Australian Tarmac Challenge begins

In 2009 the Carsales Network participated in the Australian Tarmac Challenge (ATC), formerly known as the Dutton Rally, and once again we've been training hard ahead of this weekend's opening round in Victoria.

The Victorian round runs on April 10 and 11, with Saturday's events taking place at Winton Raceway, the DECA Driving Training Centre in Shepparton and also the Shepparton Showgrounds.

Sunday will see the lineup of close to 100 drivers heading to the Broadford Circuit, and all events are against the clock -- though this year there are a couple of special 'battle' stages, but more on that later...

Open to all types of drivers and any cars -- road registered or otherwise -- the ATC championship is split into three groups, with Club at the top of the tree, Motorsport in the middle and Street at the bottom. All racing is against the clock and most cars have two drivers, and if 2009 was anything to go by, the 2010 season is set to be even more rewarding.

We've had a squiz at the entry list and the top-tier Club Championship is choca-block with high-end machinery, including a Lamborghini Gallardo LP560, an R35 Nissan GTR, plus a Porsche GT3 and dozens of highly modified Mitsubishi Evolutions, a couple of WRX and STI models. There's even a 2001 Audi RS4 with a 2.7-litre twin turbo V6, an HSV GTO Coupe and a couple of Mercedes C63s to boot.

The Motorsport Championship has an impressive amount of classic cars entering, with a 1976 Holden Torana, a 1965 Ford Mustang and a 1989 Porsche 964RS making the grade. Those cars will also be up against a plethora of Lancer Evolutions, Nissan Skylines and Subaru WRXs. Yep, the all-wheel drive cars are very popular!

Last year we fielded the surprisingly competitive Renault Clio Cup in the Street Championship but this year we have something with a little more grunt -- a brand-spanking new Nissan 370Z.

In the Street Championship, occupied by relatively unmodified vehicles, yours truly will be racing against a diverse range of sports cars, including a 1977 308 GT4 Dino, a Porsche Cayman S, VW R36 Passat, Audi S5, MINI Cooper S, Ford XR6 Turbo, 1977 model Porsche 911 and a handful of compact 130i and 135i BMWs.

Suffice to say, our work will be cut out for us.

Events for the first day of competition include timed hot laps around Winton (both Short and National circuits), skidpan work, auto tests, and an intriguing Battle Motorkhana, where competitors will race each other and the clock, akin to a WRC super special stage. Expect the red mist to descend...

Day two takes place at Broadford with hot lops and motorkhana events, and it all finishes up on Sunday evening. We're very excited about competing in the Nissan 370Z (which has had a couple of shake-downs this week and is running very smoothly) seeing which cars and drivers come out on top.

We'll have full coverage of the Australian Tarmac Rally early next week, so stay tuned to the Carsales Network for all the thrills and spills.

Further events will be held in Western Australia, New South Wales and again in Victoria, and you can check out the ATC website for more details.

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