After its inaugural run in Yass last year, Goulburn will have the opportunity to welcome the Alpine Classic locally this year. For the first time in the event’s history, it will begin and finish in Goulburn and will feature a slightly larger field than last year’s event.
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Event director Ross Warner said that the reason for the change in starting venue this year was the “limited” accommodation in Yass, which caused issues as it took place on the same day as Classic Yass, one of the most populous events on the town’s calendar.
“The accommodation in Yass is limited,” Warner said.
“We didn’t want to restrict the number of people taking up accommodation in Yass for the Classic Yass.
“We didn’t want them to lose participants or visitors when we were only there for the Friday night.
“We’ve got 76 competitors, that’s 76 cars, and we’ve got 12 officials’ cars [as well]. That’s quite a lot of accommodation [required].”
Despite changes to the venue and the course, the competition will function largely the same way as it did last year and in the years prior, when it was based in Lithgow.
“It’s the same type of event,” Warner said.
“The format of the event is the same, we’ve got a larger field this year. It’s becoming more popular.”
The competition will take place across the weekend of Saturday November 3 and Sunday November 4.
The Alpine Classic is a unique style of competition which pits classic car enthusiasts against one another. Competitors are given tasks to accomplish while they navigate a set course, the length of which will be roughly 470 kilometres this year.
Although the event is officially called a “road rally”, Warner said speed was irrelevant in the completion of the course and added that precautions were in place to discourage speeding by its competitors.
“It’s timed to a schedule so people don’t speed,” he said. “You’re penalised for arriving early to a control.”
This year, the track will begin in Goulburn and finish in Cowra, where Warner is in the process of organising accommodation for the racers.
As he finalised the list of entrants in the 2018 event, Warner said that he was “worn out already, but I think it’ll be a great event.
“We’ve put together something that I think a lot of people will enjoy, We got a lot of positive feedback from last year’s event.”
This year’s event will also feature an optional motorkhana on Sunday morning in which the drivers can choose to participate. The competition will then continue and return to finish in Goulburn on Sunday afternoon.
Entries for the event have closed. For more information, visit The Alpine Classic on Facebook.