A new date and a new naming rights sponsor will see the 2020 edition of the AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally reach new heights in October this year.

Originally scheduled for the first weekend in October, the AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally will now be held a fortnight later on 17-18 October as part of a revised RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) calendar.

With the Coronavirus pandemic forcing a reshuffle of the ARC calendar, South Australia will host the second round of the national Championship.

The AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally will also double as a round of the Motorsport Australia South Australian Rally Championship (SARC).

Event organiser Andrew Admiraal said the AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally team were excited about the 2020 edition of the event.

“As we’ve always been planning our event to run in October, the Coronavirus pandemic hasn’t had as significant an impact on our overall plans as it has to some of the other ARC rounds,” Admiraal said.

“However, we are fully aware of the way it has impacted on many of those involved in rallying and we of course are supporting each other as the rally family always does.

“We are looking forward to putting on the best edition of this rally later this year, which will showcase everything South Australia has to offer, from both a tourism point of view, as well as highlighting some of the best roads in Australian rallying.

“Given the recent bushfires in the area over summer, as well as the pause in tourism during recent months, we’re hopeful that by welcoming people to the region for this event we can help kickstart the local economy and slowly work to get things back to ‘normal’.

“We’re particularly excited to welcome a new naming rights partner for this year’s event, with AGI Sport coming on board as our major sponsor. We thank everyone who has made this possible, obviously AGI Sport in joining with us, however the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship team and Motorsport Australia have done a huge amount of work to get this championship back on track and deserve credit for their strong planning and support.”

Adam Gotch, Managing Director of AGI Sport, said he was looking forward to being part of the event.

“AGI are Australia’s leading manufacturer of Roll Over Protection Systems for Motorsport, Mining, Highway and Emergency Response vehicles.

“We design and manufacture our range of Bolt-in style Roll Cage kits for 200+ different makes and models from our Sydney based facility. 

“We’re now exporting our Roll Cage kits around the world with a new manufacturing facility in Virginia (USA) opening soon to service the North American market. 

“Sponsoring round two of the 2020 RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship in the Adelaide Hills is a great fit for the AGI brand and we also look forward to supporting Luke Anear in the AGI Sport Ford Fiesta R5 rally car.”

Admiraal said with the event still several months away, event organisers will work with Motorsport Australia and both state and local governments on how the rally can run in a safe and responsible manner, in line with Motorsport Australia’s Return To Race strategy. Any decision on whether spectators will be allowed to attend will be made as soon as is practical.

Total competitive distances and stages to be run will also be unveiled over the coming months.

The AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally, round two of the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Championship, will be held on 17-18 October, 2020.