Shannons Adelaide Rally, 16-18 October 2026

Story and photos by Vince Johnson

The roads in the hills around South Australia’s capital came alive a month earlier this year. The anticipated spring rains were nowhere to be seen and conditions were ideal throughout the three-day event. There were other changes too. Parc fermé moved into Victoria Park on the city’s eastern edge where preparations were underway for November’s V8 Supercar races on the street circuit. Saturday evening’s street party was relocated from the CBD’s Gouger Street, currently undergoing upgrades, to King William Road south of town, but the event’s Finale and podium celebrations repeated last year’s success in North Adelaide.

Crews hunting glory against the clock had several categories to choose from. Rally Pro and Competition entrants had an outright speed limit of 200km/h (124mph) in both Classic (pre-1986) and Modern classes. Limits of 130km/h (80mph) or 120km/h (74mph) applied within the Challenge (Modern & Classic) section. The lower limit also applied to TSD (Time-Speed-Distance) entrants, who had to match an average speed for each stage, set to their car by the Clerk of Course.

The Competition classes were first out each day. Flying the Tricolor for the Republique, against Japanese, American, German, Korean and Australian cars, were Tony Sullens and Julia Barkley in their Citroën DS3R3T. While there weren’t any Italian cars competing against them, the course car that did the safety sweep before the Tour groups early on Friday gave the impression that it could. Stuart Bowes and Jeremy Browne’s Alitalia-liveried Lancia Stratos certainly looked the part, but it started to sound rough and its run was short-lived.

A varied daily running order saw the Challenge and TSD categories on the stages in between the Tour packets. In Challenge 120 Matthew Holt and Adrian Czyzewski kept their 2011 Renault Megane RS250 penalty free for the weekend as did Chris Oldaker & David Greaves, back again in TSD with the 2013 Renault Megane RB8. Italian cars could be found in the untimed Tour groups that took to the same stages. These included those from major dealerships, single-marque groups and car clubs, running in packets with a designated leader and follower. The Spirit Tour entrants required safety equipment, including a pre-86 Type 2 roll-cage and helmets. In this group, returning in his 1997 Ferrari 355 Challenge was Mark Hoffmann with Adam Shaw.

Following Saturday’s last stage at Windy Point, overlooking the city and suburbs to the sea, crews made their way to King William Road, south of the parklands that encircle the city. The public had already arrived for a close-up look at the cars, joining with crews and making full use of the cafes, hotels and restaurants.

Sunday’s first stage was 7½ kilometres (4.7mi) around Mt Lofty, at 700 metres (2,300 feet) the highest point in the rally. Thankfully, the dry roads encouraged crews to save rubber at the jump near the finish of the stage, demonstrated not only by those chasing the stopwatch but also by adventurous tour entrants.

The route then headed south, regrouping at the popular Strathalbyn for lunch and two tight street sections through the town. After the last of the event’s 141km (88mi) of closed-road stages was completed, it was a downhill run to the event’s Finale in North Adelaide. Once again the public took full advantage of the O’Connell Street closure and after the podium celebrations more than a few cell phones needed a wipe down.

Gallery and Winners

See stage times and full results at
https://rallyresults.au/adelaiderally/2026/

Vince Johnson has been covering vintage events in Australia since 2008 for VeloceToday. Here is one of his first…

Sweet Adelaide