MOTORSPORT: Rally Oz confident as WRC calendar looms

Australia’s future in the World Rally Championship should be clarified in the next few days, with Rally Australia confident of being on the 2020 calendar.

Announcement of next year’s schedule has been delayed three times as organisers try to juggle a return of Japan and Kenya’s Safari Rally as well as decide on the future of France and Australia in the championship.

The company that runs the championship, WRC Promoter, has been unhappy about the small crowds at Coffs Harbour, saying it is too far from a major city.

There have even been whispers about Canberra – the Australian capital, situated between its two largest cities – which is home to a range of ready-made rally stages long used by the ARC and, previously, the Asia Pacific Rally Championship.

New Zealand, which has not been part of the WRC since 2012, had been lobbying to regain the Antipodean round, if only for a year until a new Australian location could be found, but its campaign has gone quiet in recent months.

Rally Australia chief executive Darryl Ferris said this week the organisation was “looking forward” to the announcement of the 2020 calendar “shortly”.

“We’ve got no news, however, we are expecting the announcement of the full calendar in the coming two weeks,” Ferris told RallySport Magazine.

This year’s event at Coffs Harbour is on November 14-17.

Chile joined the WRC this year and Estonia could be another new host country within a couple of years as Estonian driver Ott Tanak is leading this year’s championship for Toyota.

The French round, a tarmac event on the island of Corsica, is reportedly set for the axe, despite its popularity with drivers.

The championship organisers are keen to get Japan back into the series to entice other Japanese manufacturers into the sport.

WRC Promoter also wants the Safari Rally in the championship again, but the governing Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) had safety concerns about the recent event in Kenya.

The Safari was part of the WRC until 2002 but has only been a round of the African championship since then.

An Indianapolis 500 winner is coming to Australia to race in the Bathurst 1000.

Alex Rossi, victor in the 100th Indy 500 as a rookie in 2016, running second in this year’s IndyCar series after being runner-up last year and America’s most recent Formula 1 driver (briefly in 2014-15), will drive a wildcard Holden Commodore entry for Walkinshaw Andretti United.

Rossi, who will be 28 by the time of the major race in the Supercars calendar at Bathurst’s Mt Panorama on October 13, will be partnered by another IndyCar racer, Canadian James Hinchcliffe.

‘The Great Race’ has not had such well-credentialled foreign stars since Swedish gun Mattias Ekstrom and Britain’s triple world touring car champion Andy Priaulx several years ago.

Hinchcliffe, 32, has had a previous Supercar outing, in a Garry Rogers Motorsport Commodore at the Gold Coast 600 seven years ago, but it will be a new experience for Rossi.

The Californian says he’s “excited but scared” about taking on The Mountain.

He and Hinchcliffe will get to test at northern Victoria’s Winton circuit before the event.

Walkinshaw Andretti United is only seventh in the Supercars teams championship this year, with James Courtney 12th in the driver standings and Scott Pye 16th.

Courtney will be partnered by Jack Perkins in the endurance season and Pye by Warren Luff.

While having North American stars in a wildcard entry is a boost for the 1000, there is irony in drivers who race Honda-powered cars in IndyCar, in which the only other engine supplier is Chevrolet, driving a General Motors brand at Bathurst.

Red Bull Racing may chuckle at Daniel Ricciardo walking away to join a lesser team, Renault, but it left the Bulls with a problem they’re now trying to solve with another driver swap.

RBR might well be ahead of Ferrari and behind only Mercedes if not for the poor form of Frenchman Pierre Gasly as carsales.com.au global ambassador Ricciardo’s replacement.

After being lapped at the Hungarian Grand Prix by teammate Max Verstappen, Gasly has been sent back to Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso.

Alex Albon, with just 12 GPs under his belt,has been promoted into the second Honda-powered RB15 for the Belgian race at Spa on September 1.

While Renault has slipped from fourth to sixth among the F1 constructors, Red Bull cannot be happy that the loss of Ricciardo has cost it valuable points and many millions of dollars from the F1 prizemoney pool.

NASCAR identity Dale Earnhardt Junior has escaped injury in a fiery light-plane crash.

The retired racer-turned commentator – son of seven-time Cup champion Dale ‘The Intimidator’ Earnhardt and hugely popular despite not coming anywhere near his late father’s track success – his wife Amy and baby Isla were aboard his Cessna Citation with two pilots when it crashed in Tennessee.

The plane had landed at an airstrip near Bristol Motor Speedway, venue for this weekend’s NASCAR round – the third-last before the ‘playoffs’ between the top 16 drivers over the final 10 races to decide the title.

Toyota has had 12 wins in the Cup this year to Ford’s seven and the five of Chevrolet – the long-dominant brand with which the Earnhardts have been synonymous.

Kyle Busch, driving a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing, leads Roger Penske’s reigning champion Joey Logano in a Ford Mustang in the driver standings, with Kevin Harvick third in another Mustang for Stewart-Haas Racing.