Rally Legends On Show At Adelaide Motorsport Festival

It won’t just be classic Formula 1 machinery delighting fans at this year’s Adelaide Motorsport Festival – rally fans can also get their fix.

The Rally Legends demonstration will see a host of classic World Rally Car, Group B and Australian Rally icons lap the Victoria Park Sprint circuit at speed on Sunday 10 December.

While several cars and drivers will also tackle the challenging roads of the Adelaide Hills during the Shannons Adelaide Rally on the Thursday prior to the Victoria Park Sprint, the Rally Legends sessions will be the only chance fans get to see the cars in question perform at speed and in a closed-circuit environment.

Four-time Australian Rally Champion Neal Bates headlines the entrants, set to drive his ARC-title winning Toyota Celica GT4. Meanwhile, long-time Bates’ associate Darryl Bush will drive a WRC-spec Toyota Corolla – a car that in the day served as a spare for World Champion, Carlos Sainz.

The Corolla WRC was a successful car in its era and helped Toyota win the 1999 WRC manufacturers title prior to their withdrawal from the sport to focus on Formula 1.

Bates contested the local championship in a WRC Corolla during the famous era where he battled long-time rival Possum Bourne.

Another Toyota will be in the hands of Stuart Bowes, his Celica GT4 driven by Belgian driver Freddie Loix in the 1997 World Rally Championship.

The remarkable Group B World Rally era is well represented with several iconic cars entered.

Three Audi’s will be demonstrated, including Stewart Reid’s perfect replica of the iconic 1984 Audi S1 Quattro that produces more than 600hp.

Tim Possingham and Hillary Evans will drive A2 Quattro’s in Group B Specification, while the star of the show could be Gerry Duyvestyn’s Renault A5 Turbo.

A genuine factory Group B Car, the Renault raced in the Rally of Italy in its day and continues to be presented in period livery. Duyvestyn will also drive a March 701 Formula 1 car across the AMF Event.

Joe Ricciardo, father of Australian Formula 1 star Daniel, will drive a Porsche 911 RS, while Justin Gan and Brian Kidd will also be Porsche-bound.

Attempting to make the Group B cars look slow will be Irish sensation Frank Kelly, who will tackle both the Adelaide Rally and the Rally Legends demonstrations in his Mk 2 Ford Escort.

The Irish champion has a cult following online thanks to several YouTube videos of his exploits, notching up several million views online. Kelly’s no stranger to Australia after competing in September’s Lightforce Rally SA aboard the Escort.

The Rally Legends demonstration will be held on Sunday 10 December. following Saturday’s completion of the Shannons Adelaide Rally.

For more information please visit www.adelaidemotorsportfestival.com.au

Rally Legends Entrants List