1984 CAMS AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP

THE EVENTS The 1984 CAMS Australian Rally Championship: 1 Canon Zodiac Rally Victoria Officer/Hobson 2 Mid-State Television Rally New South Wales Bathurst Light Car Club Carr/Gocentas 3 James Hardie National Rally Queensland Brisbane Sporting Car Club Carr/Gocentas 4 Sunday Times Safari West Australia West Australian Car Club Nicoli/Macneall 5 Dunlop 2GO Rally New South Wales Deepwater Sporting Car Club Hill/Bonser 6 Alpine Rally Victoria Light Car Club of Australia Officer/Hobson

FINAL POINTS 1 David Officer Vic 98 1 Kate Hobson (Officer*) Vic 98 2 Ed Mulligan NSW 90 2 Geoff Jones NSW 90 3 Greg Carr ACT 68 3 Fred Gocentas ACT 68 4 Murray Coote Qld 58 4 Iain Stewart Qld 58 5 Jim Middleton NSW 50 5 Phil Bonser NSW 42 6 Ian Hill NSW 42 6 Gary Marshall NSW 35 7 Terry Kuss SA 34 7 Bob Carpenter NSW 32 8 Rob Worboys NSW 32 8 Meg David Qld 32 9 Caroline NSW 21 9 Mick Harker ACT 29 O’Shannessy 10 Peter Clark ACT 29 =10 Bob Darrant SA 24 =10 Ross Runnalls Vic 24 =10 Peter Macneal WA 24 * Dinta and Kate were married in May 1984

Interstate Challenge Shield Points scored by the best three placed drivers from each state in each championship round (ACT included in NSW) NSW 248 Vic 175 Qld 84 WA 70 SA 41 Tas -

Manufacturers Award Not awarded.

1984 Australian Rally Champions – David Officer, Kate Hobson and Mitsubishi Galant 132

SUMMARY

The 17th Australian Rally Championship was held over six events across Australia, the season consisting of one event each for Queensland and West Australia and two each for New South Wales and Victoria. It was an unusual season, with very little manufacturer backing and a mix of classes with the introduction of the Production Rally Car (PRC) Category. Both PRC and Group G were awarded equal points towards the championship, with bonus points for the first four outright placings. This was to cause a split in the sport which became a huge rift as the season progressed, as the various factions hardened their attitudes to the unusual scoring method. So it was a strange and difficult year, which again saw rallying wandering in the motor sport wilderness, but there were signs of revival of manufacturer interest, with Subaru standing on the sidelines during the latter part of the year looking to decide to enter a fleet to four-wheel drive cars.

At the start of the year the obvious title contenders were Greg Carr, Geoff Portman and David Officer in the Group G category, while Ed Mulligan decided to try the PRC ‘back door’ to victory. In the end only Officer and Mulligan stayed within their original plans as both Carr and Portman made a foray into PRC during the series.

1984 may have been Officers year but Greg Carr was the fastest driver in the ‘time bomb’ – as the Fiat 131 Abarth was referred to – managing to end the Carr/Fred Gocentas prpospects of winning the series with a series of unpredictable, and sometimes unexplained, mechanical failures, quite unlike their 1983 experience.

Portman had a difficult year with the Nissan Bluebird, the choice of vehicle being a poor one; Ian Hill/Phil Bonser did well with the ex-works Ford Escort (picking up a win) and Murray Coote/Iain Stewart picked up top placings with their radical and well-prepared Datsun 1200. appeared twice in his Datsun 1600 and evergreen Clive Slater continued his cross-country forays from Perth, but without any success, although he picked up a very fine second in his home championship event. George Fury made a single appearance in the Alpine Rally and Hugh Bell, after a fine 1983, slipped back, finishing in the top ten on only one occasion.

David Officer, with Kate Hobson (later Officer) took off the first event at Bairnsdale in Victoria after both Portman and Carr fell by the wayside; Ed Mulligan’s plan via the PRC route immediately paid off when he took maximum PRC points to equal Officer, but who was just ahead because of the extra bonus points. Then at Bathurst, Carr/Fred Gocentas took off the win from Hill and Portman, with Mulligan again leading PRC. Officer slid off the road into retirement.

