ALL SET FOR THE SNOWY RIVER SPRINT

The Australian Tarmac Rally (ATR) is returning to the hills of Buchan and the Snowy River for the third round of the of year, Snowy River Sprint.

Eighteen stages are run over September 9 and 10 on the Buchan to Orbost Road with up to 60 teams taking part in the event.

Four of the teams are based out of Bairnsdale, to which this event is a local rally.

Long term Tarmac rally competitors David and Jackie Thirlwall in their 2010 BMW 1M, Allan and son Casey Rumble in their 2008 Evo 10 RS, new competitors in 2023 Carrie and Sean Priestly in their 2011 Audi TT and Jeremy Dennison and Jaidyn Gluskie in a 2018 BMW M140i.

"The locals are very proud to have an event in their backyard, it's great to be able to hold an event in such a beautiful area and have the support of a few local teams along with the Lakes Entrance and Buchan communities.” Jeremy Dennison said.

“Without support for events like this from the community they just don’t happen.”

Teams travel from all over Australia to take part in the ATR series which all four rounds are currently based in Victoria and aim to expand into Eastern states in the future.

Tarmac rally is a unique style of motorsport that is conducted on public roads that have been closed to traffic.

Tarmac rallying is unique because crew and vehicles face the ever-changing variety of road conditions, surfaces and weather as they complete each stage.

"After a few interrupted years due to COVID, it’s great to have some consistency in events and planning, there is a real buzz about ATR at the moment,” ATR Director, Brittany Smith said.

“Entry numbers are up and it’s the first year we have been able to run all four rounds since 2019. It’s nice to have some consistency whilst some other rally organisations have had to cancel events. We thank the Lakes Entrance and Buchan communities for their support in this event”

While there are no on-stage spectator viewing locations, teams will be located a the Central Hotel in Lakes Entrance for scrutineering on Friday 12pm - 5pm. You can also see the cars depart Buchan Football Oval on Saturday and Sunday from 8:00am.