2020 Outback Trial Announced

The Classic Outback Trial – the 21st century equivalent of the classic Round Australia trials – will return to Outback New South Wales in 2020.

Event Director Philip Bernadou has announced that after a sojourn in Alice Springs in 2016 and 2018, the 7th Classic Outback Trial will return to its original roots from 8-15 August, 2020.

To rally people, the spirit of the old Round Australia trials that began with the REDeX Trial in 1953, lives on, but the practicalities of modern life mean that people can no longer afford to spend three weeks away from work and families driving around Australia.

In contrast, the Classic Outback Trial offers an opportunity to relive the legendary adventures of the Redex, Ampol, Mobil and Repco trials in a realistic time frame.

The 2020 Classic Outback Trial will run for 7 days, starting at Parkes in central NSW on 8 August, before finishing in Bathurst on 15 August. Bathurst, and its famous Mt. Panorama circuit, is the spiritual heart of motor sports for every Australia petrolhead.

There will be multi-night stopovers in Parkes, Orange and Bathurst.

Bernadou said the decision to move the event from Alice Springs back to Central NSW was made for several reasons:

“The 6-day round journey to Alice Springs from the major Eastern State cities robbed the event of competition time and added to expenses”, he said.

“As another plus, there are more competitive rally roads available in a more compact area in New South Wales.”

The field for the 2020 Classic Outback Trial will be limited to 60 cars, with 27 nominations already lodged. As well as competitions for Classic and Modern rally cars, there will be a Regularity event for cars that do not wish to fit full CAMS safety equipment, plus a casual Tagalong tour for standard SUV vehicles.