The Australian Rally Super Series

To keep the excitement level throughout the entire weekend, and encourage teams to complete in the entire championship, the Australian Rally Super Series was devised for the start of the 1997 season. Put simply, it is two separate rallies run over two days.

Australia rallying became flat-out sprint events, where winning margins are handful of seconds and not minutes. The true attraction for teams is the fact that re-entry for Sunday's second heat is allowed, dispute not completing the first leg. The two heats are scored totally separately, meaning coming away from event with no points is all but a thing of the past.

Each of the five events are pace-noted. This means every crew has the opportunity to drive over the course on Friday before each rally is set reconnaissance. Strictly controlled, only registered road cars are allowed to pass over each stage three times. Regular road rules, including speed limits must be upheld. What gives the spectator and television viewer is on the limit driving over the two days of rally.

The introduction of the Super Series and pace-noted events have drawn large entries to each of the five rounds. The Forest Rally in Perth received 35 crews from the eastern states in 1998. Not to be confused with the world champion round later in the year, the Forest Rally used to be lucky to draw 10 non-WA crews.

Up to 40 crews contest each of the other four rounds on the east coast. This has provided greater championships battles across all the classes, and greater awareness for the drivers and their sponsors.

The Australian Rally Super Series features six major categories:

Outright: World Rally Cars (WRC) and Group A.
These are the latest in rally car technology, worth well over half a million dollars, this is the domain of factory backed entries of Toyota, Subaru and Mitsubishi. This is the same category all the leading teams in the world rally championship build cars for.

Production: Group N
Like WRC and Group A, these are built from road cars, but do not come with all the super special gearboxes, differentials and electronic aids. They all must run production parts, with the only changes allowed in brakes and suspension. A very popular class for manufacturers who build special road cars to win this category. The likes of Subaru WRX and Evolution Mitsubishi Lancers are the ones to beat in this category.

Formula 2: F2
This is for the small class manufacturers. Limited to non-turbo front-wheel-drive cars, it has attracted a large number of manufactures. Toyota, Honda, Volkswagen, Nissan, Daihatsu and Hyundai all complete in Australia. The VW entry uses the latest technology in the kitcar rules, which allows greater freedoms to close the gap to the outright entries. In Spain and Corsica this year, these cars beat the outright contenders on tarmac. This is a growing category in Australia due to the different manufacturers who can get involved.

One-Make: Proton Cup
This is aimed at finding Australia next big rally star. All teams compete in identical Proton Satrias. There is a control Yokohama tyre, and limited modifications to the cars allowed. Put simply the best driver wins this category. A prize including entry in the Rally of Great Britain is just reward to the winner. Up to 20 entries are expected for the Proton Cup in 2000.

Local Class: Aussie Class
This is the classic Ford versus Holden. Big bangers in the bush, where loads of power make for spectacular action. Too big and heavy for outright consideration, but spectators should make sure they don't miss these monsters