Photo: Wishart Media

The Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship heads interstate this weekend for one of the most important rounds of the 2026 season, with the Draper’s Civil Contracting Ada River Rally set to provide a major test for the championship contenders in the forests around Noojee, Victoria.

Round 4 of the NSW Rally Championship will be contested on Saturday, 22 August, with competitors facing approximately 176 kilometres of competitive gravel across eight special stages. The event will run from daylight into the night and, importantly for the NSW Championship battle, will be divided into three separately scored heats.

With 25 championship points available for a heat win, there are potentially 75 points on offer across the day, making Ada River one of the biggest opportunities yet for competitors to strengthen their championship position, or make up significant ground on their rivals.

The championship arrives in Victoria with defending NSW Champion Tony Sullens leading the standings on 117 points, ahead of Richie Dalton on 100 and Josh Redhead on 76. Bethany Cullen sits fourth on 73 points, followed closely by Dennis Stanford on 71 and James O’Malley on 66.

Cullen will not contest Ada River, immediately creating an opportunity for those around her in the standings. With the championship’s dropped-round provisions also set to influence the final points table later in the season, every strong heat result from this point forward could prove critical.

The previous round, the Lazer Rally of the Bay, demonstrated just how competitive the championship has become. Sullens finished third outright behind Clayton Hoy and Jamie Luff, with Cullen fourth and O’Malley producing an impressive fifth outright finish. Dennis Stanford also finished inside the top 10 in ninth.

For two of the championship’s leading contenders, however, simply making it to the start line at Ada River has presented another challenge.

Just last weekend, Sullens and Redhead were competing in the EROAD Australian Rally Championship at Subaru Wilderness Rally Tasmania, where both crews were caught out during a dramatic opening day.

Redhead and co-driver Ray Winwood-Smith had been locked in a close WOLF Sports Cup battle with Tasmanian star Bodie Reading and Brad Jones. After four stages just 16 seconds separated the crews, but Redhead’s event ended when the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution 5 crashed approximately three-quarters of the way through the fifth stage.

On the same stage, Sullens and Julia Barkley also struck trouble, their Citroen DS3 going over the side of a ditch and sustaining damage including a broken windscreen.

The timing could hardly have been more difficult for either team.

Rally Tasmania concluded on Sunday, leaving Redhead Motorsport and the Sullens crew less than a week to get their competition cars back across Bass Strait, assess the damage, complete repairs and then have them ready for another championship event in Victoria on Saturday.

It has turned the week between events into a race of a very different kind.

For Sullens, protecting his 17-point championship lead is the immediate priority. His consistency has been a major strength throughout the season and another strong three-heat performance at Ada could provide valuable breathing room heading towards the final stages of the championship.

Dalton remains very much in the title fight. Sitting second on 100 points, the Shamrock Motorsport Toyota Yaris GR driver is within striking distance of the championship lead and will be one of the first cars on the road at Ada River.

Redhead’s position is equally intriguing. Although third on 76 points, his speed has already been demonstrated this season, and with three scoring opportunities available at Ada, a strong weekend could dramatically reduce the deficit to the leaders.

Behind them, the battle is even tighter.

Stanford enters the weekend fifth on 71 points, just five points ahead of O’Malley. O’Malley arrives with considerable momentum after his fifth outright and first rear-wheel-drive result at Rally of the Bay, while Michael Chora is another regular championship competitor making the trip south.

Only 10 crews are entered for NSW Rally Championship points at Ada River, with Dalton, Redhead, Sullens, Mal Hurley, Jake Bramble and O’Malley among the first group of NSWRC contenders on the seeded entry list. Stanford, Chora, Jack West and Robert Gorst complete the 10-car NSW Championship field.

The smaller NSWRC field creates an important opportunity. Simply finishing each heat strongly could produce a valuable haul of championship points, while a retirement or mechanical problem could be particularly costly with three separate results being awarded during the day.

Photo: Roy Meuronen Photography
Photo: Roy Meuronen Photography

That does not mean the outright rally will be any easier.

The NSW Championship competitors form only part of a 36-car Ada River field, with a strong contingent of Victorian competitors also taking part. The event doubles as a round of the Victorian Rally Championship, meaning the NSW crews will have plenty of competition for the outright rally positions even while fighting their own championship battle.

The mixed field also adds another element to the championship equation. Victorian competitors can occupy the outright positions on the road while the NSW crews simultaneously battle for their own heat points, putting a premium on consistency and ensuring there will be no opportunity for the championship contenders to cruise through the event.

Based at the Noojee Heritage Centre in West Gippsland, the Draper’s Civil Contracting Ada River Rally uses the gravel forest roads around Noojee and the Latrobe State Forest. The rally is run blind using a roadbook, with no reconnaissance or pace notes, and the final stages will take competitors into darkness before the event concludes on Saturday night.

With three heats, a large pool of championship points, a smaller NSWRC field and several of the title contenders separated by only a handful of points, Ada River has all the ingredients to become a pivotal round in the 2026 Shamrock Haulage NSW Rally Championship.

For Sullens and Redhead, there is the added challenge of recovering from Tasmania. For Dalton, there is an opportunity to attack the championship lead. For Stanford and O’Malley, the absence of Cullen opens the door to move further up the standings.

And with the Victorian crews determined to keep the outright Ada River Rally silverware at home, the NSW contenders will have to earn every point.