The Historic Rally Association have confirmed the 41st running of the George Woods Rally will go ahead in February after what was a highly successful 2020.
The event is named in honour of the late George Woods, who passed away in 1979, who was an active member of the Peugeot Car Club of Victoria and often encouraged beginners, women and youth to be involved in the club.
Continuing to uphold the mantra of the event’s namesake, the purpose of the George Woods Rally is to provide an opportunity for club members to try a new form of motorsport using their road car.
As usual, the Powelltown Recreation Reserve will be used as the start, finish and service park, with event proceedings to take place over two separate divisions and crews to enjoy 110 competitive kilometres throughout the event - half of which will be run in division one during the day and the other half in the second over sunset.
A change in rules and proceedings saw the last year’s event slightly restructured to be the first Special Stage Regularity event to be run, with the format for 2021 confirmed to be governed under the same system.
Maximum speeds by crews are actively controlled, with speeds on competitive sections limited to an average of 70km/h and crews must not exceed 110km/h at any time.
These alterations were made to minimise the risks involved, allowing crews to experience a rally event without the expenses of some safety features used at most competitive events.
With COVID-19 still playing a major role in how sports events are governed, the club will be putting a number of measures in place to ensure the rally regularity can be conducted safely.
Part of the club’s COVID plan will be to place an official onto the directing team to record everyone attending the event headquarters, while all areas of the facility will be used to separate different groups.
Event Clerk of Course Glad Fish believed that documentation was an important part of the COVID plan.
“Documentation is a key part of the entry process, with everything being carried out online,” Fish said.
“Scrutiny is being run on a country property over several hours, while competitors are given staggered times to book in at the beginning of the event.”
Entries for the George Woods Really are currently open and will close by Wednesday 17 February at 8pm.
The 41st running of the George Woods Rally will take place at Powelltown Recreation Reserve in Victoria on Saturday, 20 February.