Round three was in Queensland where Carr again won, ahead of Officer and Coote, with Mulligan continuing his winning streak in PRC. Then for the Perth round Carr swapped to the Jim Middleton’s PRC Commodore in an effort to check Mulligan and was successful. The Dunlop-2GO, again replacing the long standing Bega Valley Rally, and run for the first time as a four day event, saw Ian Hill/Phil Bonser take the win, ahead of Officer and Dunkerton. Japanese driver Hotta and Wayne Bell (driving the second Fiat to run interference in Mulligan’s point-scoring) checked Mulligan into third PRC place.

This all meant that the title battle went down to the running of the Alpine Rally, where Officer took off the event and the championship. Mulligan needed to win PRC to take the championship but came second to Jim Middleton/Garry Marshall.

Although the scoring for Group G and PRC caused controversy at least it made the season interesting.

ROUND ONE: CANON ZODIAC RALLY – Victoria 1

David Officer and Kate Hobson (Mitsubishi Galant) finally cemented their place at the top rank of Australian rallying with a comfortable win in the opening round, being the first title-round victory for the pair. They won by five minutes from Chris Brown/Noel Richards (Datsun 180B SSS) while Peter Clark/Mick Harker (Datsun Stanza) were another four minutes behind in third place.

The championship was a six-round series, in which crews could count their best five results. Only 31 entries started this first round, which was a new event to the series and was the first to apply the new CAMS ruling of equal status between the Group G and the new Production Rally Car (PRC) category but this was poorly supported with only three starters – Ed Mulligan (Mazda RX7), Caroline O’Shannessy (Fiat 131 Superbrava) and Terry Kuss (Mitsubishi Starion).

Based at Bairnsdale in Gippsland Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) set off in determined fashion and were fastest on three of the first four stages, with Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Nissan Bluebird) right with them as was Brian Smith/Peter Mignot (Mitsubishi Galant), who was soon to be the first retirement, with gearbox troubles.

As the rally moved into the Bruthen area Officer took on the role of ‘best of the rest’, with John Atkinson/Stephen Robertson (Datsun Stanza) also starting well, just ahead of Chris Brown and Peter Clark.

At the first break back in Bairnsdale, Carr led Portman by just seven seconds but he opened the gap early in the second division, assisted by Portman hitting a tree heavily with the rear end of the Bluebird. A spate of retirements was climaxed by the news that Carr/Gocentas were out when they failed to start special stage 19. The fault was traced to the ignition pack but by the time the service crew were summoned and they arrived and corrected the problem the late time was reached and the leaders were out.

133

David and Kate Hobson

Portman moved to the lead with Officer putting up a strong challenge and clipped his lead to seven seconds. Brown moved into third, although four minutes behind, ahead of John Macara (Dazda), Peter Clark, Murray Coote/Iain Smith (Datsun 120Y) and John Atkinson, who had several time-consuming excursions off the road.

Cars were impounded overnight and this proved to be Macara’s undoing for his service crew did not have enough time to change a damaged A-arm before the Sunday morning re-start.

Mulligan was dominating Group A with Kuss suffering a variety of minor niggles and O’Shannessy unable to consistently match the experienced Mulligan’s pace.

Portman set off at the head of the field but soon was out with engine failure with the Bluebird while fending off Officer’s challenge. Atkinson could not haul in Clarke, let alone Officer, and once Portman was out it was a matter of what would be his winning margin as no-one could challenge Officer, and Brown was content to pick up second place,

At the end it was Officer more than five minutes ahead of Brown, then nearly three minutes to Clarke, two minutes to Atkinson and Coote who were equal fourth, and sixth went to Phil Horan/Adrian Ward (Datsun Stanza) a further eight minutes away.

Mulligan won Group A from O’Shannessy and then Kuss.

Group G 1 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 4:34:14 2 Chris Brown Noel Richards Datsun 180B SSS 4:39:49 3 Peter Clarke Mick Harker Datsun Stanza 4:42:00 =4 John Atkinson Stephen Robertson Datsun Stanza 4:44:14 =4 Murray Coote Iain Stewart Datsun 120Y 4:44:14 6 Phil Horan Adrian Ward Datsun Stanza 4:52:16 7 Jack Wightman Jon Thomson Datsun 1600 4:54:43 8 John Berne Bruce Fullerton Ford Escort RS 1800 4:55:25 9 Jim Kennedy Jim Davis Mazda 626 4:56:40 10 Hugh Bell Steve Ellis Datsun 1600 ‘Dazda’ 5:00:37

Group A 1 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Mazda RX7 5:08:55 2 Caroline O’Shannessy Meg David Fiat 131 Superbrava 5:19:40 3 Terry Kuss Bob Durrant Mitsubishi Starion 5:38:40

134

ROUND TWO: MID-STATE TELEVISION RALLY – New South Wales 1

55 crews fronted the Mid-state Television Rally, based at Bathurst. It was another new addition to the championship series and unfortunately it only lasted the one year.

Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) had a convincing win in the second event of the series, being the pacesetters throughout the rally which was conducted over forests and open country roads, but they had to overcome the threat of a broken differential on their way to victory. Ian Hill/Phil Bonser (Ford Escort RS 1800) took second place just under four minutes from the lead, and Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Nissan Bluebird) were less than two minutes away in third place.

Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones (Mazda RX7) won the Group A (Production Rally Car- PRC) category, nine minutes ahead of Jim Middleton/Garry Marshall (Holden Commodore) and a further four minutes to third place-getter Rob Worboys/Bob Carpenter (Ford Laser). In all six cars were entered in PRC.

Back in Bathurst after the first morning’s competition Carr had a 28 second lead over David Officer/Kate Hobson (Mitsubishi Galant), with Hill just behind, followed by John Macara (Dazda) only ten seconds behind Officer. Portman was fifth, having been off the pace.

The afternoon competition took the field to the Sunny Corner forest and on to the mealbreak at Oberon. The stages were tighter and Carr had to give his best on some stages to Officer and Hill, with Portman struggling with the Bluebird substitute engine after losing the 2.4 twin cam engine in the first round. Late in the division Carr had a puncture but it was not enough to lose the lead. By Oberon Carr had extended his lead over Officer to just over a minute, with 40 seconds to Hill. Macara fell by the wayside so Portman was now fourth, with Murray Coote/Iain Stewart 39 seconds behind.

As darkness fell Carr continued his pace, taking up to a minute off his nearest rivals on some stages. Hill began to challenge Officer with a string of fast times but Macara retired from sixth place with a jammed gearbox. Others to retire included Gordon Leven (Datsun Stanza) who ran out of alternators, and John Berne (Ford Escort) who blew a head gasket.

By the end of the night Carr had opened his gap to Officer to three minutes, while Hill was now just 16 seconds behind the second place-getter, with Portman holding fourth. Peter Glennie/Brian Smith (Datsun Stanza) had flown through the night and was in sixth place, behind Coote.

Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas – Fiat 131 Abarth

Mulligan was leading PRC from Jim Middleton by eight minutes but was some 20 minutes off Carr’s pace.

There were 10 special stages on the Sunday and they provided plenty of action. Portman decided to attack and took a string of fastest times. The big excitement came when Carr’s 131 broke its differential and he limped to the service break where all was fixed with just two minutes of late time remaining. Officer did not survive the division, sliding off the road and into a dam to become one of the event’s 25 retirements. With Carr now holding onto his advantage and Hill and Portman entrenched in the minor placings, interest switched to the battle behind. Peter Clark/Mick Harker (Datsun Stanza) had moved to sixth place from 14th at division start. As the battle for the placings ran its course, Coote edged out Glennie, with Smith and Clark tying for sixth.

135

Ian Hill and Phil Bonser took the Ford Escort RS 1800 to a fine second place

Mulligan was the victor in PRC by over nine minutes from Middleton, with another four minutes to Worboys, then Terry Kuss/Keith Newby (Mitsubishi Starion) and Caroline O’Shannessy/Meg Davis (Fiat 131 Superbrava).

