The Hindmarsh Shire Rainbow Desert Enduro has become the latest BFGoodrich Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship (AORC) round to break an event record for total entries received.
With entries for the third AORC round of the season having been open since 17 July, 67 crews have already registered their place for the Victorian-based round.
First taking place in 2017 with an impressive entry list of 50, Rainbow’s previous record number of competitors came in 2019 when 53 crews were entered across both the AORC and the Motorsport Australia Victorian Off Road Championship (VORC).
Now with almost two weeks to go until entries close for the 2021 edition, there are already 14 more crews – 53 of which are entered in just the AORC component alone, while the remaining crews will compete solely in the VORC.
The rise in entries has followed a similar trend from the previous rounds as the Cobb & Co Hotel St George 399 and the Tatts Finke Desert Race also reached record numbers – St George with 75 and Finke with 175.
Victorian Off Road Racing Association President Tony Carabott was thrilled with the numbers and was looking forward to more joining.
“It’s very exciting to see so many people interested in running at Rainbow this year,” Carabott said.
“To already have the most people entered in the event’s short history is fantastic and it’s a bit of a testament to the AORC and how far it has come in previous years.
“It seems that everyone who comes really enjoys competing here because it’s got a variety of terrain and offers quite a unique challenge – hopefully, we can finally have a dry year which will definitely add to the experience.
“We are actually expecting that number to increase too. We have heard on the grapevine that there are still a number of crews to enter, but they’re just waiting on the current restrictions to ease before making the decision.”
Unfortunately there is still uncertainty about where Rainbow stands with border closures and restrictions still making it difficult for crews to fully commit. However, Carabott remains optimistic the event will continue as planned.
“From our point of view, we are still planning to go ahead and it’s business as usual,” Carabott added.
“Of course, it’s going to be tight with the current capacity set at 300 people, but we’re confident that that will change by the time the event comes around and we will have more people here.
“The team is working hard, in fact we’re going up for a working bee this weekend, and at this point, it’s all looking good.” Entries for the event will continue to be accepted until Friday 13 August.
The 2021 Hindmarsh Shire Rainbow Desert Enduro will take place in Rainbow on 27-29 August.
