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 Australia has relatively short history in WRC, having been full standing member since 1989. Event is widely liked by drivers, teams and fans. It has won the Rally of the Year Award for a number of times and is known for high level of professionalism in organisation. Much of which is thanks to long-standing Clerk of the Course Garry Connelly who unfortunately resigned in December 2002 having had enough of nonsense with local politicians.
For a driver Rally Australia represents a unique challenge for two reasons. Firstly, gravel roads are covered with small, round, ball-bearing like bauxite pebbles. These stones make roads extremely slippery for first cars, offering significant advantage for those coming later in the running order. That's why Rally Australia has seen some of the fiercest tactical games as drivers have been tumbling over each others to avoid running first in the road.
Secondly, in places roads are quite narrow and trees are very close to the road. Combine that with the slippery surface and drivers have very little room for error. Francois Delecour, or rather his co-driver Daniel Grataloup, has fallen foul of this. In 2001 he crashed his Ford Focus on a tree, injuring co-driver in the process. Year later, his Mitsubishi Lancer WRC hit a concrete block on a very fast left hander and careened into trees, again injuring unlucky Daniel.
One of the most famous scenes of Rally Australia is the much filmed watersplash at the end of the final stage and the jumps before it. On a picture (right top) Freddy Loix makes waves with his Mitsubishi Carisma GT, year is 1999. The other famous scene is, of course, the Langley Park Super Special. For over a decade Langley Park hosted spectator super special and became most famous of all SSS's. On a picture (right bottom) Carlos Sainz in Toyota Corolla WRC tackles the stage in 1999.
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| 1989:
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Kankkunen, Juha
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Toyota Celica GT-4 (ST165)
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98.32 km/h
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| 1990:
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Kankkunen, Juha
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Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v
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99.53 km/h
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| 1991:
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Kankkunen, Juha
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Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v
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101.94 km/h
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| 1992:
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Auriol, Didier
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Lancia Delta HF Integrale
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102.80 km/h
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| 1993:
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Kankkunen, Juha
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Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185)
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103.27 km/h
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| 1995:
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Eriksson, Kenneth
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III
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102.67 km/h
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| 1996:
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Makinen, Tommi
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III
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99.98 km/h
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| 1997:
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McRae, Colin
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Subaru Impreza WRC97
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102.99 km/h
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| 1998:
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Makinen, Tommi
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Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V
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104.30 km/h
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| 1999:
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Burns, Richard
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Subaru Impreza WRC99
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105.79 km/h
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| 2000:
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Gronholm, Marcus
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Peugeot 206WRC (2000)
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104.80 km/h
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| 2001:
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Gronholm, Marcus
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Peugeot 206WRC (2001)
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107.00 km/h
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| 2002:
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Gronholm, Marcus
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Peugeot 206WRC (2002)
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107.98 km/h
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| 2003:
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Solberg, Petter
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Subaru Impreza WRC2003
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109.27 km/h
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| 2004:
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Loeb, Sebastien
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Citroen Xsara WRC
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105.99 km/h
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| 2005:
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Duval, Francois
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Citroen Xsara WRC
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106.55 km/h
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| 2006:
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Hirvonen, Mikko
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Ford Focus RS WRC 06
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107.13 km/h
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Loix crossing the final watersplash
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Typical forest road, narrow and slippery with trees right on the edge of the road ready to catch unwary drivers.
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Langley Park SSS
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Driver wins
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Kankkunen, Juha (4)
Gronholm, Marcus (3)
Makinen, Tommi (2)
Auriol, Didier (1)
Burns, Richard (1)
Duval, Francois (1)
Eriksson, Kenneth (1)
Hirvonen, Mikko (1)
Loeb, Sebastien (1)
McRae, Colin (1)
Solberg, Petter (1)
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Manufacturer wins
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Lancia (3)
Mitsubishi (3)
Peugeot (3)
Subaru (3)
Citroen (2)
Toyota (2)
Ford (1)
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Economic impact
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Rally Australia officials estimated that event brought in AU$11.2 million direct spending cashflow for Western Australia in 2002. Cumulative economical impact is even higher.
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