4 Start from Roselands Shopping Centre, Sydney DULUX RALLY TROPHY FOR WINNING CREW more commonly known as the ‘Elephant Penis’ 5 THE ITINERARY The nine-day, 4,300 mile (7,000 kilometre) inaugural Dulux Rally was conducted 7 to 16 August 1971, with Allan Lawson as the Director, and it covered three states - New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. The course: • SaturdaySydney start • SaturdaySilverdale Hillclimb* (practice run then 3 timed runs); overnight Sydney • Sunday Oran Park circuit racing (6 lap races, 2 races each Groups A and B); overnight Tamworth • Monday Rally sections on approach to Grafton • Monday Grafton Hillclimb (run at night – practice run then 3 timed runs) • Monday Rally sections to overnight stop at Murwillumbah • Tuesday Surfers Paradise circuit racing (30 lap race for combined Groups A and B); overnight Brisbane • Wednesday Lakeside racing (1 x 15 lap and 1 x 30 lap for each Group A and B); overnight Goondiwindi • Thurs/Fri Rally sections via Lightning Ridge, Narromine, West Wyalong, Wagga Wagga, o/night at Albury • SaturdayHume Weir circuit racing (one race of 45 laps for combined Group A and B) • SaturdayPractice at Calder Raceway; overnight Tullamarine (Melbourne) • Sunday Calder Raceway circuit racing (6 lap races, 2 races each Groups A and B) • Sunday followed by 400 mile (650km) rally sections through forests east of Melbourne to the finish * although Warwick Farm circuit is shown on the poster this was not used and Silverdale Hillclimb was substituted. ENTRIES The Renault Team had the largest number of the 43 entries in the event (of which 36 started), preparing a brand new R12 Gordini for leading crew Bob Watson (1970 Australian Rally Champion) and Andy Chapman, with R8 Gordinis for Roger Bonhomme/Chris Jessup and Mal McPherson/Jeff Beaumont. The Renault Team’s R8, R12 and R8 in parc ferme during the Dulux Rally The Holden Dealer Team entered a Holden Torana XU1 for Colin Bond/George Shepheard; whilst others to have XU1s included Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer, Mick Brown/Randy Warden and the all-female crew of Brenda Haigh/ Rosemary White. ASCC President John Keran with Kevin Bartlett Keran drove the rally sections whilst Bartlett handled the circuit racing Perhaps the most interesting car in the event was the Alfa Romeo GTV of Alfa Romeo Australia for David McKay/Robin Sharpley. It was fitted with a GTAm 2-litre racing engine from Brian Foley’s racing Alfa. 6 Ford Escorts were popular, examples being entered for Bob Holden/John Dawson-Damer, Bob Inglis/Malcolm Fearns and Garry Mecak/Chris Edwards. Other makes/models included a BMW 2002 (Paul Older/Colin Alexander), Ford Capri V6 (Kevin Bartlett/John Keran), Volvo 164, Falcon GTHO, Mazda Capella, Morris Cooper S, Datsun 1600, Mitsubishi Colt Galant, Honda 1300, etc. Unusual cars for this type of event included a gas-powered Holden Monaro GTS entered by Lionel Williams, an Austin 1800 Kimberley for 1973 Redex Trial winner Ken Tubman, a big Valiant Pacer (Jack ‘Milko’ Murray – no relation to Jack ‘Gelignite’ Murray), a 1962 Citroen ID 19 (Roger Wells) and a 1961 Peugeot 403B (Brian Amey). ENTRY LIST Brian Amey Brian Young Peugeot 403B Kevin Bartlett John Keran Ford Capri V6 Colin Bond George Shepheard Holden Torana XU1 Roger Bonhomme Chris Jessup Renault Gordini 8 Mick Brown Jennie Robinson Holden Torana XU1 Fran Caldwell Morris Cooper S Doug Chivas Norm Bolitho Mitsubishi Colt Galant Norm Colthup Toyota Corolla Sprinter Gary Cooke Doug Coulter Mazda 1300 Barry Coutts Morris Cooper S Bob Drane Datsun 1600 SSS John Elvey Morris Cooper S Keith Goodall Joe Kearney Ford Falcon GTHO Brenda Haigh Rosemary White Holden Torana XU1 Bob Holden John Dawson-Damer Ford Escort TC Bob Inglis Malcolm Fearns Ford Escort TC John Jensen Paul Jensen Ford Capri V6 Kevin Kennedy Keith Evans Ford Falcon 2 Door Jon Leighton Morris Cooper S Charlie Lund Murray Coote Mazda Capella Mick Madden Holden EH Gary McDonald Laurie Garrad Holden Torana GTR David McKay Robin Sharpley Alfa Romeo GTAm Stewart McLeod Adrian Mortimer Holden Torana XU1 Mal McPherson Jeff Beaumont Renault Gordini 8 Garry Mecak Chris Edwards Ford Escort TC Jack (‘Milko’) Murray John Bryson Valiant Pacer Peter Navin Austin 1800 Paul Older Colin Alexander BMW 2002 Ken Tubman Austin Kimberley Graham Ward Peter Meyer Volvo 164 Bob Watson Andy Chapman Renault 12 Gordini Roger Wells W Gregory Citroen ID 19 Lionel Williams Holden Monaro (LPG) Ted Witherdin Morris Mini 7 Some Renault Team Members - Roger Bonhomme, Bob Watson, and Jeff Beaumont with Service Crew Boss Errol Archibald Doug Chivas Stewart McLeod Bob Holden Colin Bond Bob Watson David McKay Kevin Bartlett Roger Bonhomme Ken Tubman Bob Inglis John