The North West Car Club (NWCC) will finally get to run its Rexel Electrical Supplies Isandula Rallysprint this weekend with a bumper entry list ready to compete.
 
Held around the Isandula forest of Ulverstone, a field of 31 crews will contest the eight-stage event, one-day event, which will feature two different three-kilometre course layouts.
 
Boasting a long and rich history, last year’s edition was unfortunately cancelled due to a small entry list, forcing organisers to rework the event to attract a bigger field of competitors.
 
And the club managed to do just that, not only improving the field but also acquiring a number of high-profile entrants who will undoubtedly draw in a big crowd of local rally fans.
 
Headlining the entry list are Bosch Motorsport Australia Rally Championship (ARC) regulars Steve Maguire and 2016 ARC champion Molly Taylor, who is fresh from a victory in the international Extreme E Series finale in Chile.
 
This weekend will be the third time in two months Maguire and Taylor come up against each other, with the duo continuing their entertaining rivalry from the Subaru Canberra Rally of Canberra and PowerPlay Adelaide Hills Rally.
 
In addition to Maguire and Taylor, other heavy-hitters entered in the event include multiple state rally champion Tim Auty, young guns Aidan Peterson and Jaidyn Gluskie, the returning Peter Nunn, and previous ARC podium finisher Craig Brooks.


Adding intrigue to the event, Brooks and Taylor will be sharing the same Subaru WRX Sti which the latter campaigned in the ARC this year, and will be two of six entries sharing cars for the event.
 
Another crew sharing a car is the father-son combination of Brian and Jordan Tarratt, with Brian also being the key organiser for the event.
 
“Preparation for the event is good and everything is on track for what we hope will be a highly successful day,” Tarratt said.
 
“The club is chuffed with how it is looking and the entry list that we managed to build this year. After last year, we heavily promoted the event to potential competitors and to get the number we did in is really pleasing.
 
“But it’s also the quality of the field – it truly is a tremendous coup for the club to have the likes of Molly, Steven, and Tim competing at this event – it’s great for the event, for the spectators who can come to watch, and just gravel rallying in Tasmania in general.
 
“Not only do we have some real high-profile experienced entrants, but we also have a fair few novice competitors entered too, highlighting the broad spread of crews competing.
 
“I think people will enjoy the roads too. They are technical roads, reasonably narrow, and have a lot of surface challenges. Even though the stages are three kilometres each, there are a lot of technical challenges for both driver and navigator.”
 
The schedule will see crews tackle the event’s two layouts twice in a forward direction in the morning before tackling the same stages another two times in the afternoon, only running them in reverse.
 
There will be free spectator points open to fans from 11 am AEDT, with the cars passing each point eight times throughout the day.
 
Get more information on the spectator points.
 
The Rexel Electrical Supplies Isandula Rallysprint takes place near Ulverstone on Saturday 9 December.