Shannons Rally Heartland
24-26 April 2026 · South Australia
Our biggest event of the year — a 16-hour drive to South Australia, a blind rally in the dark with no lights, a gearbox that gave up on day two, and somehow our best result of the season. This one was an adventure.
About the Shannons Rally Heartland
Shannons Rally Heartland (also styled "Shannons Rally SA – Rally of the Heartland") is a three-day gravel rally based in the historic copper-mining town of Burra in South Australia's Mid North, held over the Anzac Day long weekend, with the 2026 edition running 24–26 April. First held in 2017 and run annually in the Burra area since, it is an old-school road-book classic rally known for exceptionally long special stages of up to about 75 km on closed council and forestry gravel roads around Burra, Hallett, Mount Bryan and Terowie. The 2026 event comprises 20 special stages totalling roughly 400 km of competition, with rally HQ, the ceremonial start/finish and service park at Paxton Square, Burra.
- Championship
- Round 1 of the 2026 South Australian Rally Championship (SARC); also Round 1 of the SA Regularity Series and SA Clubman Series, and a counting round of the East Coast Classic Rally Series (2WD & 4WD)
- Organiser
- EventOne (promoted under the "Rally SA" banner; sanctioned by Motorsport Australia)
- Base
- Burra, South Australia
- Surface
- Gravel
- Format: Multi-day (3 days). 20 special stages totalling 400.68 km competitive, with ~1,071 km total route (per Rally-Maps). Stage lengths range from a 6.28 km sprint to a 75.55 km marathon test, with day and night stages. Matches the 'three-day…
- Terrain: Rural/pastoral Mid North farmland and closed council/forestry gravel roads around the historic copper-mining town of Burra; open, dusty countryside with long fast roads (some forestry sections e.g. Mount Crawford in past editions)
- History: Inaugural running in 2017 as the 'Lightforce Rally SA – Rally of the Heartland', a standalone classic gravel rally based in the Burra region. Run annually in the Burra area since 2017; naming-rights sponsors have included Lightforce…
- Notable: An 'old-school' road-book classic gravel rally famous for exceptionally long special stages (up to ~75 km) and a strong classic/historic rally-car contingent via the East Coast Classic Rally Series, set around the heritage copper-mining…