Andrew Cowan/Gocentas in the Mitsubishi Lancer GSR – from the cover of the 1976 regulations booklet 1975 8 – 12 OCTOBER SYDNEY – PORT MACQUARIE - SYDNEY 125 PREAMBLE Sydney-Melbourne-Sydney Format In mid-1974 the Australian Sporting Car Club canvassed a return to the format of conducting the event Sydney- Melbourne-Sydney as it did in 1966 to 1968. The wide ranging investigation was carried out in a search for maximum exposure for sponsors, and the Sydney-Melbourne corridor including Canberra, Wagga Wagga and Albury was given serious consideration. In the end, it was decided to put more effort into promoting the event based at Port Macquarie, with the start continuing to be in Sydney, the competition finish at Port Macquarie, and the return of the event to Sydney (Hyde Park) to finish there on the Monday, with a parade through the streets of the capital during the public lunchbreak. Sandcastle Motor Inn Headquarters was moved to the newly-built high-rise Sandcastle Motor Inn, overlooking the water and remained there until the end of the event in 1980. Port Macquarie Impound in front of the Sandcastle Motor Inn Start Order The starting order was seeded (at last!!) within six categories, which were changed from previous years: • The first category was for drivers seeded as rally or long distance drivers as per the FIA; • The second category was for drivers placed up to 3rd in a FIA Championship during the period 1970-1974; • The third category was for drivers who finished up to third in an international rally since 1/1/72; 126 • The fourth category was for drivers who had placed up to 12th in an international rally OR 6th in an international rally prior to 1/1/71 OR 3rd in a National Championship since 1/1/72; • The fifth category was drivers who had completed the course of an international rally or up to 12th in a national championship rally; • The sixth category was for drivers not included in the above. SUMMARY The 1975 Victors – Andrew Cowan/Fred Gocentas and Mitsubishi Lancer GSR Although not taking the same toll of cars as in the 1974 event, when only seven finished the course, 1975 was probably harder in many ways because of the better planning of the event by Director Dan White, who kept the pressure on all way until two thirds through the last division. 1975 saw Andrew Cowan’s domination of the Southern Cross Rally continue when he convincingly won, for the fifth time – four in succession. This was the finest of his wins as the competition this year was the strongest ever seen in the event. He blitzed the opposition to run out winner by 12 minutes from teammate Barry Ferguson. 14 points further back in third outright, and in many ways the ‘star’ of the event, Greg Carr, with navigator Wayne Gregson, in a Datsun 180B SSS, carried Nissan’s hopes after the tragic demise of the 710’s engines of the works team which included Harry Kallstrom, Rauno Aaltonen and George Fury. Carr drove magnificently in an extremely well prepared vehicle, by Gerry Ball of Canberra and, but for a couple of punctures, may have ended up closer to the leaders. Doug Stewart’s Lancer GSR came in fourth, after Kenjiro Shinozuka’s car was disqualified, and then fifth was Bruce Hodgson/Chris Heaney in a Ford Escort RS1600. Hodgson had a victorious week, having been placed 13th outright in an RS2000 in the ‘Hardie-Ferodo 500’ the previous weekend. At the end of division one he was 32nd’, but he eventually got the car sorted out and he put in a magnificent drive over the next three nights. Final Placings 1 Andrew Cowan Fred Gocentas Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 189 points 2 Barry Ferguson Lindsay Adcock Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 201 points 3 Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Datsun 180B SSS 215 points 4 Doug Stewart John Dawson-Damer Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 277 points 5 Bruce Hodgson Chris Heaney Ford Escort RS 1600 368 points 6 James Laing-Peach Barry Lake Subaru A22 373 points 7 Takeshi Hirabayashi Yoshimasa Nakahura Subaru A22 397 points 8 Bruce Cheeseman Alan Horsley Mitsubishi Lancer 405 points 9 Shingeru Kanno Kiyoshi Kawamur Mitsubishi Lancer 422 points 10 Noriyuki Koseki Takao Ishii Subaru A22 440 points Following post-event scrutineering Kenjiro Shinozuka/Gary Connelly were excluded in the Mitsubishi Lancer for use of wrong suspension components. They would have finished fourth outright with 250 points. New Zealander Rod Millen (Mazda RX3) was also excluded for illegal turret strengthening. He scored 405 points. 