Welcome to the Victoria Cross Rally

I and the Historic Rally Association Inc. look forward to your participation, whether as a competitor, service crew or official. We acknowledge the indigenous custodians of the land the rally will use, the Taungurung peoples, and thank them for their support and pay our respects to elders past, present and emerging. We also thanks the series sponsor, LDV Geelong, and MMJ Real Estate for their support of the Victorian Club Rally Series.

The event is close to Melbourne, has a compact route, many roads are excellent quality and it has good facilities for the service park. The start, finish and service park will be at the State Motorcycle Complex (SMC), just off the Hume Freeway outside Broadford. Service crews will remain at the SMC for the duration of the rally. But there is a disadvantage from being so close to Melbourne – the high usage of the roads by both vehicles and motorbikes means that daylight running is impractical. Therefore, the first car will start near sunset and should finish soon after 1am. Also, while we’ve used the best roads we could find, approximately 20% of the route is lower quality tracks that are a bit uneven – nothing that good rally suspension and appropriate driving can’t handle.

The rally will be fully route charted and will have two components: a Special Stage rally that will be a round of the Victorian Club Rally Series and the HRA Rally Championship and a Rally Regularity that will be a round of the HRA Standard Car Class Series. To enhance competitor safety, Rallysafe is being used for the Special Stage rally. The event will comprise 5 special stages, a service break and the same 5 stages repeated. Each half has 58.7km of special stages and 71.8km of transport/liaison. 98 octane fuel will be available in Broadford until 10pm, so all refuelling during the service break will have to be from your own supplies at the service park.

The regularity is not restricted to HRA Standard Car Class competitors – any vehicle complying with Motorsport Australia’s General Requirements for Vehicles will be eligible. A safety cage is not required and nor is a HANS type device, but if the car does have provision for the crew to use a HANS type device, it must be worn. A typical road car could be suitable, noting that additional care will be required driving the lower quality segments of the route (less than 20%). The Regularity should suit both new competitors to rallying and those without a “fully prepared” rally car who want to experience competition at a modest pace. Note that competitors in the Regularity are not allowed to exceed 110km/hr at any time during the event.

The rally is also open to Grade A competitors who may wish to compete a month before the HRA’s 100th anniversary Alpine Rally. However, if the field is fully subscribed, priority will be given to lower graded crews who qualify for the VCRS and Regularity competitors. There won’t be any awards for Grade A crews.
Provision will be made for spectators at the traditional No 1 Camp location.

Further information for competitors will be published in a Guide to Competitors, which will be available at least one week before the event.

Finally, we look forward to your entry and trust you will enjoy special stage rallying on Melbourne’s fringe in the 2022 Victoria Cross Rally.

David McKenzie, Clerk of Course

Documents and Forms

Bulletin 1, 3 Nov 2022 (pdf)

Start Order (pdf)

Crew Briefing (pdf)

Guide to Competitors & Service Instructions (pdf)

Further Regulations (pdf)

Supplementary Regulations (pdf)

Entry Form

Entry for the 2022 Victoria Cross is via the Motorsport Australia portal (portal.motorsport.org.au). There are separate entry forms for the Special Stage Rally (VCRS & HRA Rally Championship) and the Regularity.

The entry system doesn’t yet fully cater for the differing classes used in rallying. You can nominate your class under “Activities”. Alternatively, send your class information by email to the Entries Secretary.

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Phil Thomas and Cody Richards, Ford Escort RS1800, on their way to 1st OR in the 2021 Victoria Cross Rally. Pic by John Doutch.