see  separate categories for  the new 2WD outright group, the new SUV Championship, the established four wheel drive turbo cars and  of course the crowd pleasing Classic Rally Cars.

The format of this new and exciting event includes a rally-first, a semi-final and final Sunday shootout to determine the winner within each category.

As well as being the opening round of the Australian Rally Championship the 2012 Rally Calder  will feature various additional competition events and demonstrations including  round 1 of the Australian Modern and Classic Tarmac Rally Championship, off-road  rally demonstration, a Rallyschool.com.au Legends shootout and Celebrity shootout.

In an exciting innovation Rally Calder will also see round one of the  proposed  Australian Side by Side Rally Challenge  to be contested by all terrain vehicle manufacturers Polaris and Can-Am.

Rallyschool.com.au  will also support a Hot laps program for spectators while there will also be, a Show 'n Shine, a Kids Zone  with  various rides and activities and live internet and telemetry superscreens.

Another major proposed part of the event will see Australia’s best road cars in action over the weekend via a number of different motorsport disciplines.  The Rally Calder Internet Car Club Forum challenge will pit make against make and mate against mate to determine Australia’s number one car club

Spectators will be kept informed via a narrowcast rally radio station with expert commentators transmitting  the latest information across the Calder Park precinct  and  also across the internet.

"They're will be something for everyone and I am sure this is going to mark the turning point for Australian Rallying.  My vision for Rally Calder is for it to be a annual pilgrimage and destination for the Australian motoring enthusiast.," said Scott Pedder.

Tickets for Rally Calder  are expected to start from  as little as  $15 with multi day passes, grandstand tickets, extensive corporate hospitality and experiences and the Intercom Club offering a range of benefits  including corporate hospitality, grandstand seats, a hot lap, behind the scenes tours and merchandise.