2026 Season
Shakewell Racing — 2026 Gravel Rally Season
2026 is Shakewell Racing's first full season on gravel. After winning the Production 4WD class at Targa New Zealand in 2025, driver Michael Chora and co-driver Rachael Ferrante swapped tarmac trophies for loose stones — contesting rounds of the AMSAG Southern Cross Rally Series, the East Coast Classic Rally Series and the Australian Rally Championship (ARC) across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland in a classic 1995 Subaru Impreza, closing the year at the ARC finale in Gippsland.
The gravel debut came at the Rally of Bathurst in March (26th outright), followed by the Mitta Mountain Rally (16th) and the three-day Rally of the Heartland marathon in South Australia, where the pair finished 8th in the East Coast Classic field. June brought the AMSAG Bega Valley Rally (15th) and an Australian Rally Championship debut at the Narooma Forest Rally, where they came home 18th outright despite a failing clutch. Two mechanical DNFs — Mt Buller (turbo) and the Great Alpine Rally (turbo) — were the low points, either side of a three-week trip to the Nürburgring for the legendary 24 Hour race.
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Results so far
| Round | Date | State | Result | Field |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mt Buller Sprint13 February · Victoria | 13 February | Victoria | Retired — turbo38 of 51 classified | 38 of 51 classified |
| Rally of Bathurst14 March · NSW | 14 March | NSW | 26th outright29 of 38 classified | 29 of 38 classified |
| Mitta Mountain Rally21 March · Victoria | 21 March | Victoria | 16th outright20 of 35 classified | 20 of 35 classified |
| Great Alpine Rally28 March · Victoria | 28 March | Victoria | Retired — turbo32 of 43 classified | 32 of 43 classified |
| Shannons Rally Heartland24-26 April · South Australia | 24-26 April | South Australia | 3rd in Classic 4WD, 8th in East Coast Classic16 of 20 classified | 16 of 20 classified |
| Bega Valley Rally6 June · NSW | 6 June | NSW | 15th outright19 of 32 classified | 19 of 32 classified |
| Narooma Forest Rally27 June · NSW | 27 June | NSW | 18th outright22 of 39 classified | 22 of 39 classified |
| Rally of the Bay25 July · NSW | 25 July | NSW | 14th outright19 of 31 classified | 19 of 31 classified |
| Classic Queensland Rally15 August · Queensland | 15 August | Queensland | 2nd in Classic 4WD, 14th outright32 of 39 classified | 32 of 39 classified |
| Ada River Rally22 August · Victoria | 22 August | Victoria | 3rd in Classic 4WD, 15th outright30 of 36 classified | 30 of 36 classified |
| MSS Safety Rally Barossa29 August · South Australia | 29 August | South Australia | 2nd in P6, 6th outright15 of 19 classified | 15 of 19 classified |
| Snowy River Sprint12-13 September · Victoria | 12-13 September | Victoria | Retired — clutch17 of 30 classified | 17 of 30 classified |
| Imbil Rally3-4 October · Queensland | 3-4 October | Queensland | 7th outright Saturday, 24th SundaySat 22 of 33 · Sun 24 of 26 classified | Sat 22 of 33 · Sun 24 of 26 classified |
2026 in pictures
Real photos from our 2026 season — click any shot to enlarge.
Behind the scenes
The workshop, the builds and the rest of the fleet — from a Nürburgring trip to the BMW E30 M3 and R32 GT-R projects.
Round by round
Mt Buller Sprint — 13 February, Victoria
Season opener in the alpine. ATR Round 1 — after Betsy dropped an engine days before.
Result: Retired — turbo
Mitta Mountain Rally — 21 March, Victoria
Week two on gravel. Building on Bathurst learnings.
Result: 16th outright
Great Alpine Rally — 28 March, Victoria
Back to tarmac after two weeks of gravel. Falls Creek.
Result: Retired — turbo
Shannons Rally Heartland — 24-26 April, South Australia
Three-day marathon. 1,000km from home.
Result: 3rd in Classic 4WD, 8th in East Coast Classic
Germany Trip — May-June, Nürburgring
Three weeks at the Nürburgring in the lead-up to the legendary 24 Hour race — German Police ride-along and a Ringfreaks collaboration.
Bega Valley Rally — 6 June, NSW
AMSAG Southern Cross round on the far South Coast. One of Australia’s oldest rallies.
Result: 15th outright
Narooma Forest Rally — 27 June, NSW
Our Australian Rally Championship round. Fast South Coast forest gravel.
Result: 18th outright
Rally of the Bay — 25 July, NSW
Round 3 of the NSW Rally Championship in the Eurobodalla forests out of Batemans Bay — also an East Coast Classic round.
Result: 14th outright
Classic Queensland Rally — 15 August, Queensland
Queensland Rally Championship. Faster, more flowing gravel.
Result: 2nd in Classic 4WD, 14th outright
Ada River Rally — 22 August, Victoria
Noojee forests. East Coast Classic Rally Series round (rescheduled from May).
Result: 3rd in Classic 4WD, 15th outright
MSS Safety Rally Barossa — 29 August, South Australia
Barossa Valley gravel. Back to South Australia.
Result: 2nd in P6, 6th outright
Snowy River Sprint — 12-13 September, Victoria
Buchan, deep in Gippsland. Most remote event.
Result: Retired — clutch
Imbil Rally — 3-4 October, Queensland
The final two rounds of the 2026 Queensland Rally Championship, run as two separate rallysprints over the October long weekend in the Imbil and Amamoor State Forests. Car 22 ran both days, with Nigel Waters co-driving.
Result: 7th outright Saturday, 24th Sunday
Still to come
- Marysville Stages17 October · VictoriaYarra Ranges forest gravel out of Gallipoli Park — 171 competitive km, back on the calendar after three years, and six days before the Great Tarmac Rally in the same town.
- Great Tarmac Rally23-25 October · VictoriaThe tarmac season finale, and the longest event on the calendar: 25 stages and 450+ competitive km across Lake Mountain Road, the Eildon-Jamieson Road and the Reefton Spur.
- Oberon Rally31 October · NSWAMSAG round on the Vulcan and Essington forest roads out of Black Springs, at 1,113 m — the first of two Oberon-area rallies a fortnight apart.
- Rally of Oberon14 November · NSWRally Car Club returns to the Jenolan forests — the finale of the NSW Rally Championship, East Coast Classic and NSW Clubman series.
- Gippsland Rally20-22 November · VictoriaARC finale out of West Sale Airport, with the stages still in the Heyfield forests. The last gravel round on home soil.