Group G 1 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 242:38 2 Ian Hill Phil Bonser Ford Escort RS 1800 246:06 3 Geoff Portman Ross Runnalls Nissan Bluebird 248:31 4 Murray Coote Iain Stewart Datsun 120Y 251:10 5 Peter Glennie Brian Smith Datsun Stanza 255:16 =6 Brian Smith Peter Mignot Mitsubishi Galant 256:21 =6 Peter Clark Mick Harker Datsun Stanza 256:21 8 Jack Wightman Jim Gleeson Datsun 1600 257:51 9 Phil Horan Adrian Ward Datsun 1600 261:13 10 Frank Neale Phillip Dodd Mitsubishi Lancer 261:21

Group A 1 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Mazda RX7 277:33 2 Jim Middleton Garry Marshall Holden Commodore 283:56 =3 Rob Worboys Bob Carpenter Ford Laser 287:50 =3 Terry Kuss Keith Newby Mitsubishi Starion 287:50 5 Caroline O’Shannessy Meg Davis Fiat 131 Superbrava 288:57

ROUND THREE: JAMES HARDIE RALLY – Queensland

The field for the James Hardie Rally was large and varied but lacked the top-end strength of the second round at Bathurst. The event started with a well-supported spectator stage at the Mt Coot-tha quarry and Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) established their superiority right from the start with a time six seconds quicker than the previous year and 11 seconds quicker than the next fastest, Murray Coote/Iain Stewart (Datsun 120Y) and John Berne (Ford Escort RS 2000).

Former motorcycle champion Gregg Hansford was entered in a Mazda RX7 for his first rally and was forced to skip several stages due to a fuel blockage.

The rally covered familiar territory with a very long night followed by two daylight stages on Sunday. The first break was at Imbil and Carr was well in command from Coote, Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Nissan Bluebird) and David Officer/Kate Hobson (Mitsubishi Galant), with Peter Glennie/Brian Smith (Datsun Stanza) travelling quickly behind them. A number didn’t make it including Berne who broke the rear axle and George Kahler (Ford Escort) who hit a bank with some force.

Throughout the darkness, Carr continued to lead the way and top the times in the Fiat. His pursuers varied, but generally it was Officer and Coote who were closest. On stage eight Portman’s Bluebird’s gearbox broke and he was out. As the night wore on Officer headed those chasing Carr, but never really looked like offering a serious threat, but he had to watch his tail as Coote was setting some fast times, and on a 44 kilometres stage took 38 seconds from Officer but this 136 was not enough to bridge the gap. Glennie’s hope of a good finish faded when he spun and was stuck for 20 minutes in a gutter with no starter.

Peter Clark/Mick Harker Datsun Stanza

At the end of the night the rally was just about decided, although Peter Clark/Mick Harker (Datsun Stanza) had pulled up well to be fourth, behind Coote, Officer and Carr, who had an almost eight minute win.

In PRC Mulligan sneaked into first place by 28 seconds from Middleton, with almost two minutes to Worboys.

With the championship series at its halfway mark Mulligan/Jones were in the lead with their hat-trick of wins in PRC from Carr/Gocentas with their two wins in Group G. Officer/Hobson (Group G) with a win and a second were in third place.

Murray Coote/Iain Stewart in the Datsun 1200 Coupe

Group G 1 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 254:12 2 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 261:57 3 Murray Coote Iain Stewart Datsun 1200 262:56 4 Peter Clark Mick Harker Datsun Stanza 268:35 5 Jack Wightman Jon Thompson Datsun 1600 279:56 6 Robert Bell Ray Temple Ford Escort 282:22

Group A 1 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Mazda RX7 283:39 2 Jim Middleton Peter Young Holden Commodore 284:07 3 Rob Worboys Bob Carpenter Ford Laser 285:57 137

ROUND FOUR: SUNDAY TIMES SAFARI – Western Australia

The big surprise was Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas turning up in a PRC Holden Commodore (courtesy of Jim Middleton), forsaking the Group G Fiat 131 Abarth, to take on Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones (Mazda RX7) in a head-to-head battle to try and prevent the Mazda driver taking a clean sweep of the PRC points.

The Safari, run over the long weekend in West Australia, suffered from the new national championship format which allowed crews to drop the worse of their six results and because of this only five eastern-state crews were in the 64 strong field. They included Carr and Mulligan, David Officer/Kate Hobson (Mitsubishi Galant) and Caroline O’Shannessy/Meg Davis (Fiat 131), who, sadly, was severely injured in an incident when being ferried out after her 131 had been retired. It was some time before the extent of her injuries were realised and many months before she fully recovered.