127 FIA Group 1 - Class Placings A Up to 1300 cc Murray Coote Brian Marsden Datsun 1200 B 1301 to 1600 cc Barry Dyer Brian McQuirk Subaru GSR C 1601 to 2000 cc Not awarded D Over 2000 cc Gary Mecak John Trumpmanis Mazda RX3 FIA Group 2 - Class Placings E Up to 1300 cc Not awarded F 1301 to 1600 cc Andrew Cowan Fred Gocentas Mitsubishi Lancer GSR G 1601 to 2000 cc Greg Carr Wayne Gregson Datsun 180B Group 4 – FIA Group 4 & CAMS Group C/MANZ Class Placing P Over 1600cc Tony Masling Ken Smith Holden Torana XU1 Manufacturers Award: Mitsubishi VEHICLE ELIGIBILITY Vehicle eligibility based on • FIA Groups 1, 2, 3 and 4, and homologated in Appendix J of the 1975 International Sporting Code: o 1 – Series Production Cars: 5000 units produced within 12 consecutive months; o 2 – Special Touring Cars: 1000 units produced within 12 consecutive months; o 3 – Series Production Grand Touring Cars: 1000 units produced within 12 consecutive months; o 4 - Special Grand Touring Cars: 500 units produced within 12 consecutive months. • CAMS Group G – National Championship Rally Cars: 500 units produced within 12 consecutive months. • MANZ (New Zealand) Regulations. Safety Equipment: • Fitting of a safety roll over bar or roll cage protection was compulsory for all cars; • Helmets were not compulsory; • A 0.9kg fire extinguisher to be fitted inside the vehicle. EVENT DETAILS/ ORGANISING TEAM Event Details Only 14 crews completed the entire course. Reporting had to be to 75% of controls in each division to stay in the event. Division No. Distance Competitive Comp Longest Late Number Number Number Special % Time Entries Starters Finishers Stages One 13 870 415 48 70 150 Two 9 695 520 75 180 150 Three 10 675 525 83 115 150 Four 16 1130 555 49 195 150 Total 48 3370 2020 60 180 85 79 30 Organising Team Assistant Directors Alan Wells, Les Boaden Committee - John Arter, Val McKenzie, Dennis Moore, Peter Savage, Lyn Stanley, Alan Wells, John Whitton. Headquarters Sandcastle Motel, Port Macquarie John Keran Tom Snooks Dan White Chairman SCIR General Manager SCIR Road Director Sponsors & ASCC President & ASCC Secretary (Clerk of Course) TOTAL Australia Pty Ltd & Sydney ‘Daily Sun’ 128 ORGANISING COMMITTEE 1975 l to r: Peter Savage, John Arter, Dan White, Lynn Stanley, John Keran, Tom Snooks, John Whitton, Allan Wells Meeting in the boardroom of the 729 Club, St Leonards (Sydney) ENTRIES At last the field was seeded by the organisers, within the categories outlined above. 85 entries were received and the 79 starters included 25 overseas drivers and 16 overseas navigators. The total dominance of Mitsubishi and Andrew Cowan over the past four years didn’t seem to discourage entrants to have a go to try to finish well in this tough and prestigious event. This year, works and semi-works teams represented Mitsubishi, their now perennial rivals Datsun, and Subaru. 14 cars were entered by Japanese private crews, all the cars being prepared to works team standards; eight crews entered from New Zealand, including NZ Champion Mike Marshall/Arthur McWatt in a Ford Escort RS1800. Of course, most of the top Australian crews were out in force. Mitsubishi entered Lancers for Cowan, Hannu Mikkola of Finland, and Australians Barry Ferguson and Doug Stewart. Nissan’s attack was based on the Datsun 710SSS, with Rauno Aaltonen from Finland driving one, Harry Kallstrom (Sweden) driving a second and Australia’s George Fury in the third car. The 710s had a 30 plus bhp advantage over the Lancers. Greg Carr/Wayne Gregson fronted in a Datsun 180B SSS. Ford, now managed by Howard Marsden, was represented by Bob Watson in a UK Factory prepared Escort RS1800 BDA. Other leading drivers were Bruce Hodgson (RS1600) and New Zealander’s Champion Mike Marshall (RS1800). The Japanese attack of 14 cars was headed by Tatsuo Yaginuma and Kenjiro Shinozuka in Mitsubishi Lancers. Most of the Japanese drivers brought their own navigators. Subaru entered its A22 for a number of Japanese and for Australian James Laing-Peach. These were powered by a 1600cc engine (usual size being 1360cc). Leading Australian ‘privateer’ entries included Stewart McLeod/Adrian Mortimer (Datsun 260Z), Ross Dunkerton/ John Large (Datsun 240Z) fresh from winning the 1975 Australian Rally Championship, and Greg Carr/Wayne Gregson (Datsun 180B SSS). Evan Green/John Bryson competed in the Alfetta GT. 129 A very noticeable Australian absentee was Colin Bond and George Shepheard. Holden was entering a Torana 5000 L34. To be competitive the cross member needed to be strengthened and so it was, under CAMS Group C regulations. However, while the Southern Cross Rally allowed such cars, they were not to be modified beyond FIA Group 2 – to keep some sort of equalisation. So, the car wasn’t entered. Most of the Group 2 cars DIDHAVE cross- member strengthening, but this was allowed if the cross-member was homologated as such and appeared on the FIA homologation paper for the car. 1975 ENTRY LIST – START ORDER 1 Hannu Mikkola Finland Brian Hope NSW Mitsubishi Lancer GSR 2 Rauno Aaltonen Finland Fitz Souminen Vic Datsun 710 SSS 3 Harry Kallstrom Sweden Roger Bonhomme