Great Alpine Rally

About the Great Alpine Rally

The Great Alpine Rally was a two-day tarmac rally held on 28–29 March 2026 in Victoria's High Country, based at Falls Creek. It ran on fully closed public sealed roads between Mount Beauty and Falls Creek along the Bogong High Plains Road, over the summit toward the Omeo Highway, across 24 stages and more than 300 km of competitive distance — the first time this road had ever been closed for motorsport. Its inaugural running formed Round 2 of the 2026 Australian Tarmac Rally Championship (ATRC), organised by Australian Tarmac Rally Pty Limited (ATR) and sanctioned by the Australian Auto-Sport Alliance (AASA). Light snow fell over the alpine stages during reconnaissance but cleared before racing began, and the debut was won outright by Michael Harding and James Thornburn in a Subaru WRX STI.

Championship

Australian Tarmac Rally Championship (ATRC) — 2026 season, Round 2

Organiser

Australian Tarmac Rally Pty Limited (ATR)

Base

Falls Creek

Surface

Tarmac

The route & format

• Format: Two-day event, 24 special stages, 307.8 km competitive (474 km total incl. liaisons).
• Terrain: Alpine mountain roads in Victoria's High Country; centrepiece is the Bogong High Plains Road (Mt Beauty–Falls Creek summit–Omeo Highway).

Great Alpine Rally 2026 results

• 2026 result: Michael Harding/James Thornburn (Subaru WRX STI) won outright by 1m54.2s over Jonathan Moir/Darragh Lynch (Ford Escort Mk2); Justin Waterhouse/Adrian Bryant (Mitsubishi Evo X) 3rd. Class winners spanned a BMW E30 M3, a Porsche Cayman GTS and a Nissan R33 Skyline.

Where spectators watched

Free — there's no ticket or spectator pass, and Falls Creek charges no resort entry outside the declared snow season. Be aware that both ATR and Falls Creek Alpine Resort state plainly that there are no official, signposted or marshalled spectator points along this course: the public is directed to watch from either end of the closed section. The single most important practical fact is the closure itself — Bogong High Plains Road is shut completely from 07:00 to 17:30 on both days with no through traffic, so you must be in position before 07:00 or stay outside it. No spectator map, arrive-before times or drone policy has been published, and dogs are generally not permitted anywhere in Falls Creek resort.

Spectator points

• Mount Beauty township — the western end

  The lower end of Saturday's closure, which runs upward from the Tawonga Crescent / Bogong Avenue intersection. Saturday's Mount Beauty-Bogong, Clover Dam-Mount Beauty and Mount Beauty-Falls Creek stages start or finish here, roughly 08:30-14:30. The best practical base: it's the last fuel, food and toilets before the mountain, and being outside the closure you can come and go.

• Falls Creek Summit — the top end

  The upper limit of Saturday's closure, 30 km and about 45 minutes up the sealed Bogong High Plains Road from Mount Beauty, at the finish end of the Bogong-Falls Creek and Mount Beauty-Falls Creek stages. It sits inside the closure, so drive up before 07:00 on the Saturday or you won't get through.

• Bogong High Plains Road / Omeo Highway intersection — the southern end

  The end point of Sunday's closure. Sunday's Shannonvale, Trapyard Gap and Raspberry Hill stages run through this eastern section from 08:15 to 15:00, including the two longest stages of the rally. Note there's no fuel at all in the 115 km between Mount Beauty and Omeo.

How 2026 ran

1. Friday 27 March 2026 — recce and admin

   Reconnaissance, documentation and scrutineering at Falls Creek — in 2026 all of it ran through snow, sleet and freezing temperatures. The resort advised locals needing to cross the mountain to do it on this day, before the weekend closures. Exact documentation and scrutineering times were issued only to entrants.

2. Saturday 28 March 2026

   Bogong High Plains Road closed 07:00-17:30 from Tawonga Crescent up to Falls Creek Summit. Stages from 08:30 at half-hourly intervals to 11:30, a midday service break, then from 13:00 through to the Mount Beauty-Falls Creek closer at 14:30. About 152.8 competitive km.

3. Sunday 29 March 2026

   Closure again 07:00-17:30, this time from Healthy Spur Carpark to the Omeo Highway. Stages from 08:15 half-hourly to 11:00, a break, then 12:30 through to the 28.8 km Shannonvale-Watchbed Creek finale at 15:00 — the longest stage of the rally. About 155.0 competitive km, with presentations at Falls Creek afterwards.

Access, timings and prices checked 30 August 2026. Organisers move spectator points and road closures at short notice — confirm on the official event page before you travel.

Getting there & staying

• Getting there: Falls Creek is 391 km and about 4.5 hours north-east of Melbourne, 120 km from Albury-Wodonga, and 30 km or 45 minutes above Mount Beauty. Albury Airport is the closest, with daily Melbourne and Sydney flights. The road up is fully sealed from Mount Beauty to the north and Omeo to the south, but there is no fuel at Falls Creek or anywhere in the 115 km between Mount Beauty and Omeo — fill up in Mount Beauty or Tawonga South. Reception on the Bogong High Plains isn't documented by the resort or organisers, so assume it's patchy.
• Where to stay: Falls Creek village is the rally hub with plenty of lodge and apartment beds and no resort entry fee in the green season — but late March is shoulder season, so confirm the property is actually trading before you book. Mount Beauty and Tawonga South, 30 km down the hill, are the practical alternative and where the fuel and supermarkets are, with motels for rooms and The Park Mount Beauty for powered and unpowered Kiewa River sites. Both are small towns sharing beds with the rally field and its service crews, so book early.
• While you’re there: You're in the middle of the Alpine National Park: walk to Wallace's Hut, the oldest surviving hut in the High Country, or climb Mount Bogong, Victoria's highest peak at 1,986 m. Down in the valley, swim at Mermaid Pool or The Rockpool on the Kiewa River, ride the Kiewa River Trail, and visit the Alpine Discovery Centre in Mount Beauty. Falls Creek itself has more than 40 km of gravity mountain-bike trails, and Bright is 59 km away.

Entering

Entries go through the ATR competitor portal via WOLF Sports. Nothing is auto-accepted — every application is vetted by ATR and AASA on vehicle specification, team history, driving experience and medical declarations. Both driver and co-driver need a current AASA National Race Licence plus a civil licence. Categories are Rally Challenge (speed-limited, minimally modified road cars, and mandatory for newcomers without tarmac experience), Rally Sport (160 km/h limit) and Full Competition; the non-competitive Tour wasn't offered at this round in 2026. Reconnaissance is permitted only in unsignwritten, road-registered cars on open public roads at posted speed limits, and a traffic accident during recce means exclusion. 43 crews entered in 2026 and 32 finished. No entry fee, close date or field cap for this round is published publicly.

History & form

• History: Inaugural running in 2026 — the first time the Bogong High Plains Road has ever been closed for motorsport competition.

Worth knowing

• Notable: Widely reported as a hugely successful debut, with an atmosphere organisers said hadn't been felt "in many years." Entries spanned everything from a Holden Group C Commodore and Datsun 240Z to modern WRX STI/Evo/GR Yaris machinery.