John Macara (Dazda) was the early leader but he was not to last long, for the Dazda cooked its motor after throwing a fan belt. Ross Dunkerton/Steve McKimmie did not last much longer, for after breaking a driveshaft on the second stage, he holed the radiator and the head gasket failed under the strain. So it was Clive Slater/Rod van der Straaten (Toyota Corolla) who took the lead with Officer and Bob Nicoli/Peter Macneall (Datsun Stanza) who took over the front running in a three-way battle for the lead. But he lost it when he put the Corolla into a stump on the final stage of the first division, where Officer was 26 seconds ahead of Nicoli, while relative unknown Peter Flood, son of former West Australian champion rally driver John Flood, had done well to move into third in his Datsun 120Y.

The PRC battle was going Carr’s way in the Commodore from Mulligan.

There were eight stages on the Saturday night, which ended at Busselton, and Officer won five of them, although he had a puncture in one. Nicoli ended with a 42 second lead and Slater was third while Rolly Waters/Geoff Mills (Ford Escort) jumped Flood. Carr had problems with the Commodore and this let Mulligan into the PRC lead.

On the daylight stages on the Sunday Officer was driving well over the nine stages and pegged back Nicoli to eventually take a 15 second advantage. Slater was still third but three minutes down. As night fell the rally moved into an area made muddy by heavy rain on the previous day and for the first four stages Officer managed to extend his lead over Nicoli with a string of fastest times but then it all came undone when an alternator wire snapped and the Galant ground to a halt with no power. Nicoli and Slater slipped past before Officer could get going again.

Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas ‘borrowed’ a Holden Commodore from Jim Middleton and won Group A to keep themselves in the ARC pointscore

So, at the finish, Nicoli held on to score a win by almost three minutes from Slater, then less than two minutes to Officer, and then a gap of eight minutes to Waters, 33 seconds to Adrian Stafford/Roger Forester (Toyota Corolla) in fifth and over six minutes to Mark Anderson/Peter Baesjov (Datsun 1600) in sixth.

In PRC Carr ended up more than five minutes ahead of Mulligan.

138

Group G 1 Bob Nicoli Peter Macneall Datsun Stanza 237:07 2 Clive Slater Rod van der Straaten Toyota Corolla 239:50 3 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 241:28 4 Rolly Waters Geoff Mills Ford Escort 249:29 5 Adrian Stafford Roger Forester Toyota Corolla 250:02 6 Mark Anderson Peter Baesjov Datsun 1600 256:34

Group A 1 Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Holden Commodore 267:05 2 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Mazda RX7 272:24

ROUND FIVE: DUNLOP 2GO RALLY – New South Wales 2

The rally was expanded to be a four day event more like the old Southern Cross Rally (last run in 1980). The first two days were based at Gosford, with a long loop to Taree on the third day and a final short course around Gosford on the fourth. The event attracted a 53-car field, including English champion Malcolm Wilson once again, this time in ’s Triumph TR7 V8, which went out with engine failure. Several other international entries were received from New Zealand, New Caledonia and Japan. Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls entered Portman’s off road Lada Niva 4WD but the competition was far too quick.

Early in the event Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (back in the Group G Fiat 131 Abarth after the PRC Holden Commodore experience in the fourth round in Western Australia) began with fastest times although his plan was to ‘take it easy’, and Ross Dunkerton/Steve McKimmie (Datsun 1600) kept with him. Wilson was not happy, complaining that the Triumph’s back end was ‘diabolical’ and New Zealander Neil Allport/Roger Freeth (Ford Escort RS) was breaking himself in on the unfamiliar terrain. As the field headed into the mountains conditions became quite wet, with sleet at times, and the road were slippery, and several stages had to be re-routed as they were made impassable by the rain.

English star Malcolm Wilson putting the Triumph TR7 V8 through its paces.

Midway through the division Rod Jones (Datsun 1600) was caught by a slippery patch and crashed badly and practically wrote off the car and was hospitalised after breaking his sternum (‘breastbone’). Ian Hill/Phil Bonser (Ford Escort RS 1800) nearly ended their rally in the mud when Hill had a slight off on a fast left-hander and had to winch back onto the road, and took a maximum for the stage. The same corner claimed Dick Johnson (Ford Escort) and Ed Mulligan (Mazda RX7), but they managed to continue without great loss of time.

After the first day’s daylight stages Carr was just over a minute ahead of Allport, while Wilson was third and Hill fourth in spite of his excursion. David Officer/Kate Hobson (Mitsubishi Galant) were fifth and Murray Coote/Iain Stewart (Datsun 1200) sixth.

