Late route changes could accommodate more teams at Rally of the Bay

Road Director for the event, John McCredie, said it wasn't ideal to be making such late changes, but weather had affected the condition of some of the roads.

"Runnyford Road has been impacted the most and Eurobodalla Shire Council made the decision that iwas not suitable for our use," he said.

"There are parts of the road which are fantastic, but there are sections that are so wet it's impossible to use for a rally.

"The Council are also doing road works in several sections and it's just unsuitable for us to use."

Mr McCredie said the Buckenbowra stage of the event would be extended by six kilometres, and the Clyde Long stage had also been changed to avoid an area with "significant timber harvesting operations".

"The changes mean the event is now 134 kilometres for the State teams and 124 kilometres for the Clubman competitors," he said.

"We purposefully made the original route longer because we anticipated some weather events may play a part in the final route."

The Rally of the Bay has already its full entry of 70 cars, but event manager Nigel Bland said the new routes could accommodate extra teams who had shown interest after the fact.

"It's fantastic to have a full field two weeks before entries close," he said. "It's great to be able to give a few more teams the opportunity to experience everything the Rally and the Shire have to offer."