Motorsport Australia regrets to advise the next round of the RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship, the AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally, will not take place.
 
Instead, a new event in December at a date and location TBC is also now being finalised.
 
The ongoing border restrictions forced Motorsport Australia into making the decision on the South Australian event now, given the large amount of planning required for this event, the various road closure notifications and other logistics involved in organising a rally that would see event organisers incur significant costs in the coming weeks.
 
Motorsport Australia’s Director of Motorsport & Commercial Operations Michael Smith said 2021 had been a tough year for the motorsport community.
 
“This is not the news we want to be sharing, but we’ve made the tough call to cancel this year’s event, together with the hard-working event organisers,” Smith said.
 
“The AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally is a terrific event and I know I speak on behalf of all competitors when I say there will be a lot of disappointed crews out there.
 
“A big thank you must go to the event organisers, event and Championship sponsors, competitors and rally fans for their flexibility and ongoing support during a year that’s been a very tough one for the entire motorsport community.”

AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally organiser Andrew Admiraal echoed Smith’s sentiments, confirming the state component was also cancelled.

“It’s unfortunate to be announcing this news today, however the ongoing border restrictions make an October event near on impossible to prepare for,” Admiraal said.

“We’d like to thank everyone who has been part of organising this event to date and the support we have received from our sponsors and local communities, particularly those in and around Birdwood.

“Our focus now turns to delivering an outstanding AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally in 2022 taking part on what we believe are the best rally roads in the country. We know national competitors will have missed coming to South Australia in recent times, so it will be an amazing event next year we have no doubt.”
 
Today’s news follows the recent cancellation of the two Coffs Coast events, originally scheduled for November.
 
Instead, focus now turns to organising a final national rally event in December, potentially allowing for the completion of a Championship and the various Cup winners to be awarded, subject to the Australian Rally Commission’s approval and input. The exact nature of the event is still to be confirmed.
 
“We’re working hard to make sure we can deliver that third event in December if government and travel restrictions allow the majority of states to attend,” Smith added.

“We’ll keep a close eye on borders, vaccination rates and other key factors to determine the best location to make this event possible and advise of the details in due course.”
 
The AGI Sport Adelaide Hills Rally will return in 2022, part of an extended seven-round RSEA Safety Motorsport Australia Rally Championship calendar.