At the end of the first night’s division Carr was more than two minutes ahead of Allport, with Wilson still third, then Hill, Officer and Dunkerton, followed by Coote, Hugh Bell (Dazda), Warren Ridge (Mitsubishi Lancer) and Ron Cremen/Ray Temple (Toyota Corolla) taking off tenth place.

40 cars started the second day, Sunday, in much drier conditions. Wilson, despite some overheating caused by a faulty radiator, was quickest for most of the day and was about to overtake Allport when the latter went missing on the second last daylight stage – the Escort’s harmonic balancer failed and the cam belt flew off and their event was over. Dick Johnson met his demise on the same stage with engine failure in the Escort.

Carr was running strongly through the Sunday night division and held a lead of almost two minutes over Wilson, with Hill about five minutes further back in third. Dunkerton displaced Officer while Hugh Bell was sixth, followed by Coote, Garry Burns, N. Hotta/S. Inada (Toyota Corolla) and Ron Cremen rounded the top ten. 139

In the battle for PRC honors Japanese crew Hotta/Inada were leading, with Wayne Bell/Dave Boddy (seconded to replace the injured Caroline O’Shannessy in the Fiat 131 Superbrava) second and Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones (Mazda RX7) third – holding ninth, 13th and 16th outright respectively.

At the start of the third day (Monday) Wilson tried to put pressure on Carr but became one of the first casualties of the day with engine failure in the Triumph. Hugh Bell dropped back to 13th with rear suspension troubles and a number of retirements included Peter Glennie/Brian Smith (Datsun Stanza) with engine failure. But the biggest news was Carr’s troubles, with an eight minute lead. First a driveshaft broke and he had to limp through a stage, falling to third, but then a ball-joint broke in the next stage and he lost all hope of winning. However, worse was to come with the Fiat crew excluded after the event from seventh place for the tow they received from Wayne Bell.

Through the night Officer made up ground on Dunkerton to take second, although still four minutes behind the new leader, Hill. At the end of the third day the top ten were Hill, Officer, Dunkerton, Coote, Hotta, Cremen, Carr, Frank Neale, Burns, Wayne Bell.

In PRC Hotta was first, followed by Bell and Mulligan.

The final short division was around Gosford on the Tuesday and the only major retirement was Jim Middleton whose Holden Commodore broke its steering rack. Officer hit big trouble with the Galant when the differential banjo split but he was able to continue at reduced pace with the faulty unit wired in place.

So the rally finished as it had in 1983, with Ian Hill/Phil Bonser taking their Ford Escort RS 1800 to victory with a five minute winning margin. Officer came in second, followed by Dunkerton four minutes in arrears, Coote did well in his radical Datsun 1200 to be 20 seconds behind Dunkerton, Hotta was fifth while Ron Cremen did well in his Toyota Corolla to come in sixth.

Hotta won the PRC category, 20 minutes ahead of Wayne Bell, with Mulligan third seven minutes behind Bell.

With one round left in the series, the Alpine Rally, the championship was to be decided by Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas, David Officer/Kate Officer or Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones.

Group G 1 Ian Hill Phil Bonser Ford Escort RS 1800 7:27:31 2 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 7:32:25 3 Ross Dunkerton Steve McKimmie Datsun 1600 7:36:32 4 Murray Coote Iain Stewart Datsun 1200 7:36:52 5 Ron Cremen Ray Temple Toyota Corolla 7:51:19 6* Greg Carr Fred Gocentas Fiat 131 Abarth 7:42:02 *subsequently excluded for being towed beyond that allowed in the regulations

Group A 1 Noriyuku Hotta S. Inada Toyota Sprinter 7:43:03 2 Wayne Bell Dave Boddy Fiat 131 Superbrava 8:13:22 3 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Mazda RX7 8:20:18

ROUND SIX: ALPINE RALLY – Victoria 2

As usual, the Alpine Rally was held in very hot and dusty conditions in Victoria’s north eastern region and took a heavy toll on the 90 strong field.

From the start on Saturday morning and on the way to the mealbreak at Beechworth, Greg Carr/Fred Gocentas (Fiat 131 Abarth) and Hugh Bell/Steve Ellis (Mazda RX7) set the pace up front but there was enough drama among the top ten to last the whole event.

