Rainbow enduro event primed
Organisers of an off-road racing championship set to put Rainbow on the national motorsport map hope to have a formal go-ahead for the event by the end of next week.
But they have verbal departmental permission to run the Rainbow Desert Enduro, likely to attract up to 1000 people to the southern Mallee hamlet from August 4 to 6.
Australian Off Road Championship leaders have already pencilled in the Rainbow Desert Enduro, overseen by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, as part of the 2017 national championship season.
The Rainbow race is scheduled as the final round of the national series, which has already involved St George in Queensland and will turn its attention to Alice Springs in the next fortnight.
The Rainbow course is an area of Crown land west of Rainbow, similar in size to nearby Rainbow Golf Course and used in the distant past as a racecourse.
Organisers are confident it is the perfect site for an 80-kilometre enduro racing circuit.
Melbourne-based Victorian Off Road Racing Association is driving the event through a Rainbow community and shire council committee.
Association president Brett Price said the race, planned as an annual event, would benefit his organisation, the township of Rainbow and motorsport fans in general.
“The Rainbow people have been very welcoming and we’re very close to a final tick of a approval. It’s all looking quite positive,” he said.
“We’ve had to go through a lot of processes and issues involving due diligence but no one expects any major dramas.”
Promising
Mr Price said feedback from enduro competitors suggested there would be a strong turnout for the Rainbow race.
“We’re hoping for 60-plus entries. We’ve had a many-time Australian champion go around the track with another competitor a while ago and the feedback was quite promising.” Mr Price said environmental impact had played a major role in planning the event.
He said there had been a favourable environmental assessment of the site, based on a marshaling area as well a race circuit.
“We don’t want to tear the site up. We’re looking at a long-term return of the race in Rainbow,” Mr Price said.
“One way or another, we want a state or national race there.
“We would also like to look back in five year’s time at the site and be able to say ‘that’s an improvement’ from where we started.
“With Graincorp providing the use of its storage site we’re going to have one of the best pit facilities in off-road racing. There will also be a major section of the track that is going to be highly visible from a spectator area, which will be quite unique. It just ticks a lot of boxes.”
The circuit is on Crown land and the committee has been dealing with the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Environment and Parks Victoria.
Parties met to discuss the race details further on Monday.
Hindmarsh Shire councillor Ron Ismay said there was little more than two months left to plan for the event and after working through the maze of departmental processes, organisers would concentrate on preparing the site.