Bathurst-based father and daughter duo Steve and Heather Brumby were meant to be competing in their first rally of the year in Adelaide later this month.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Adelaide Rally was scheduled to run from November 25-28, with the Brumbys planning to take their Many Hands Motorsport Alfa Romeo to the four-day event held within the Adelaide Hills, Fleurieu Peninsula and the CBD of the South Australian capital.
However, a recent spike in coronavirus cases has seen the event postponed until March 21 next year.
READ MORE:
Understandably Mr Brumby is disappointed he won't get to compete in the rally later this month but glad the safety of Australians are the priority.
"The fact of the matter, we're really lucky to live in Australia," he said.
"When you look overseas and see what's going on over there, missing a few rallies is a bit of a first world problem.
"Clearly it's disappointing because this is what we're passionate about but for the sake of the safety of keeping Australians clear of the disease, we're all for it."
The Adelaide Rally was meant to be the first time the Brumbys were contesting the event and it's the fourth event they've missed out on this year after events in Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland were either rescheduled to a later date or restricted to local drivers.
"We were meant to compete in Targa Tasmania in April. That event was cancelled and has essentially been rescheduled to later this year," he said.
"That was the first one we missed out on and it's probably the major tarmac rally in Australia.
"The next event we were meant to do was Targa Great Barrier Reef in Cairns. That was initially meant to be held in August, but was postponed to October.
"The event went ahead for Queensland-based because everyone else was excluded because of the border situation.
"The next rally we had on our schedule was Targa High Country at Mount Buller Ski Resort in Victoria. It's normally in the first weekend of November and that's been postponed to February next year.
"And the next one was meant to be the Adelaide Rally and that has been rescheduled to March next year. So hopefully if everything goes okay, we're going to be very busy next year."
It's been a quiet 2020 for the team's rally car, only seeing the "light of day" for some maintenance.
"The car has been basically under a cover pretty much all year," Brumby said.
"We did take the opportunity to do a bit of maintenance. It's had its timing belts changed, which needs to be done every five years. That's basically the only light of day it's seen."
The Brumbys were planning to leave Bathurst on Saturday, spending the night in Broken Hill before making their way to Adelaide the day after.
They had the accommodation booked through Airbnb but luckily they were able to reschedule their booking to next March, when the Adelaide Rally is expected to be held.