Mt Buller Sprint

About the Mt Buller Sprint

The Mt Buller Sprint is a tarmac hillclimb held 13-15 February 2026 in the Victorian alps, opening the 2026 Australian Tarmac Rally (ATR) Championship. Competitors made multiple timed runs up the sealed 15.5 km ascent from Mirimbah to the summit of Mount Buller — four runs on Saturday and three on Sunday, plus two Friday shakedown stages — with Rally Headquarters and Service Park based at Mirimbah Park and entry capped at 80 competition vehicles. Sanctioned by the Australian Auto-Sport Alliance (AASA), the 2026 running revived the event's original hillclimb format, which ran from the early 2000s until 2010 before evolving into the multi-stage Targa High Country. Paul Dowie and Adrian Sparrow (2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS) won outright from 51 starters, with only 38 crews classified at the finish after a wave of mechanical retirements.

Championship

2026 Australian Tarmac Rally (ATR) Championship

Organiser

Australian Tarmac Rally (ATR)

Base

Mirimbah

Surface

Tarmac

The route & format

• Format: Two Friday shakedown stages (1.6 km each), four Saturday runs and three Sunday runs on the 15.5 km Mirimbah-summit ascent — about 111.7 km of total competitive distance. Six classes: Modern Super Rally, Modern AWD, Modern 2WD, Early Modern AWD, Early Modern 2WD and Classic.
• Terrain: Tarmac (sealed mountain road); alpine terrain with sweeping corners and significant elevation change on the Mt Buller Road.

Mt Buller Sprint 2026 results

• 2026 result: Paul Dowie/Adrian Sparrow (2016 Porsche 911 GT3 RS) won outright in 59:44.0, ahead of Michael Harding/James Thornburn (Subaru WRX STi, +35.8s) and Liam Howarth/Larry Howarth (1995 Nissan Skyline GTR V-Spec).

Where spectators watched

Free. For 2026 ATR trialled a single official spectator location at Mirimbah Park, open 08:00-17:00 on the Saturday and Sunday, looking onto the start line, the service park and rally HQ. Mt Buller only charges resort entry in the ski season, so there was no gate fee in February — but the 15.5 km climb itself is a closed road with no roadside viewing, and Mirimbah Park allows no camping and no dogs.

Spectator points

• Mirimbah Park — the official spectator location

  Rally HQ, service park and start line at the Mt Buller resort gate on Mt Buller Road, about 30 km (25 minutes) east of Mansfield. You approach from the Mansfield side, so the road closure never blocks you. Open 08:00-17:00 both days with cars launching roughly on the hour from 09:00, and the trophy presentation here on Sunday afternoon; playgrounds, BBQs, toilets and the Delatite River rock pools on site.

• Mt Buller village — the stage finish

  The summit end of the climb, 15.6 km above Mirimbah. Not promoted as a spectator point and inside the closure: anyone staying up there had to be off the mountain by 06:55 or wait for one of the 20-minute road-open windows.

• Roadside on the climb — not permitted

  The competitive section from the Mirimbah ticket booth up to the Mt Buller CFA is fully closed, and ATR published no roadside viewing areas anywhere on the mountain for 2026.

How 2026 ran

1. Friday 13 February 2026

   Mt Buller Road closed from the Tyrol Carpark to the Mt Buller CFA from 14:00 (activated on the ground about 14:30). Two 1.6 km shakedown runs from 14:30, a public road-open window 15:55-16:15, then full access restored from 17:15.

2. Saturday 14 February 2026

   Closure activated 07:30 from Mirimbah, with all vehicles off the top of the mountain by 06:55. Spectator area open 08:00-17:00. Four full 15.5 km climbs from 09:00, 11:00, 13:00 and 15:00, with 20-minute public road-open windows at 09:50, 11:15, 12:50 and 14:20; the road reopened from 15:40.

3. Sunday 15 February 2026

   Same 07:30 closure and 08:00-17:00 spectator hours. Three climbs — 09:00, 11:00 and 13:00, the last run up the mountain — followed by the trophy presentation at Mirimbah Park.

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: Melbourne is the nearest city and airport: about 248 km and three hours via the Maroondah Highway through Yea and Mansfield, sealed the whole way and fine in a 2WD, though the last 15.5 km to the summit is a steep, relentlessly winding alpine climb. Mansfield is the last town for supermarkets and ATMs, and the Mirimbah Store at the resort gate is the last fuel before the mountain — watch for wildlife around Merrijig and Sawmill Settlement.
• Where to stay: Mansfield, 30 km and 25 minutes west of Mirimbah, is the practical base — motels, pubs, and Mansfield Holiday Park with cabins, cottages and powered sites. Closer in there's the Merrijig Motor Inn, chalets at Sawmill Settlement and the free, pet-friendly Sawmill Settlement bush camp. Mt Buller village apartments and lodges are open in summer with no gate fee, but you're inside the road closure; there's no camping at Mirimbah Park, and mid-February is peak High Country season, so book early.
• While you’re there: Craig's Hut on Mt Stirling — the Man From Snowy River hut, with big alpine views — is the obvious add-on, and the Delatite River rock pools are at Mirimbah Park itself. Lake Eildon is 15-30 minutes from Mansfield for swimming and waterskiing, Delatite Winery's cellar door is just out of town, and Jamieson has a good pub and a swimmable river.

Entering

Entries run through the ATR competitor portal at tarmacrally.com, submitted via WOLF Sports. For 2026 they opened in November 2025 and closed on Friday 16 January 2026, capped at 80 full-competition vehicles — 54 started. Entry fees are not published publicly; they sit behind the entry portal. It is a full-competition field only: no entry is automatically accepted, both driver and co-driver need a current AASA National Race Licence and the car a current AASA Vehicle Passport, and newcomers without provable tarmac rally experience must first complete events in the speed-limited Rally Challenge category. Reconnaissance is permitted only in unsignwritten, road-registered road cars at posted speed limits — competition cars are banned from recce.

History & form

• History: Revives a hillclimb format that ran from the early 2000s until 2010, when the event evolved into the multi-stage Targa High Country — 2026 marked a deliberate return to the pure hillclimb.

Worth knowing

• Notable: Best-placed classic machinery: Jonathan Moir/Darragh Lynch, 1976 Ford Mk2 Escort, 4th outright. Mechanical retirements (engine, drivetrain, clutch failures) thinned the 51-car field to 38 classified finishers.