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Coffs Coast Advocate wrote: By BRAD GREENSHIELDS THE very best rally car drivers in Australia will once again be racing around the roads of Coffs Harbour.
An official date is yet to be set but it's believed that in either August or September, the dirt roads that wind through the mountains of the Coffs Coast will once again roar with the sound of turbo-charged engines as high class drivers like current Australian champion Simon Evans stretch the capabilities of their vehicles to the limit.
Coffs Harbour last ran a round of the Australian Rally Championship in 2000 when it was surprisingly axed after a spectacular 10-year history.
A move which was widely disapproved of not only by local motor racing enthusiasts but by competitors as well who often voted the Coffs Harbour round the best in the country.
Eight years later and Coffs can once again grab the mantle after the opportunity to host the NSW round of the 2008 Australian Rally Championship came about thanks to the news that the Great Lakes Rally in Forster will not run this year.
Edging out Batemans Bay, Bega and Canberra for hosting rights, Coffs Harbour and District Sporting Car Club president Martin Quinn says that getting an ARC round back in Coffs Harbour is a massive achievement.
"If you want to see real national level competition like the V8's, you need to go to Queensland or Sydney to see it but now this little volunteer club is going to bring world class rallying right to our doorstep," he enthused.
Quinn adds that it's not just watching drivers of the abilty of Evans, Neil Bates and Michael Guest that will be the highlight of the weekend but also the level of new technology in some of the top of the range vehicles will be something worth keeping an eye out for.
"I know people talk about world class but some of these cars are world class," he said.
"The top of the range cars will be worth somewhere in the vicinity of $550,000.
"They're four wheel drive, loud as hell, 8500 rpm and sound like racing cars and if you're out there watching, you'll hear the comes coming for about a minute before you actually see them."
It's not just the locals who are excited about a round of the Australian Rally Championship returning to Coffs Harbour.
The creme de la creme of Australia's rally car drivers can't wait to reacquaint themselves with the famed Coffs Harbour roads.
One such drive is three-time national champion and former Coffs Harbour winner Neil Bates.
Bates admitted yesterday that he's longed for a return to the area.
"I'm absolutely rapt to be going back there," Bates said.
"It's always been one of my favourite events because there's a great atmosphere and the town really gets behind it and the roads are really good. Everyone still talks about it being one of the best rounds of the ARC and we're all over the moon to be going back there."
While there has been plenty of back-slapping this week about the news among Coffs Harbour's racing enthusiasts, there is also the realisation that hosting an event of this magnitude takes a lot of hard work.
"We're probably looking at a solid three months of organisation and that's things like basic logistics such as where the headquarters are going to be," Quinn explained.
"We're looking at a couple of initiatives such as running a couple of stages at night which will be a first for them.
"There's more set-up, more safety requirements, more first aid requirements and we've got bigger accommodation requirements as well, it's going to be massive.
"It's probably four or five times the amount of work that we did last year for the state rally."