Dirt Track Rally Driving Barossa Valley review | SA’s Great Travel Planner

Experience a half day of rally driving with 32 laps in four different cars.

The question of what to give your eldest child for their 18th birthday can become an endless conundrum since communication from the recipient (as all parents will know) is rarely forthcoming or useful. Cash, skiing in the Swiss Alps, and an all-expenses-paid world gap year are all discounted. Quickly. As is a car – but at least that sparks the germ of an idea.

It turns out the South Australian Rally School, a gravel track 30 minutes’ drive from the Barossa Valley, is just the trick.

It’s fair to say the most difficult part of the day is actually finding the place, with directions and signage sparse indeed. It is, we discover, 15 minutes east of Truro, a nondescript drive but a gateway to the surreal. There, on a hill high above the rally fields sits a fence, a barbed wire run of several hundred metres, which is festooned with hundreds of teddy bears.

Stop when no-one else is around and it’s all a bit creepy, as once (presumably) precious toys sway in silence, the barren location making things more unsettling. It’s a bit Picnic at Hanging Rock, but worth the stop. Just don’t go at night …

The rallying though, is first rate.

Run by the Walkerville All Cars Club, instructions are to arrive 10 minutes beforehand, and it’s advice well given. For spectators there’s not much to do: a two-storey shed with an observation deck overlooks a bush track and that’s it. The day is all about the driving.

First though, the induction. Ten wannabes – P platers included – listen to the leader, Mick, rattle through the basics. Point and turn, brake to go better, and a metaphor about not “making pizzas” are unremarkable, but then the big one. “There are no dual controls,” says Mick. Hmmm.

Despite driving almost exclusively automatics, our teen, Lewys, is unflinching.

Lewys Evans takes part in a South Australia Rally School experience.

The premise is simple, four cars (souped-up Subarus and Lancers) and eight laps per car for the half day session.

Harnessed in with an interior roll cage protection, Lewys is off. “It’s jumpy and loud but you feel safe,” he says later. “I had a lot of fun, all the instructors were good.”

From afar, the cars disappear amid great clouds of dust, but according to Lewys the detritus from the car ahead is gone by the time you get there. It looks and sounds thrilling and remorseless though unintimidating.

Back at base, the drivers are told the third round is when it gets hairy. Confidence up and aware the day is getting away, drivers will test themselves that bit more. Go quicker says Gus, the pro alongside Lewys, and he does, too much throttle and a spin takes them into a small embankment. Dust clears, they clamber out, injuries zero. Ten minutes later the car is still stuck and Mick heads out to investigate, some pushing and shoving and the car is freed, scratch free and working well.

“You might be amused but I’m not,” moans Mick, a little too sourly, to Lewys who sits out the rest of this session.

South Australia Rally School is located at Steinfeld, near Truro, in the Barossa Valley.

The fourth session passes without incident, then comes the hot lap. Lewys and Gus swap seats and Gus bombs off, a dust and demon driving finale to the day.

“I was a tiny bit scared but knew he was capable,” says Lewys. “He was really good.”

“Watch out for the roos,” advises Mick as we leave and a dozen or so bounce by before we make it to the main road.

Lewys is feeling empowered now.

“Can I drive?”

We have a Golf GTi.

“OK,” I say, “but no spinning!”

Reviews are unannounced and paid for by SAWeekend.

This review was first published in August 2018 and details updated in March 2021.

• South Australian Rally School
• Walky Park, corner Bower Boundary and Old Railway roads, Steinfeld
• 1800 208 000
• rallyschool.com.au
• LOCATION 104km north of the CBD, between Truro and Blanchetown.
• WHAT Thrills and spills of a half day of driving around dirt tracks in high powered rally cars under tuition from a professional rally driver, followed by two hot laps with a professional.
• FACILITIES Minimal. There is a covered meet and greet area with gratis soft drinks and snacks, toilets and an observation deck about 3m off the ground, which is not accessible for wheelchair users.
• PRICE $495 for half a day.