The Westlakes Automobile Club (WAC) will host the third round of the WAC Rallysprint Series this weekend on the private roads of Awabawac Park, New South Wales.  

More than 15 competitors will make the trip 30 kilometres Southwest of Newcastle for the Shannons Rallysprint on Saturday to test their skills up against some of the local area’s best in the business.  

Each entrant will have three attempts at posting their fastest possible time in each of the two three-kilometre sections, with their two fastest times counting towards an accumulative total which is used to decipher an outright winner at the conclusion of the event.  

To ensure fair competition, each competitor will be allocated into their appropriate class based of their entered vehicle’s engine capacity and driveshaft, with class honours also being awarded alongside the outright competition.  

Returning to the field after a second-place finish at the Volunteers Appreciation Rallysprint in May, Benjamin Semple will look to go one better in his Subaru Impreza RS with round two winner Evan Vale a noticeable absentee from this weekend’s event.  

A handful of other round contenders will also join Semple at Awabawac Park, including William Swan in his Subaru WRX and Aaron Mowett, who will return in his Hyundai Excel.

Another driver to keep an eye on will be Riley Walters in his Subaru WRX, with the up-and-coming driver an outside chance to pressure the frontrunners.  

As the President of the club, Semple was looking forward to holding the event after two years of cancellations.

“I have been spending a lot of time at Awabawac Park getting it ready. We have some guys out there at the moment setting up and doing some track work so everything is going well so far,” Semple explained.

“The weather is looking clear which is good. This is our third attempt to run the Shannons event as it’s been washed out twice, it doesn’t take much for it to become a sloppy mess here.  

“We really appreciate Shannons stepping up and putting some money towards the running of the event – there are so many hard-working people behind the scenes putting in a big effort.”

Also entered as a competitor, Semple was hoping he can find himself on top of the timesheets after narrowly missing out last round.

“I had a couple of problems last time out, so I’m hoping to make up that one spot this weekend, it’s always the aim,” Semple said.  

“I have done a little bit of tuning to the car, so hopefully that makes the difference.

“But overall, it’s just great to get out there and enjoy yourself with a great bunch of people doing the same thing.”  

The fourth round of the WAC Rallysprint Series takes place at Awabawac Park on 1 July.