1982 CAMS AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

THE EVENTS The 1982 CAMS Australian Rally Championship: 1 Lutwyche Shopping Centre Rally Queensland Sporting Car Club Carr/Gocentas 2 Sunday Times Safari West Australia West Australia Car Club Portman/Runnalls 3 Dunlop 2GO Deepwater Sporting Car Club Portman/Runnalls 4 Commonwealth Motors South Australia Barrier Sporting Car Club Portman/Runnalls 5 Alpine Rally Light Car Club of Australia Portman/Runnalls

FINAL POINTS 1 Geoff Portman Vic 96 1 Ross Runnalls Vic 96 2 Greg Carr ACT 89 2 Fred Gocentas ACT 89 3 Doug Thompson Vic 29 3 Ron Lugg Vic 29 4 Tony Masling NSW 22 4 Monty Suffern Vic 22 5 Ed Mulligan NSW 18 5 Geoff Jones NSW 18 6 Wayne Bell NSW 6 Col Parry NSW 7 Clive Slater WA 7 Rod van der Straaten WA 8 Hugh Bell Vic 8 Steve Ellis Vic 9 Barry Lowe SA 9 Ted Dobrzynski SA 10 Steve Ashton Vic 10 Rosemary Nixon Vic

Manufacturers Award Not awarded.

In the absence of works-backed cars a 12 year old Datsun 1600 won the 1982 Championship, crewed by Geoff Portman and Ross Runnalls

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SUMMARY

It was obvious from the start of the year that 1982 would be a two-horse race between Geoff Portman in a Datsun 1600 and Greg Carr in a Fiat 131 Abarth – and so it proved, with Carr winning one event and second three times (plus a fourth) and Portman winning four events out of the five, with one DNF. They formed the ‘A’ Team of the championship whilst the ‘B’ Team included Doug Thompson and John Atkinson in Datsun Stanzas, Wayne Bell (), Ed Mulligan (Ford Escort RS 1800) and Tony Masling (Datsun Stanza V8).

With now out of rallying (Ford the previous year) 1982 was to be the first year of the Australian Rally Championship that was not supported by at least one vehicle manufacturer. Portman was contracted to Nissan for the often promised new Bluebird Turbo but this didn’t eventuate due to the company’s circuit racing commitment with George Fury – and so Portman, with Ross Runnalls, were left to defend their 1981 national title using their own ‘Grunter Mk II’ Datsun 1600. The rules permitted virtual sports sedan rallying and the 12 year old 1600, and its crew, was good enough to take off four event wins and the championship title.

Despite predictions that the Fiat 131 would not be reliable in Australian conditions it proved to have a 100 percent finish rate in Carr’s team hands. It took time for the combination to settle down but by season’s end Carr was equal with, if not ahead, of Portman’s performances.

Of those in the ‘B’ Team, Doug Thompson/Ron Lugg in their Datsun Stanza took third in the championship, a fitting reward for a solid year’s contribution. Tony Masling, navigated by Monty Suffern due to George Fury’s commitments to racing, became a serious contender during the year with his Stanza and finished fourth, while Ed Mulligan, with Geoff Jones, was fifth but they were stymied by reliability problems with their Escort. Wayne Bell had a difficult year with the ageing Commodore, whilst Hugh Bell put in a string of performances that made his previous run of not finishing seem to be in the past.

For others in the top echelon of Australian Rallying, former champions , and George Fury made a cameo appearance at times throughout the series but were really never part of the scene.

Promising of potential things to come were Barry Lowe (Stanza), Gary Burns (ex-works Escort IYK-000), and a pair of Victorians, David Officer and Steve Ashton.

The events included the Dunlop 2GO Rally, based at Gosford, taking over from the long running Bega Valley Rally. South Australia couldn’t mount an event near Adelaide, and attention turned to the Commonwealth Motors Rally based at Broken Hill, which was short, had a poor field of 36 and hardly in keeping with a forest championship concept – but at least it ran, and ran well!

By year’s end it was being realised that Australia was no closer to returning to the mainstream of world rallying, having lost the Castrol International Rally based at Canberra and the Southern Cross International Rally (Port Macquarie). Thoughts were starting to be given to the need for rule changes to attract back manufacturers and longer terms plans were being considered by the National Rally Committee.

ROUND ONE: LUTWYCH SHOPPING VILLAGE RALLY - Queensland

Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) added a new spark to Australian rallying when they drove their ex-works Fiat 131 Abarth to a win in the first round of the 1981 championship in the Lutwyche Shopping Centre Rally in Queensland. They won by six and half minutes from Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones (Ford Escort RS 1800), with Wayne Bell/Col parry (Holden Commodore) third in their ex-Repco Trial Holden Commodore and further four and half minutes behind.

Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas in the ex-works Fiat 131 Abarth

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The biggest news was the disqualification of the provisional winners, Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Datsun 1600). They held the lead mid-way through the final division but their Datsun ‘Grunter’ ground to a halt with a broken differential carrier and it seemed they were out of the event but when the stage was cancelled (as later crews had to compete in daylight) they were able to make emergency repairs and continue to finish in first place. However, a series of official enquiries ruled that they had notified their retirement from the event and could not be included in the placings.

The 300 kilometre event was divided into three divisions and run through rally familiar country north of Brisbane and attracted 85 entries.

The rally started with a special stage in the Mt Coo-tha quarry near Brisbane city and Portman showed he meant business by taking three seconds from Mulligan. Carr was getting accustomed to the left-hand-drive Fiat and was off the pace for the whole of the first division. Hugh Bell/Steve Ellis (Datsun 1600) was an early dropout, rolling the 1600 and Murray Coote, in a new turbocharged Datsun 200B also dropped out with differential troubles while Bob Nicoli put his ex- Fury Datsun Stanza away with gearbox and differential woes. Portman established a comfortable lead while Mulligan, Wayne Nell and Dennis Brown/Warren Tegg (Ford Escort) were going well. Carr was hampered by unsuitable tyres.

Division two took crews further north to Gympie and seven special stages. Portman showed the way and Carr was slowed by a puncture but finally got on the pace when he changed the Fiat over to softer compound tyres halfway through the night. Mulligan was showing his potential with the Escort and Doug Thompson/Jim Maude (Datsun Stanza) were making up places with a tidy drive. Dennis Brown, who had been fourth after division one, dropped back to tenth during the night with fuel pump troubles.

Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones took the Ford Escort BDA to second place.

Some doing well included Peter Glennie/Brian Smith (Datsun Stanza) and Mark Taylor/Errol Bailey (Mitsubishi Lancer) and Peter Marcovich/Greg Weale (Ford Escort) who were eventually to get just inside the top ten finishers.

The stage that troubled Portman also troubled Dennis Brown when he crashed and did considerable damage to the front left corner of the Escort. John Atkinson, with Monty Suffern in a Datsun Stanza, lost any chance of a top group finish when he dropped a bundle of time. Ron Cremen’s Datsun Stanza, the oldest still running, broke its differential with two special stages to go.

Carr/Gocentas ended an 11-straight winning streak by Datsuns and confounded the many predictions that the Abarth would be too fragile for Australian conditions. Mulligan’s second was his best result with the often-troublesome BDA while Bell had done his usual job with the unwieldly Commodore. Glennie’s fourth was quite outstanding, while Thompson and Atkinson had a promising start to the new season.

1 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 2 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Ford Escort RS 1800 3 Wayne Bell Col Parry Holden Commodore 4 Peter Glennie Brian Smith Datsun Stanza 5 Doug Thompson Jim Maude Datsun Stanza 6 Dennis Brown Warren Tegg Ford Escort 7 John Atkinson Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza 8 Mark Taylor Errol Bailey Mitsubishi Lancer 9 Peter Marcovich Greg Weale Ford Escort 119

ROUND TWO: SUNDAY TIMES SAFARI – Western Australia

Once again it was Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Datsun 1600) and Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) who were the only serious contenders for victory and the result was only sealed in the former’s favour after the Fiat punctured five stages from home.

The competition throughout the event was fierce and just 13 minutes covered the top ten place-getters. The rally attracted a 75-strong entry and the top crews crossing the Nullabor included Portman and Carr, Wayne Bell/Col Parry (running for the last time in the Holden Commodore), Hugh Bell/Steve Ellis (Datsun 1600), Tony Masling/Geoff Jones (Datsun Stanza), Doug Thompson/Jim Maude (Datsun Stanza) and John Atkinson/Monty Suffern (Datsun Stanza). Locals include Clive Slater/Rod van der Straaten (Toyota Corolla), Bob Nicoli/David Hartley (Datsun Stanza) and Jim Martin/Peter Macneall (Datsun 1600), and Ross Dunkerton/Mike Ryan (Datsun 1600) as well as Danny Bignell/ Braimbridge (Datsun 120Y) and Frank Johnson (rotary-powered Mazda 323).

