Over sixty vehicles have been entered in the 2024 ARB Big Desert 480 off-road race, which will take place at Rainbow this weekend.
This is the first of four rounds that make up the 2024 ARB Australian Off Road Racing Championship, with subsequent rounds at Hillston in New South Wales in July, Goondiwindi in Queensland in August, and Millicent in South Australia in September.
The event starts for the public this evening from 4 pm with scrutineering of the sixty-one vehicles entered across ten classes, after which they will all be available to view up close on Federal Street until 8.30 pm. The street will be closed to traffic with displays and catering for the public while the competitors, officials, and volunteers make the final preparations for two days of racing to follow.
From tomorrow morning, the action is focused on the Rainbow Rises Events Centre to the west of the town, where the start/finish line, prologue course, pits, and spectator catering and viewing areas are located.
Engines will roar to life from 8.45 a.m. with a reconnaissance lap of the short course, but the serious action starts at 10 a.m. with the Prologue. This involves each vehicle completing one flying lap of the short course, with the timings set determining the starting order for Section One of the main race in the afternoon.
At 1 p.m., the first vehicles will set off to tackle two laps of the long course. Competitors will traverse the 75-kilometre circuit to the west of Rainbow, skirting the edge of the Big Desert.
On Sunday, competitors will take on the long course for four more laps, with a 45-minute service break after their second lap.
The presentation of trophies to the winners will take place on the track after all cars have completed the race.
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