MOTORSPORT: SUV rally rules taking shape

Toyota and Holden are believed to be the manufacturers most interested in running SUVs in the ARC, with the RAV4 and Captiva respectively, while organisers are keen to entice privateers as well.

New ARC chief, Scott Pedder, announced the intention to create an SUV class in the championship at the ARC launch in April as part of his quest to make rallying the country's most relevant form of motorsport – with more manufacturers and greater public interest.

Pedder, the ARC technical and management groups, a collection of motorsport engineers and CAMS recently had a two-day meeting on future ARC regulations.

The final rules for SUVs are expected to be announced in the lead-up to the new Rally Australia on NSW's Coffs Coast in Sepember, as well as those for the two-wheel-drive formula that will be Australia's premier rally category from 2013.

The SUV concept is a variation of one that surfaced in 2008, and on which we reported at the time we reported at the time but now modified and embraced within the ARC.

Pedder's vision was outlined in our report on the ARC launch in April this year here and he has now expanded on the framework of the class for SUVs – the fastest growing segment of the Australian car market.

The SUVs allowed in rallying will be simply enhanced showroom production vehicles.

Turbo-petrol engines have been precluded to avoid a "horsepower war" at the outset of the new class.

Pedder says the SUV market segment had more than 50 potentially eligible vehicles but that the regulations needed to be basic enough to attract as many brands and motor-drivetrain options as possible.

"The SUVs can be 2WD or 4WD, can come from any segment of the SUV market from small, to medium, large and even luxury, and their engines can be any size and capacity," Pedder said.

"The only limitation is that we won't allow turbo-petrol engines - it will be open to only normally-aspirated and turbo-diesel power plants.

"We've done this to keep the playing field as level as possible and to encourage as many manufacturers and types of vehicles as possible.

"I know this decision limits some manufacturers from using their signature performance SUV model variants, but I hope that these manufacturers see this as an opportunity to prove how great their highest selling base model vehicle is, providing a great up-sell opportunity to their performance SUV options.

"First and foremost the technical rules needed to be simple, so we've kept the cars as 'production' based as possible.

"Really the only freedoms come with suspension, brakes, exhausts, wheels and tyres and the normal high-level safety equipment."

Pedder said cost containment was an overriding factor.

"In time we'd love to open the technical regs up to more modifications, but this is a first for rallying and as such we wanted the rules to be easy as possible to build a car to," he said.

"We did this so competitors and manufacturers can get a toe in the water without a large financial outlay, especially in terms of components such as 'dog' gearboxes and fancy differentials.

"At the end of the day the primary aim of this new SUV class is to provide a manufacturer with the ability to showcase their vehicle in competition - a 'showroom plus' type vehicle achieves this goal whilst still maintaining the appeal, aspiration and endurance that rallying is renowned for."

It is envisaged that vehicles in the new SUV class will start rally stages immediately after cars competing for outright honours.

"For competitors and spectators the SUV class represents a really exciting step forward in Australian rallying, so we want them running as close to the front of the field as possible," Pedder said.

"We can't wait to see what amazing combinations of car and competitor we can look forward to seeing out on the stages from next year."

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