Slater headed the field on the first special stage and John Macara was lucky to get through after hitting a tree with his Mazda but was able to continue until the second division when he was outed with electrical troubles. Division one stages were all short and this suited Hugh Bell who took an early lead and after seven stages he was eight seconds up on Portman, with Bignell six seconds away in third. Johnson lost some time when a brake line broke, while Wayne Bell lost time when he stuck the Commodore on a log. The overnight stop was at Bunbury.

It was still Hugh Bell leading the field at the Sunday re-start but his moment of glory was short-lived as the Datsun’s clutch failed after two special stages and Bignell shortly followed with a blown head gasket. Carr was continuing to make up time but he then punctured and lost 90 seconds but he had pulled back to fourth by the next break, with only Dunkerton and Nicoli between him and Portman. Wayne Bell was being slowed by a persistent miss in the Commodore.

As the second night fell there were eight remaining stages in the forests. Carr took time off Portman in the first three stages but he realised he couldn’t catch Portman and both eased their pace towards the finish. Dunkerton saw his good run come to an end when he blew the gearbox and Frank Johnson fell by the wayside when the Mazda broke its axle. Nicoli fell back in the frantic run to the finish, while Atkinson also lost five minutes with mechanical woes and was tenth at the end. The battle between Slater and Masling was in doubt until the finish but the former got there by 17 seconds.

A win and a second in the two rounds to date saw Carr/Gocentas on 42 championship points to Portman/Runnalls on 24. The new scoring system awarded equal points for Group G and , irrespective of outright placing.

1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 157.26 2 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 138.59 3 Clive Slater Rod van der Straaten Toyota Corolla 161.26 4 Tony Masling Geoff Jones Datsun Stanza 161.43 5 Bob Nicoli David Hartley Datsun Stanza 163.20 6 Doug Thompson Jim Maude Datsun Stanza 165.35 7 Wayne Bell Col Parry Holden Commodore 8 Jim Martin Peter Macneall Datsun 1600 9 Mark Anderson David Barton Datsun 1600 10 John Atkinson Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza

ROUND THREE: DUNLOP 2GO – New South Wales

Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Datsun 1600 ‘Grunter’) beat the hottest field seen in Australian rallying for several seasons in the new round of the championship – the Dunlop 2GO Rally based at Gosford, north of Sydney. Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) were second by 28 seconds, and a further three minutes away in third were Hugh Bell/Steve Ellis (Datsun 1600).

The battle for victory may have been a two-way tussle between Portman and Carr, but there were plenty of good efforts further back in the field – Tony Masling/Dave Boddy (Datsun Stanza V8), Garry Burns/Jim Gleeson in the ex-works Escort IYK-000, Colin Bond/John Dawson-Damer (Triumph TR7 V8), after a twelve months break from rallying and Wayne Bell/Col Parry Holden Commodore V8. Also attending were former Australian champions George Fury/Monty Suffern (Datsun 1600) and Ross Dunkerton/Jeff Beaumont (Datsun 1600).

Burns was the find of the rally but there were good efforts from Ian Hill/Phil Bonser (Ford Escort RS 1800) and David/Kate Officer in their Mitsubishi Galant. The Officers eventually were eighth but were as high as fourth before overturning late on the Saturday night.

New Caledonian Jean-Louis Leyraud (ex-Mikkola Ford Escort) and New Zealander Baron Robertson (Chevrolet Chevette) were the overseas visitors.

Run over two days and 500 kilometres, the rally attracted 84 entries. Included in the field were four winners, including Kevin Bartlett (Ford Escort) and Bob Morris (Datsun 180B) and the Australian rally champions for the past eight years.

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Carr was quickest on the first stage and his rally very near finished at the end of the second when the Fiat flew off the road at a badly-sited control board followed by a very tight corner. It went down a sheer 10 metre drop and was winched back to the road and continue in the event, although a bent chassis rail meant the handling was never the same. Other problems in the event, including a clutch failure, brake problems and bald tyres meant that Carr was never able to get on to equal terms with Portman.

Colin Bond/John Dawson-Damer in the Triumph TR7 V8

By the end of the first division Portman had forged to the lead, 17 seconds ahead of Hugh Bell with Carr third. Mike Bell (Ford Escort RS 1800) had blown a head gasket and Jim Middleton had a broken alternator on his Datsun 1600. Ian Hill battled his way up to second and then an alternator bracket failed and hedropped back to 43rd placing. Fury was well back in the pack and retired in the second division.

By the end of the night Carr was in second place, 71 seconds behind Portman. Hugh Bell was third, and Tony Masling moved into fourth and Wayne Bell into fifth. Among the retirements were Kevin Bartlett after rolling the Escort, injuring slightly both himself and his navigator, Phil Scott. Frank Neale had blown his engine in his Toyota and Rod Jones broke an axle in his Datsun 1600.

