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Australian Off Road season set

By Thomas Miles

A five-round calendar is locked in for the 2025 Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship, which has also upgraded its medical standards.

A near identical calendar has been announced with the same five events returning at effectively the same time of year.

The opener will remain the Pooncarie Desert Dash in New South Wales at the start of April before the big one, the Finke Desert Race on June 7-9.

The halfway mark of the season is South Australia’s Loveday 400 before concluding with the Gold City 450 in Queensland and Western Australia’s Kalgoorlie Desert Race.

“It’s fantastic to see almost every state and territory in the country hosting a round of the AORC once again in 2025, a testament to the brilliant work and high standards set in 2024,” Motorsport Australia’s newly appointed Off Road Manager, Campbell Smith said.

“We are thrilled with the ongoing support of our competitors and event organisers as we get set for a big year for off road.”

In a new for 2025 rule, all competitors aged 60 years and over will need a medical to take part.

This has been recommended by the Motorsport Risk & Safety Committee (MRSC) and supported by the National Medical Advisory Committee (NMAC).

“The health and wellbeing of our competitors is of utmost importance and taking measures to mitigate risk in this sport is a key priority,” Smith said.

“The change also better aligns us with Circuit and Rally categories who work on the same medical requirements.”

2025 Motorsport Australia Off Road Championship calendar

Round 1: Pooncarie Desert Dash, NSW: 4 – 6 April

Round 2: Finke Desert Race, NT: 7 – 9 June

Round 3: Loveday 400, SA: 25 – 27 July

Round 4: Gold City 450, QLD: 29 – 31 August

Round 5: Kalgoorlie Desert Race, WA: 24 – 26 October

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