The 2020 Innate Motorsport + Events Motorsport Australia Queensland Rally Championship (QRC) gets underway this weekend with the Inspirations Paint Capalaba Hinterland Rally to host the season opener.
Set on the forestry roads of Imbil, the Brisbane Sporting Car Club hosted event will have competitors take on 106 competitive kilometres across 10 different stages, as well as on a variety of different surfaces throughout.
In what is also a major victory for Queensland rally, a bumper field of 52 crews will battle it out on Saturday with the entry list to feature a mix of QRC, clubman and novice series competitions.
Headlining the field is 2018 MTA Motorsport Australia NSW Rally champion Glenn Brinkman and co-driver Stephen Richardson. It won't come easy for the Mitsubishi Evo pilot, who will undoubtedly have his hands full with a number of crews brimming with confidence courtesy of recent results.
His biggest challenge will come through Gerald McConkey and Ben Logan in a 1999 Subaru WRX, with the duo having won the Central Qld Motor Sporting Club’s Yump into Byfield Rally in July.
Fellow Mitsubishi Evo pilot Ian Menzies and co-driver Bob McGowan are also contenders for event honours after they beat Brinkman and Richardson in last month’s KCF Rallysport Short Course Challenge - Burnett Sprint #2.
The trio of high profile crews won’t be the only ones considered with a shot at victory as the Burnett Sprint #2 runner-up crew of Tristan Carrigan and Neill Woolley in the 1999 Mitsubishi Evo and Erik Johnsson and Larisa Biggar in their Subaru WRX are also expected to be in the hunt.
Not only are there many central Queensland entries taking part in the event, but a number of Townsville based crews will also be making their way down, making it a true state event.
As the first major state rally to take place in Queensland this year, the Brisbane Sporting Car Club have also had a large amount of interest from officials, with up to 170 volunteers confirmed to enter the event.
Clerk of Course Malcolm Bartolo was thrilled with the enthusiasm from both competitors and officials and lauded event organisers for the work they did to get the event up and going.
“In terms of event organisation, everything is going very well,” Bartolo said.
“Permits went through well, quotas for officials filled and we even had some successful roadworks conducted to smooth out some of the rougher parts of the road.
“I really need to thank the core organising team behind me that all have done a great job, our four stage commanders and all the volunteers heading out into the forest for the day.
“Also Innate Motorsport + Events for sponsoring the championship and for Marius Swart at Inspirations Paint Capalaba for once again sponsoring this event.
“We’ve got 52 crews entered with the service park at capacity. I must say the response for officials has been amazing, we have around 170 volunteers, so much so that we can’t accept anymore.”
With the event unable to accommodate spectators, fans can keep up to date with results and content through the Championship’s social media pages or rallyresults.com.au.
The Inspirations Paint Capalaba Hinterland Rally takes place in the forests of Imbil on Saturday 13 September.
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