Geoff Portman/Ross Runnalls (Nissan Bluebird) broke an axle and then drowned the engine in a deep puddle; Ian Hill/Phil Bonser (Ford Escort RS 1800) had punctures and Carr, George Fury/Monty Suffern (Datsun 120Y) and Hugh Bell all crashed. Fury went off on a shire road and lost four minutes, Carr laid the Fiat on its side after a monster jump, and Bell became an immediate retirement after hitting a tree after crossing the timing marker at the end of a stage. Both Carr and Fury cars needed urgent repairs before they could continue. These problems left David Officer/Kate Officer (Mitsubishi Galant) in the lead, ahead of Hill and Portman.

Saturday afternoon saw crews tackle a big loop through the Stanley Plantation back to Bright. Hill/Bonser didn’t last long and broke four teeth off the differential and cruised off the course to pull up at a location where Tom Snooks was entertaining guests at lunch and they soon were consoling themselves with munchies and champagne!

140

Murray Coote/Iain Stewart take the Datsun 1200 to third place

The battle up front was heating up and Clive Slater (Toyota Corolla) putting on a charge and he took the lead from Officer before handing it back when the car’s clutch failed and left him stranded in the forest. As the crews headed into the night stages the order was Officer, Carr (having recovered after having the Fiat’s front end straightened), Portman, Fury, Barry Lowe /Ted Dobrzynski (Dazda), Murray Coote/Iain Stewart (Datsun 1200) and Peter Thompson (Datsun Stanza).

After 90 kilometres of night stages the order at Bright was Officer, only nine seconds ahead of Carr, then Fury and Lowe. Portman was gone, after breaking another axle in the Bluebird. Coote was fifth, then Thompson, Peter Glennie/Brian Smith (Datsun 200B), Gordon Douglas (Ford Escort RS), David Jones/Peter Curtain (Holden Commodore) and West Australian Rolly Waters with Paul Paterson (Ford Escort).

In PRC David Adams (Nissan Pulsar E T) was leading Jim Middleton/Garry Marshall (Holden Commodore), Ed Mulligan/Geoff Jones (Mazda RX7) and Terry Kuss/Bob Durant (Mitsubishi Starion).

On Sunday morning Carr didn’t have to wait long for the outcome of his championship bid, as the Fiat’s engine gave up on the first special stage. Now Officer only had to hold off Fury and, with a three minute buffer, things were looking good for the Galant crew. But Fury moved 50 seconds ahead when Officer suffered starter problems midway through the morning. The battle for first may have been settled, but there was plenty of action behind. Thompson joined the non- finishers when he crashed his Stanza, Barry Lowe fell way down the scoreboard with a broken driveshaft although he came home fourth.

So, David Officer/Kate Hobson brought the Galant home to victory in both the Alpine Rally and the 1984 Championship for Driver and Navigator, a very popular win, one minute ahead of Fury/Suffern in the 120Y and eight minutes to Coote/Stewart in the sports sedan Datsun 1200. Lowe and Dobrzynski were fourth, Glennie/Smith fifth and Jones/Curtain sixth.

In PRC Adam’s Pulsar ended its rally on the end of a tow rope with engine trouble, but Mulligan was second to Middleton and he needed to win PRC to win the championship. Terry Kuss was third, after transplanting an axle from a road car on the Saturday night.

Group G 1 David Officer Kate Hobson Mitsubishi Galant 5:36:12 2 George Fury Monty Suffern Datsun 120Y 5:37:11 3 Murray Coote Iain Stewart Datsun 1200 5:45:38 4 Barry Lowe Ted Dobrzynski Dazda 5:48:52 5 Peter Glennie Brian Smith Datsun 200B 5:53:44 6 David Jones Peter Curtain Holden Commodore V8 5:54:56 7 Dennis Brown Warren Tegg Nissan Stanza 5:56:37 8 Rolly Waters Paul Patterson Ford Escort 5:57:57 9 Garry Harrowfield Ian Ellis Datsun 1600 5:59:59 10 Karl Robertson Tony Best Ford Escort RS 1800 6:00:53

Group A 1 Jim Middleton Garry Marshall Holden Commodore 6:05:55 2 Ed Mulligan Geoff Jones Mazda RX7 6:09:45 3 Terry Kuss Bob Durant Mitsubishi Starion 6:24:43

141