Rally Regularity competition is seeing a noticeable spike in interest and prominence within the wider rally community, even featuring at national level events.

At the Accent Benchtops Rally Queensland in Gympie on 4-6 July, rally regularity featured as a piggyback event with five driver entries taking part – more than double the amount at the Queensland Rally Championship (QRC) event held in Blackbutt.

Motorsport Australia Rally Manager Alan Vaughan is excited to see more rally regularity events taking place at national events, as well as state-based events as the sport continues to grow.

“Rally regularity is not a new concept, it’s actually got quite a bit of history dating back to the 60s and 70s,” Vaughan said.

“I remember my mum competing in some of these sorts of events, it’s what the sport was back then average speed over a nominated course, and in some cases very tricky navigation, which has now turned into a bit of a pathway style of competition for younger drivers starting out and some experienced drivers coming back to the sport.

“One thing is for certain though, the smiles on drivers faces when they take part in regularity, is priceless, and it’s regularity rally competition that is up there as some of the safest and satisfying forms of competition available to drivers both new and experienced.”

The more conventional version of rally, special stage rally, is competition against the clock timed to the second from start to finish with the fastest car winning. Rally regularity is different.

Cars will start at the same starting point and finish at the same finish point; however, cars cannot travel faster than 120km/h and cannot go slower than 20km/h.

Drivers and their navigators must aim to complete each stage as close as possible to the allocated average speed set by the organisers. At Rally Queensland, the average speed of the top outright crews ranged between 90-115km/h, with the regularity crews set a target average speed of 62km/h on two stages and 70km/h on another stage.

Queensland Rally panel deputy chair Peter Flynn took part in his first rally regularity event as a competitor, stating it was an eye-opening experience. He was also a major supporter of getting regularity into the 2025 QRC Series Regulations.

“I am more than enthusiastic about its future, especially as a valuable bridge from Khanacross type activities, which is strong in South East Queensland at present, to special stage rally,” Flynn said.

“From my experience so far, everyone partaking is having a great time. I competed in special stage rallies between 2013 and 2021 until a lengthy health issue interrupted that. Bang for buck, I had a lot of fun in rally regularity.”

First time rally regularity drivers Lachlan Johnson and dad Warwick were also in the field, driving their “rough-looking” Subaru Forester GT around the scenic Gympie course.

“It was awesome, considering the car we were driving,” Lachlan said.

“All we needed to do for the rally was put in a set of lifted struts, a fire extinguisher, a glass breaker and it was still on street tyres, it handled brilliantly”.

“You’re not going crazy speeds, you don’t need a fast car, it’s all up to your own pace really. If you go fast in the corners, you can go slow in the straights, whatever suits your driving style.”

Lachlan and his father have already committed to competing in another rally regularity event, which will take place at Imbil on 23 August.

For more information on rally regularity or how get be involved, get in touch with Motorsport Australia’s member services team on 1300 883 959.