Just after the restart on Sunday Carr spun on bald tyres and thereafter was content to secure second place. In the closing stages Masling and Burns performed well, and Bond pulled up six places. Wayne Bell/Col Parry took a wrong road and dropped from a possible sixth to 19th. There were others who also went wrong at the same place. The final disappointment of the event was experienced by Ed Mulligan when his Ford Escort clutch failed just three kilometres from the finish.

Masling/Boddy brought their V8 Stanza home in fourth, just over four minutes after Hugh Bell, then Garry Burns/Jim Gleeson followed in fifth 71 seconds later and Colin Bond/John Dawson-Damer, after loads of problems with the V8 Triumph, finished sixth, a further 17 seconds behind Burns.

1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 2:44:55 2 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 2:45:23 3 Hugh Bell Steve Ellis Datsun 1600 2:48:15 4 Tony Masling Dave Boddy Datsun Stanza V8 2:49:29 5 Garry Burns Jim Gleeson Ford Escort RS 1800 2:50:40 6 Colin Bond John Dawson-Damer Triumph TR8 2:50:57 7 Ross Dunkerton Phil Rainer Datsun 1600 2:51:22 8 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 2:52:15 9 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza 2:53:13 10 Clive Slater Adrian Stafford Toyota Corolla 2:55:44

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Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas settled for second place in the Fiat 131 Abarth after getting down to bald tyres

ROUND FOUR: COMMONWEALTH MOTORS RALLY – South Australia

Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Datsun 1600 ‘Grunter’) set a cracking pace from the start of the rally which was to net them fastest time on 12 of the 14 special stages. Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) were to beat them on one stage while the two of them shared the honors on the other.

The opening stages were very rough, with plenty of rocky crests, sandy creeks and gutters. Portman took eight seconds off Carr and a further 35 seconds from Tony Masling/Dave Boddy (Datsun Stanza V8). Wayne Bell/Col Parry (Holden Commodore V8), Garry Burns/Jim Gleeson (Ford Escort RS 1800) and Ed Mulligan (Ford Escort RS 1800) were the others in the leading group.

Later in the division Clive Slater, coming from West Australia as did John Macara, dropped out early when the gearbox failed on his Toyota Corolla. Mulligan slid off the road at a sandy corner and perched the Escort on a mound while Masling had distributor problems with the Stanza. Both were able to continue in spite of losing a lot of time but Masling withdrew at the end of the daylight stages when well back in the 36 car field.

Back at Broken Hill for the first break Portman had a three second lead over Carr, with Burns next. Following the break the roads became faster and smoother but still Carr could not bridge the gap to Portman, as the Datsun had the edge in top speed and the Abarth had to be driven carefully through the many rough creeks and gutters. Peter Glennie/Brian Smith (Datsun Stanza) and John Macara/David Hatley (Mazda) now began to show their pace and they moved into the group behind the fliers at the head of the field. Bell’s Commodore was in trouble when a massive jump resulted in suspension troubles which were eventually to spell its end.

Carr was now trying everything to get on terms with Portman, and this was obvious when he finished stage nine with a guard torn from the Fiat. He stated that he had been cutting corners to try and save time and been caught in a set of ruts which put the Fiat into a small tree. Burns was not so lucky when he hit a tree in the same stage with the back end of the Stanza and the differential housing was bent in the impact and his promising run was over.

At the break before he night stages, at the Quandong Hotel, Portman was more than a minute ahead of Carr, with Thompson third and then Glennie and Barry Lowe/Ted Dobrzynski (Datsun Dazda).

The night competition was scheduled to be very short, with just three stages. On the first stage there was a bad instruction which was to end any doubt about the rally winner. Portman/Runnalls arrived first and although confused about the correct road they were helped by parked spectators’ cars that blocked one option. By the time Carr/Gocentas arrived the cars had been moved and they lost about two minutes before getting back onto the correct course.

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Portman was victorious by just under four minutes from Carr, with Thompson another four minutes away in third, followed by Lowe (after more than a minute), Atkinson (over three minutes) and local grade two driver Don Ogilvie, with Stephen Simmons, sixth in their Datsun 1600 just over two minutes from Atkinson.

With only the Alpine Rally left in the series Portman and Runnalls trailed Carr/Gocentas 78-72 (the points allocation system favoured Group A cars). Thompson was third in the pointscore.

