Australian Rally Championship announces 2016 expansion

The news means a Victorian round will return to the ARC calendar, with Rally Victoria having not made it onto the 2015 schedule.

Ballarat, located 100 kilometres from Melbourne, is Australia's most populated inland city, and has a rich history as a gold mining town.

And according to the ARC Chairman Ben Rainsford, it is also the perfect place to bring rallying back to Victoria.

“It’s exciting to announce a return to Victoria in 2016,” said Rainsford.

“The sport has such a rich history in the state, and it is terrific news to be able to take the crews, teams, spectators and media to a breathtaking area like Ballarat next year.”

The event is likely to be held between November 11 and 13 next year, which will make it the sixth and final round of the 2016 season.

“The welcome we have received already by the local community and the Ballarat City Council has been beyond amazing," said event manager Katie Philps.

"They are thrilled to have the ARC coming to town, even this far out from our first event. We have big plans that we’re excited to announce them all over the next 18 months.

“From an event point of view we want to put on an exciting, dynamic, team-friendly event, and we’re hopeful that the chance to drive on new roads will entice competitors new and old to come to experience everything Ballarat has to offer."

The current Australian Rally Championship schedule features the Forest Rally in Western Australia, the National Capital Rally in Canberra, the International Rally of Queensland, Rally Australia in New South Wales, and Rally South Australia.

After the first round in WA, Eli Evans leads the points from Molly Taylor.