Keran Peter Meyer 8 THE COMPETITION Division One – Saturday 7 August – Sydney Region (Silverdale Hillclimb & Oran Park Raceway) Silverdale Hillclimb Bob Holden takes the Ford Escort TC up the Silverdale Hillclimb From the Sydney start at the Roselands Shopping Centre the field headed straight for the 543 metres Silverdale Hillclimb, where the competition included a practice run plus three officially timed runs, the times being added together to produce the final results. Colin Bond, a former record holder of the climb, in the Holden Torana XU1 quickly established a lead over the other competitors. Bob Holden was second in his Escort TC followed by David McKay in the Alfa Romeo GTAm (who had not driven the hillclimb for 18 years) on equal third with Stewart McLeod in his XU1. Ken Tubman tackling the Silverdale Hillclimb in the Austin Kimberley Progressive Results after Silverdale Colin Bond 0 pts, Bob Holden 3, David McKay and Stewart McLeod 5, Bob Watson 10, Mick Brown, Roger Bonhomme and Jack ‘Milko’ Murray 11, Kevin Bartlett and Paul Older 15. 9 Already car problems became apparent. Garry Mecak’s Escort TC caught fire when Bob Holden was attempting to help free a carburetor float level which had stuck; quick action by the fire crew at the start line doused the flames. Holden was injured but he managed to fix the problem! Mal McPherson's Renault Gordini 8 differential seized on his practice run, and although this put him back into last position, he stayed with the event to finish a creditable 15th place; whilst Fran Caldwell’s Morris Cooper S broke its steering on the way to the hillclimb, but caught up with the event at Oran Park. Oran Park Practice From Silverdale the field headed to Oran Park for practice, as racing here was part of a large Australian Touring Car Championship race meeting to be conducted the next day. Few in the field, consisting primarily of rally drivers, had ever raced before but there was to be some fine efforts recorded with drivers fighting huge amounts of understeer! Division Two – Sunday 8 August – Sydney to Tamworth Oran Park Raceway After overnighting near Roselands, the second day saw the competitors contest four races at Oran Park, with the field split into Group A (19 cars) and Group B (17 cars) for two races for each Group. Start of a Group B Race at Oran Park Raceway 10 All these cars were rally cars, not race cars! Paul Older’s BMW 2002 and Lionel Williams (LPG Holden Monaro) head the pack through the Oran Park esses before a reported record crowd who went to see a gigantic tussle between Bob Jane (7-litre Chev Camaro) and Allan Moffat (Trans-Am Mustang). Jane won the 45 lap race by 6/10th of a second! In Group A, Bond won the first race (6 laps) by a considerable margin, with a battle being waged for second place between Bartlett, Inglis, Holden and McLeod. McKay had a bad start and worked his way through this battling group one by one to take Bartlett on the last lap. The final order was Bond 5:45:03, McKay 5:56:06, Bartlett 5:59:06, then Inglis, Holden, McLeod, Brown, Watson, Murry and Older. Bob Holden’s Escort’s clutch failed as he left the start line in his first race (which he finished) and the pressure plate disintegrated as he crossed the finish line, smashing much of the gearbox and bell-housing and he determined that the points to be lost in replacing it was not worth the effort and he retired from the event. Bond won the second 6 lap race 5:46:04, followed by McKay 5:58:05 Bartlett 5:56:05 was third, then Inglis, Brown, McLeod, Watson and Murray. Kevin Bartlett takes the Ford Capri V6 to third place in both Group A races at Oran Park In Group B, Garry Mecak won the first race (6 laps) from Brenda Haigh, then followed Keith Goodall: Mecak 6:19:03, Haigh 6:22:00, Goodall 6:22:06. In the second race (also 6 laps) Goodall took the honors followed by Mecak and Haigh; Goodall 6:17:04, Mecak 6:17:09, Haigh 6:23:00 Progressive results after Oran Park: Colin Bond 0, David McKay 19, Stewart McLeod 35, Kevin Bartlett and Mick Brown 40, Ian Inglis 43. Road sections took the cars north to Tamworth for the Sunday night stop, travelling via Newcastle, Maitland and Singleton. 11 Division Three - Monday 9 August – Tamworth to Muwillumbah via Grafton Heads Rally Sections On Monday morning the field contested a couple of short rally sections, run over twisting dirt roads between Tamworth and Grafton and these sections demonstrated that the Alfa Romeo had insufficient ground clearance as it dragged along on its sump guard. These sections were quite tame compared to what lay ahead in the event. On one section there was a creek crossing where the Capri of Keran/Bartlett managed to get water in the distributor which cost the crew four minutes.