1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 105.43 2 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 109.30 3 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza 113.51 4 Barry Lowe Ted Dodrzynski Datsun 1600/Dazda 115.24 5 John Atkinson Monty Suffern Datsun Stanza 118.47 6 Don Ogilvie Stephen Simmons Datsun 120.53 7 John Macara David Hartley Mazda 121.20 8 Phil Horan Adrian Ward Datsun 123.40 9 Peter Pittaway Greg Travers Datsun 124.36 10 Kevin Pedder Peter Gubbins Datsun 125.03

Red dust in the Outback!

ROUND FIVE: ALPINE RALLY - Victoria

Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Datsun 1600 ‘Grunter’) put the seal on the successful defence of their Australian Rally Championship with a resounding win in the Alpine Rally, with a 15 minute margin over second-paced Doug Thompson/Ron Lugg (Datsun Stanza) and third-placed Steve Ashton/Rosemary Nixon (Datsun Stanza), 39 seconds away.

Greg Carr, with five previous wins in the Alpine Rally, and Fred Gocentas suffered a broken differential and rear suspension strut and persistent fuel troubles with the Fiat 131 Abarth and finished fourth, nearly five minutes behind third. But nobody could say they didn’t try.

The rally opened in familiar style with the first of three visits to the Bright speedway located at the sports ground, and then in to the forests on the way to a break at Beechworth. Right from the start some were in trouble – Garry Burns/Jim Gleeson (Ford Escort RS 1800) got no further than the start of the first stage as the car destroyed a differential and Bob Watson didn’t get far in the Australian debut of the Renault R5 turbo. On the second stage the differential, said by Bob to be ‘’the only British part in the car’’, failed. Portman spun and stalled to lose time and complained at the break about overheating, and Hugh Bell ran out of fuel. Carr lost three minutes when the Fiat’s differential failed while George Fury/Simon Brown (Datsun 120Y) and Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones (Ford Escort) both had broken axles but were continuing, and Wayne Bell/Col Parry (Holden Commodore V8) were out having run an engine bearing.

At Beechworth Portman led from Hugh Bell, Carr, Fury and Steve Ashton.

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The rally lost Fury just after the break, as navigator Simon Brown was too ill to continue. It was during the afternoon’s run that Carr’s fate was sealed. Portman’s overheating problem had been traced to a faulty gauge, but now the Fiat was suffering fuel problems with air finding its way into the system and the car stopped more than once, dropping Carr/Gocentas down to 26th place. The daylight stages ended with a break at Wodonga and Hugh Bell was now only a second behind Portman. John Atkinson (Datsun Stanza) retired at the break with broken differential mounts after hitting a bank, while Ian Hill/Phil Bonser (Ford Escort RS 1800) was fourth, but was soon destined to be out with a blown head gasket.

As usual it was a tough night on the return trip to Bright and Portman simply flew, and with thick dust behind him had established a break of five minutes over Bell by the end of the division. Bell’s hopes had not been helped by electrical problems which denied him high beam as well as rear suspension problems before putting the car away for the night. There were several changes during the division, with Ashton displacing Thompson from second and Brian Smith/Peter Mignot (Mitsubishi Galant) moving into fifth place. Peter Clark/Mick Harker (Datsun Stanza) moved up to sixth, and Jon Waterhouse/Gregory Avon (Mazda RX7) to seventh. Among the casualties were Chris Brown, who hit a bank and suffered from engine problems and Mulligan, who had the water pump gasket fail. Carr was 15th.

A Greg Carr Support Group!!

The conditions during Sunday were hotter and dustier than Saturday and Portman drove steadily at the head of the field. Bell had not given up and pressed hard but he was robbed of second place when the Datsun was struck by an untraceable fuel problem. Now the interest was on Thompson and Ashton and it was eventually the former who go the better of their battle to take second place and the latter third by 39 seconds. Carr really flew to pip Ian Swan/Derek Rawson (Datsun Stanza) for fourth, 46 seconds separating them. Brian Smith came in sixth.

So, Geoff Portman and Ross Runnalls were the Australian Rally Champion driver and navigator for the second successive year.

1 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Datsun 1600 340:56 2 Doug Thompson Ron Lugg Datsun Stanza 354:39 3 Steve Ashton Rosemary Nixon Datsun Stanza 355:18 4 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 359:53 5 Ian Swan Derek Rawson Datsun Stanza 360:39 6 Brian Smith Peter Mignot Mitsubishi Galant 361:37 7 Peter Clarke Michael Harker Datsun Stanza 362:41 8 Paul Bramble Kel Haynes Mitsubishi Lancer 364:34 9 Chris Berry Ray Stubbs Datsun 364:44 10 Jon Waterhouse Gregory Avon Mazda RX7 366:04

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